Evidence-Based Adequacy Model for School Funding: Success Rates in Illinois Schools that Meet Targets

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Gregory J.

2012-01-01

This quantitative study explores the 2010 recommendation of the Educational Funding Advisory Board to consider the Evidence-Based Adequacy model of school funding in Illinois. This school funding model identifies and costs research based practices necessary in a prototypical school and sets funding levels based upon those practices. This study…

45 CFR 2516.600 - How are funds for school-based service-learning programs distributed?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How are funds for school-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2516.600 How are funds for school-based service-learning programs distributed? (a) Of...

45 CFR 2517.600 - How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false How are funds for community-based service-learning... (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Distribution of Funds § 2517.600 How are funds for community-based service-learning programs distributed? All...

Formula-Based Public School Funding System in Victoria: An Empirical Analysis of Equity

Science.gov (United States)

Bandaranayake, Bandara

2013-01-01

This article explores the formula-based school funding system in the state of Victoria, Australia, where state funds are directly allocated to schools based on a range of equity measures. The impact of Victoria' funding system for education in terms of alleviating inequality and disadvantage is contentious, to say the least. It is difficult to…

The persistence of risk levels of general equity funds in an emerging market economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rousseau Lötter

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The persistence of risk levels of local General Equity unit trusts is evaluated. Variations in absolute and market-adjusted returns are measured to determine whether investors can use historical risk as a proxy for future risk levels. The General Equity funds are fairly homogenous, and different funds should exhibit stable risk levels if the fund managers’ investment mandates and investment styles remain stable over time. The results indicate a degree of absolute and market-adjusted risk stability over time. The market-adjusted risk and return relationship remained stable through the 2008 global crises, indicating that, on average, the fund managers maintained their benchmark-related risk exposures. Both the absolute and market-adjusted results indicate no statistically significant relationship between risk and return for the 2000 to 2012 period.

The persistence of risk levels of general equity funds in an emerging market economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rousseau Lötter

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The persistence of risk levels of local General Equity unit trusts is evaluated. Variations in absolute and market-adjusted returns are measured to determine whether investors can use historical risk as a proxy for future risk levels. The General Equity funds are fairly homogenous, and different funds should exhibit stable risk levels if the fund managers’ investment mandates and investment styles remain stable over time. The results indicate a degree of absolute and market-adjusted risk stability over time. The market-adjusted risk and return relationship remained stable through the 2008 global crises, indicating that, on average, the fund managers maintained their benchmark-related risk exposures. Both the absolute and market-adjusted results indicate no statistically significant relationship between risk and return for the 2000 to 2012 period.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's investments in harm reduction through the rounds-based funding model (2002-2014).

Science.gov (United States)

Bridge, Jamie; Hunter, Benjamin M; Albers, Eliot; Cook, Catherine; Guarinieri, Mauro; Lazarus, Jeffrey V; MacAllister, Jack; McLean, Susie; Wolfe, Daniel

2016-01-01

Harm reduction is an evidence-based, effective response to HIV transmission and other harms faced by people who inject drugs, and is explicitly supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In spite of this, people who inject drugs continue to have poor and inequitable access to these services and face widespread stigma and discrimination. In 2013, the Global Fund launched a new funding model-signalling the end of the previous rounds-based model that had operated since its founding in 2002. This study updates previous analyses to assess Global Fund investments in harm reduction interventions for the duration of the rounds-based model, from 2002 to 2014. Global Fund HIV and TB/HIV grant documents from 2002 to 2014 were reviewed to identify grants that contained activities for people who inject drugs. Data were collected from detailed grant budgets, and relevant budget lines were recorded and analysed to determine the resources allocated to different interventions that were specifically targeted at people who inject drugs. 151 grants for 58 countries, plus one regional proposal, contained activities targeting people who inject drugs-for a total investment of US$ 620 million. Two-thirds of this budgeted amount was for interventions in the "comprehensive package" defined by the United Nations. 91% of the identified amount was for Eastern Europe and Asia. This study represents an updated, comprehensive assessment of Global Fund investments in harm reduction from its founding (2002) until the start of the new funding model (2014). It also highlights the overall shortfall of harm reduction funding, with the estimated global need being US$ 2.3 billion for harm reduction in 2015 alone. Using this baseline, the Global Fund must carefully monitor its new funding model and ensure that investments in harm reduction are maintained or scaled-up. There are widespread concerns regarding the withdrawal from middle-income countries where harm reduction remains

Protein-based stable isotope probing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jehmlich, Nico; Schmidt, Frank; Taubert, Martin; Seifert, Jana; Bastida, Felipe; von Bergen, Martin; Richnow, Hans-Hermann; Vogt, Carsten

2010-12-01

We describe a stable isotope probing (SIP) technique that was developed to link microbe-specific metabolic function to phylogenetic information. Carbon ((13)C)- or nitrogen ((15)N)-labeled substrates (typically with >98% heavy label) were used in cultivation experiments and the heavy isotope incorporation into proteins (protein-SIP) on growth was determined. The amount of incorporation provides a measure for assimilation of a substrate, and the sequence information from peptide analysis obtained by mass spectrometry delivers phylogenetic information about the microorganisms responsible for the metabolism of the particular substrate. In this article, we provide guidelines for incubating microbial cultures with labeled substrates and a protocol for protein-SIP. The protocol guides readers through the proteomics pipeline, including protein extraction, gel-free and gel-based protein separation, the subsequent mass spectrometric analysis of peptides and the calculation of the incorporation of stable isotopes into peptides. Extraction of proteins and the mass fingerprint measurements of unlabeled and labeled fractions can be performed in 2-3 d.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's investments in harm reduction through the rounds-based funding model (2002-2014)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bridge, Jamie; Hunter, Benjamin M; Albers, Eliot

2016-01-01

investment of US$ 620. million. Two-thirds of this budgeted amount was for interventions in the "comprehensive package" defined by the United Nations. 91% of the identified amount was for Eastern Europe and Asia. Conclusion: This study represents an updated, comprehensive assessment of Global Fund...... and inequitable access to these services and face widespread stigma and discrimination. In 2013, the Global Fund launched a new funding model-signalling the end of the previous rounds-based model that had operated since its founding in 2002. This study updates previous analyses to assess Global Fund investments...... investments in harm reduction from its founding (2002) until the start of the new funding model (2014). It also highlights the overall shortfall of harm reduction funding, with the estimated global need being US$ 2.3. billion for harm reduction in 2015 alone. Using this baseline, the Global Fund must...

A stable high-speed rotational transmission system based on nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Kun; Yin, Hang; Wei, Ning; Chen, Zhen; Shi, Jiao

2015-01-01

A stable rotational transmission system is designed with a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-based motor and double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs)-based bearing. The system response is investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. It is found that the rotating motor can actuate the rotation of the inner tube in bearing because of the attraction between the two adjacent coaxial ends of motor and rotor (the inner tube in bearing). To have a stable nanostructure, each carbon atom on the adjacent ends of motor and rotor is bonded with a hydrogen atom. To obtain a stable high-speed rotational transmission system, both an armchair and a zigzag model are used in MD simulation. In each model, the motor with different diameters and rotational speeds is employed to examine the rotational transmission of corresponding DWCNTs. It is demonstrated that the long range van der Waals interaction between the adjacent ends of motor and rotor leads to a stable configuration of the adjacent ends, and further leads to a stable rotation of rotor when driven by a high-speed motor. As compared with the armchair model, the rotor in the zigzag model could reach a stable rotation mode much easier

Funding for teratology information services: up, down, and all around.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Dee

2012-08-01

Funding for Teratology Information Services has been an ongoing struggle over the 25 years of its existence. Traditional and novel funding mechanisms have been explored with varying success. The importance of providing teratology risk assessment and counseling to all women of reproductive age is now an established health care objective. Sufficient and stable funding for these services is essential. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Organizational characteristics, financial performance measures, and funding sources of faith based organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lampkin, Lynne; Raghavan, Kamala

2008-01-01

This study examined the impact of organizational characteristics and financial performance measures of faith based organizations (FBOS) in Pennsylvania and Ohio on the decisions of the funding sources. Organizational characteristics of size, age, and type of service, and financial performance measures such as expense, liquidity, and solvency ratios were gathered from the data on IRS form 990 for 97 FBOS for the period of 1995 to 2004. The study found that the 1996 Charitable Choice provisions and the 2001 Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives have led to increased government funding for FBOS. The results showed that government funding of FBOS is affected positively by age of the FBO, and negatively by its size. For smaller FBOS, savings ratio had a negative relationship to government funding and a positive relationship to direct public support. For social service FBOS government funding was positively affected by age and negatively affected by size and debt ratio, while days-cash-on-hand had a negative impact on direct public support. All of the above relationships were statistically significant.

Proposed Performance-Based Metrics for the Future Funding of Graduate Medical Education: Starting the Conversation.

Science.gov (United States)

Caverzagie, Kelly J; Lane, Susan W; Sharma, Niraj; Donnelly, John; Jaeger, Jeffrey R; Laird-Fick, Heather; Moriarty, John P; Moyer, Darilyn V; Wallach, Sara L; Wardrop, Richard M; Steinmann, Alwin F

2017-12-12

Graduate medical education (GME) in the United States is financed by contributions from both federal and state entities that total over $15 billion annually. Within institutions, these funds are distributed with limited transparency to achieve ill-defined outcomes. To address this, the Institute of Medicine convened a committee on the governance and financing of GME to recommend finance reform that would promote a physician training system that meets society's current and future needs. The resulting report provided several recommendations regarding the oversight and mechanisms of GME funding, including implementation of performance-based GME payments, but did not provide specific details about the content and development of metrics for these payments. To initiate a national conversation about performance-based GME funding, the authors asked: What should GME be held accountable for in exchange for public funding? In answer to this question, the authors propose 17 potential performance-based metrics for GME funding that could inform future funding decisions. Eight of the metrics are described as exemplars to add context and to help readers obtain a deeper understanding of the inherent complexities of performance-based GME funding. The authors also describe considerations and precautions for metric implementation.

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.

Socioeconomic rehabilitation of successful renal transplant patients and impact of funding source: Indian scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapoor, Rakesh; Sharma, Raj Kumar; Srivastava, Aneesh; Kapoor, Rohit; Arora, Sohrab; Sureka, Sanjoy Kumar

2015-01-01

Socio-economic rehabilitation is an important outcome parameter in successful renal transplant recipients, particularly in developing countries with low income patients who often depend on extraneous sources to fund their surgery costs. We studied the socioeconomic rehabilitation and changes in socioeconomic status (SES) of successful renal allograft recipients among Indian patients and its correlation with their source of funding for the surgery. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted on 183 patients between January 2010 to January 2013. Patients with follow up of at least 1 year after successful renal transplant were included. During interview, two questionnaires were administered, one related to the SES including source of funding before transplantation and another one relating to the same at time of interview. Changes in SES were categorized as improvement, stable and deterioration if post-transplant SES score increased >5%, increased or decreased by 5% of pre-transplant value, respectively. In this cohort, 97 (52.7%), 67 (36.4%) and 19 (10.3%) patients were non-funded (self-funded), one-time funded and continuous funded, respectively. Fifty-six (30.4%) recipients had improvement in SES, whereas 89 (48.4%) and 38 (20.7%) recipients had deterioration and stable SES. Improvement in SES was seen in 68% patients with continuous funding support whereas, in only 36% and 12% patients with non-funded and onetime funding support (P = 0.001) respectively. Significant correlation was found (R = 0.715) between baseline socioeconomic strata and changes in SES after transplant. 70% of the patients with upper and upper middle class status had improving SES. Patients with middle class, lower middle and lower class had deterioration of SES after transplant in 47.4%, 79.6% and 66.7% patients, respectively. Most of the recipients from middle and lower social strata, which included more than 65% of our patient's population, had deteriorating SES even after a

A stable-manifold-based method for chaos control and synchronization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Shihua; Zhang Qunjiao; Xie Jin; Wang Changping

2004-01-01

A stable-manifold-based method is proposed for chaos control and synchronization. The novelty of this new and effective method lies in that, once the suitable stable manifold according to the desired dynamic properties is constructed, the goal of control is only to force the system state to lie on the selected stable manifold because once the stable manifold is reached, the chaotic system will be guided towards the desired target. The effectiveness of the approach and idea is tested by stabilizing the Newton-Leipnik chaotic system which possesses more than one strange attractor and by synchronizing the unified chaotic system which unifies both the Lorenz system and the Chen system

The Role of Structural Funding for Stability in the German Banking Sector

OpenAIRE

Schupp, Fabian; Silbermann, Leonid

2017-01-01

We analyze whether, and if so by how much, stable funding would have contributed to the financial soundness of German banks in the time period between 1995 and 2013, before the Basel III liquidity regulation to address excessive maturity mismatches in the wake of the financial crisis via the Net Stable Funding Ratio can be expected to have been fully implemented. Using a dataset that contains information on critical events of German banks, we find that financing loans using fewer customer dep...

Status of costing hospital nursing work within Australian casemix activity-based funding policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Heslop, Liza

2012-02-01

Australia has a long history of patient level costing initiated when casemix funding was implemented in several states in the early 1990s. Australia includes, to some extent, hospital payment based on nursing intensity adopted within casemix funding policy and the Diagnostic Related Group system. Costing of hospital nursing services in Australia has not changed significantly in the last few decades despite widespread introduction of casemix funding policy at the state level. Recent Commonwealth of Australia National Health Reform presents change to the management of the delivery of health care including health-care costing. There is agreement for all Australian jurisdictions to progress to casemix-based activity funding. Within this context, nurse costing infrastructure presents contemporary issues and challenges. An assessment is made of the progress of costing nursing services within casemix funding models in Australian hospitals. Valid and reliable Australian-refined nursing service weights might overcome present cost deficiencies and limitations. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Design of price incentives for adjunct policy goals in formula funding for hospitals and health services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duckett Stephen J

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hospital policy involves multiple objectives: efficiency of service delivery, pursuit of high quality care, promoting access. Funding policy based on hospital casemix has traditionally been considered to be only about promoting efficiency. Discussion Formula-based funding policy can be (and has been used to pursue a range of policy objectives, not only efficiency. These are termed 'adjunct' goals. Strategies to incorporate adjunct goals into funding design must, implicitly or explicitly, address key decision choices outlined in this paper. Summary Policy must be clear and explicit about the behaviour to be rewarded; incentives must be designed so that all facilities with an opportunity to improve have an opportunity to benefit; the reward structure is stable and meaningful; and the funder monitors performance and gaming.

Activity-based funding model provides foundation for province-wide best practices in renal care.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Adeera; Lo, Clifford; Noel, Kevin; Djurdjev, Ogjnenka; Amano, Erlyn C

2013-01-01

British Columbia has a unique funding model for renal care in Canada. Patient care is delivered through six health authorities, while funding is administered by the Provincial Renal Agency using an activity-based funding model. The model allocates funding based on a schedule of costs for every element of renal care, excluding physician fees. Accountability, transparency of allocation and tracking of outcomes are key features that ensure successful implementation. The model supports province-wide best practices and equitable care and fosters innovation. Since its introduction, the outpatient renal services budget has grown less than the population, while maintaining or improving clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Longwoods Publishing.

An Analysis of Performance-Based Funding Policies and Recommendations for the Florida College System

Science.gov (United States)

Balog, Scott E.

2016-01-01

Nearly 30 states have adopted or are transitioning to performance-based funding programs for community colleges that allocate funding based on institutional performance according to defined metrics. While embraced by state lawmakers and promoted by outside advocacy groups as a method to improve student outcomes, enhance accountability and ensure…

Leaders' experiences and perceptions implementing activity-based funding and pay-for-performance hospital funding models: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Baxter, Pamela E; Hewko, Sarah J; Pfaff, Kathryn A; Cleghorn, Laura; Cunningham, Barbara J; Elston, Dawn; Cummings, Greta G

2015-08-01

Providing cost-effective, accessible, high quality patient care is a challenge to governments and health care delivery systems across the globe. In response to this challenge, two types of hospital funding models have been widely implemented: (1) activity-based funding (ABF) and (2) pay-for-performance (P4P). Although health care leaders play a critical role in the implementation of these funding models, to date their perspectives have not been systematically examined. The purpose of this systematic review was to gain a better understanding of the experiences of health care leaders implementing hospital funding reforms within Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. We searched literature from 1982 to 2013 using: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Academic Search Elite, and Business Source Complete. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts and full texts using predefined criteria. We included 2 mixed methods and 12 qualitative studies. Thematic analysis was used in synthesizing results. Five common themes and multiple subthemes emerged. Themes include: pre-requisites for success, perceived benefits, barriers/challenges, unintended consequences, and leader recommendations. Irrespective of which type of hospital funding reform was implemented, health care leaders described a complex process requiring the following: organizational commitment; adequate infrastructure; human, financial and information technology resources; change champions and a personal commitment to quality care. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outcomes-Based Funding and Stakeholder Engagement. Lumina Issue Papers

Science.gov (United States)

Kadlec, Alison; Shelton, Susan

2015-01-01

This paper examines the key aspects of stakeholder engagement that can strengthen the design, implementation and sustainability of outcomes-based funding policies. We seek to help policymakers understand the prevailing starting-point attitudes of institutional stakeholders, primarily college and university administrators, faculty and staff, and…

Establishment of an eco-compensation fund based on eco-services consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Moucheng; Yang, Lun; Min, Qingwen

2018-04-01

Eco-compensation is a type of institutional arrangement that uses economic measures to adjust the relationships among stakeholders in order to conserve and/or sustainably use ecosystem services. The externality of the value of ecosystem services is one of the theoretical bases for eco-compensation. Different types of ecosystem services are consumed by people from different regions. Some are consumed by people living where the services originate, while some are carried by rivers, wind, vehicles or other natural or manmade means to other areas. Thus, the flow and consumption of ecosystem services should be seen as the basis for establishing eco-compensation funds. This paper uses satellite images of the Zhang-Cheng area near Beijing in 2013 to discuss how to establish an eco-compensation fund for stakeholders in this area. Firstly, six important types of ecosystem services in the Zhang-Cheng area were identified based on ecological function zoning, and the value of these ecosystem services was calculated based on ecological pricing methods. Secondly, the field intensity model from physics was used to analyze where Zhang-Cheng area ecosystem services flowed and calculate how much of these services were used by other areas. Thirdly, based on this analysis and calculation, the paper proposes the rates that different stakeholders should invest in the eco-compensation fund, based on their consumption of eco-services. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The new challenges for oil-based sovereign wealth funds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoun, Marie-Claire; Boulanger, Quentin

2015-02-01

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are often presented as an effective instrument for managing hydrocarbon rents, reducing the impact of the volatility of oil or gas revenues on the economy, separating expenditure from income, and promoting a more transparent management of the rent. The asset allocation strategy has become more complex with the rapid rise in oil prices between 2007 and 2014, and the substantial financial reserves accumulated in hydrocarbon-producing countries, switching from an approach of wealth management to an approach of investment and financial optimisation. Hence, these funds have become major players on the international financial and industrial scene. Moreover, with the discovery of new hydrocarbon resources in recent years, particularly in Africa, the strategies of new funds appear to be moving towards a new goal of local economic development. But the unforeseen collapse of crude oil prices in recent months poses a new risk for some SWFs based on hydrocarbon revenues, which has to come to the aid of their economies and focus on their main principle of macro-economic stabilisation. (author)

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.

Use of stable isotope analysis to determine of the timing of ontogenic habitat shifts

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — SAIP funding for stable isotope research was provided in FY11 and FY13; the FY11 funding was for loggerhead turtles (described below) as opposed to green turtles in...

Towards model-based testing of electronic funds transfer systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asaadi, H.R.; Khosravi, R.; Mousavi, M.R.; Noroozi, N.; Arbab, F.; Sirjani, M.

2012-01-01

We report on our first experience with applying model-based testing techniques to an operational Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) switch. The goal is to test the conformance of the EFT switch to the standard flows described by the ISO 8583 standard. To this end, we first make a formalization of the

Towards model-based testing of electronic funds transfer systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asaadi, H.R.; Khosravi, R.; Mousavi, M.R.; Noroozi, N.

2010-01-01

We report on our first experience with applying model-based testing techniques to an operational Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) switch. The goal is to test the conformance of the EFT switch to the standard flows described by the ISO 8583 standard. To this end, we first make a formalization of the

Towards model-based testing of electronic funds transfer systems

OpenAIRE

Asaadi, H.R.; Khosravi, R.; Mousavi, M.R.; Noroozi, N.

2010-01-01

We report on our first experience with applying model-based testing techniques to an operational Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) switch. The goal is to test the conformance of the EFT switch to the standard flows described by the ISO 8583 standard. To this end, we first make a formalization of the transaction flows specified in the ISO 8583 standard in terms of a Labeled Transition System (LTS). This formalization paves the way for model-based testing based on the formal notion of Input-Outpu...

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...

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...

JSC Director's Discretionary Fund 1992 Annual Report

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Lyle (Compiler)

1993-01-01

Annual report of the Johnson Space Center Director's Discretionary Fund documenting effective use of resources. The $1,694,000 funding for FY92 was distributed among 27 projects. The projects are an overall aid to the NASA mission, as well as providing development opportunities for the science and engineering staff with eventual spinoff to commercial uses. Projects described include space-based medical research such as the use of stable isotopes of deuterium and oxygen to measure crew energy use and techniques for noninvasive motion sickness medication. Recycling essentials for space crew support is conducted in the Regenerative Life Support and the Hybrid Regenerative Water Recovery test beds. Two-phase fluid flow simulated under low-gravity conditions, hypervelocity particle impact on open mesh bumpers, and microcalorimetry to measure the long-term hydrazine/material compatibility were investigated. A patent application was made on a shape-memory-alloy release nut. Computer estimate of crew accommodations for advanced concepts was demonstrated. Training techniques were evaluated using multimedia and virtual environment. Upgrades of an electronic still camera provide high resolution images from orbit are presented.

Implications of Project-Based Funding of Research on Budgeting and Financial Management in Public Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Raudla, Ringa; Karo, Erkki; Valdmaa, Kaija; Kattel, Rainer

2015-01-01

The main goal of the paper is to explore--both theoretically and empirically--the implications of project-based research funding for budgeting and financial management at public universities. The theoretical contribution of the paper is to provide a synthesized discussion of the possible impacts of project-based funding on university financial…

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...

A belief-based evolutionarily stable strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Xinyang; Wang, Zhen; Liu, Qi; Deng, Yong; Mahadevan, Sankaran

2014-11-21

As an equilibrium refinement of the Nash equilibrium, evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is a key concept in evolutionary game theory and has attracted growing interest. An ESS can be either a pure strategy or a mixed strategy. Even though the randomness is allowed in mixed strategy, the selection probability of pure strategy in a mixed strategy may fluctuate due to the impact of many factors. The fluctuation can lead to more uncertainty. In this paper, such uncertainty involved in mixed strategy has been further taken into consideration: a belief strategy is proposed in terms of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. Furthermore, based on the proposed belief strategy, a belief-based ESS has been developed. The belief strategy and belief-based ESS can reduce to the mixed strategy and mixed ESS, which provide more realistic and powerful tools to describe interactions among agents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Activity-based funding: implications for mental health services and consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wand, Anne

2014-06-01

The aim of this paper is to inform mental health professionals about Activity-based funding (ABF) and the implications for data collection and clinical practice, in particular for consultation-liaison (CL) psychiatry. Activity-based funding may provide an opportunity for mental health services to be more equitably resourced, but much needs to be done to demonstrate that the funding model works in mental health. It is important to ensure that data collected is meaningful and accurate and reflects the diverse roles of mental health clinicians, including in CL. Inpatient and community services should be integrated in the model, as well as safeguards against potential abuse. Clinicians, in partnership with initiatives such as the Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network, are best placed to guide the development of an ABF system for mental health which appropriately recognises the complexity and variability between patients in different settings. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014.

Index Fund Selections with GAs and Classifications Based on Turnover

Science.gov (United States)

Orito, Yukiko; Motoyama, Takaaki; Yamazaki, Genji

It is well known that index fund selections are important for the risk hedge of investment in a stock market. The`selection’means that for`stock index futures’, n companies of all ones in the market are selected. For index fund selections, Orito et al.(6) proposed a method consisting of the following two steps : Step 1 is to select N companies in the market with a heuristic rule based on the coefficient of determination between the return rate of each company in the market and the increasing rate of the stock price index. Step 2 is to construct a group of n companies by applying genetic algorithms to the set of N companies. We note that the rule of Step 1 is not unique. The accuracy of the results using their method depends on the length of time data (price data) in the experiments. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce a more`effective rule’for Step 1. The rule is based on turnover. The method consisting of Step 1 based on turnover and Step 2 is examined with numerical experiments for the 1st Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. The results show that with our method, it is possible to construct the more effective index fund than the results of Orito et al.(6). The accuracy of the results using our method depends little on the length of time data (turnover data). The method especially works well when the increasing rate of the stock price index over a period can be viewed as a linear time series data.

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…

The big hurt: Trauma system funding in today's health care environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Geehan, Douglas

2010-01-01

Trauma systems provide effective care of the injured patient but require major financial costs in readiness and availability of the extensive trauma team and specialized equipment. Traditional billing and collection practices do not fully recoup these costs. Effective use of the standard billing system is vital to the stability of a trauma system; however, a system wide funding mechanism provides an optimal, stable foundation. Efforts to provide sustainable trauma system funding are ongoing. Numerous state initiatives have been successful in funding trauma systems but a universal solution has yet to be found.

Awareness of evidence-based practices by organizations in a publicly funded smoking cessation network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Provan, K.; Beagles, J.; Mercken, L.; Leischow, S.J.

2013-01-01

This research examines the awareness of evidence-based practices by the public organizations that fund services in the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC). NAQC is a large, publicly funded, goal-directed “whole network,” spanning both Canada and the United States, working to get people to quit

An ultra-stable iodine-based frequency reference for space applications

Science.gov (United States)

Schuldt, Thilo; Braxmaier, Claus; Doeringshoff, Klaus; Keetman, Anja; Reggentin, Matthias; Kovalchuk, Evgeny; Peters, Achim

2012-07-01

Future space missions require for ultra-stable optical frequency references. Examples are the gravitational wave detector LISA/eLISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), the SpaceTime Asymmetry Research (STAR) program, the aperture-synthesis telescope Darwin and the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) follow on mission exploring Earth's gravity. As high long-term frequency stability is required, lasers stabilized to atomic or molecular transitions are preferred, also offering an absolute frequency reference. Frequency stabilities in the 10 ^{-15} domains at longer integration times (up to several hours) are demonstrated in laboratory experiments using setups based on Doppler-free spectroscopy. Such setups with a frequency stability comparable to the hydrogen maser in the microwave domain, have the potential to be developed space compatible on a relatively short time scale. Here, we present the development of ultra-stable optical frequency references based on modulation-transfer spectroscopy of molecular iodine. Noise levels of 2\\cdot10 ^{-14} at an integration time of 1 s and below 3\\cdot10 ^{-15} at integration times between 100 s and 1000 s are demonstrated with a laboratory setup using an 80 cm long iodine cell in single-pass configuration in combination with a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser and standard optical components and optomechanic mounts. The frequency stability at longer integration times is (amongst other things) limited by the dimensional stability of the optical setup, i.e. by th pointing stability of the two counter-propagating beams overlapped in the iodine cell. With the goal of a future space compatible setup, a compact frequency standard on EBB (elegant breadboard) level was realized. The spectroscopy unit utilizes a baseplate made of Clearceram-HS, a glass ceramics with an ultra-low coefficient of thermal expansion of 2\\cdot10 ^{-8} K ^{-1}. The optical components are joint to the baseplate using adhesive bonding technology

Monitoring of the aerobe biodegradation of chlorinated organic solvents by stable isotope analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Horváth, Anikó; Futó, István; Palcsu, László

2014-05-01

Our chemical-biological basic research aims to eliminate chlorinated environmental contaminants from aquifers around industrial areas in the frame of research program supported by the European Social Fund (TÁMOP-4.2.2.A-11/1/KONV-2012-0043). The most careful and simplest way includes the in situ biodegradation with the help of cultured and compound specific strains. Numerous members of Pseudomonas bacteria are famous about function of bioremediation. They can metabolism the environmental hazardous chemicals like gas oils, dyes, and organic solvents. Our research based on the Pseudomonas putida F1 strain, because its ability to degrade halogenated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene. Several methods were investigated to estimate the rate of biodegradation, such as the measurement of the concentration of the pollutant along the contamination pathway, the microcosm's studies or the compound specific stable isotope analysis. In this area in the Transcarpathian basin we are pioneers in the stable isotope monitoring of biodegradation. The main goal is to find stable isotope fractionation factors by stable isotope analysis, which can help us to estimate the rate and effectiveness of the biodegradation. The subsequent research period includes the investigation of the method, testing its feasibility and adaptation in the environment. Last but not least, the research gives an opportunity to identify the producer of the contaminant based on the stable isotope composition of the contaminant.

The funding landscape for HIV in Asia and the Pacific

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Robyn M; Lief, Eric; Donald, Braedon; Wilson, David; Wilson, David P

2015-01-01

Introduction Despite recent and robust economic growth across the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of low- and middle-income countries in the region remain dependent on some donor support for HIV programmes. We describe the availability of bilateral and multilateral official development assistance (ODA) for HIV programmes in the region. Methods The donor countries considered in this analysis are Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. To estimate bilateral and multilateral ODA financing for HIV programmes in the Asia-Pacific region between 2004 and 2013, we obtained funding data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Creditor Reporting System database. Where possible, we checked these amounts against the funding data available from government aid agencies. Estimates of multilateral ODA financing for HIV/AIDS were based on the country allocations announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) for the period 2014 to 2016. Results Countries in the Asia-Pacific region receive the largest share of aid for HIV from the Global Fund. Bilateral funding for HIV in the region has been relatively stable over the last decade and is projected to remain below 10% of the worldwide response to the epidemic. Bilateral donors continue to prioritize ODA for HIV to other regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa; Australia is an exception in prioritizing the Asia-Pacific region, but the United States is the bilateral donor providing the greatest amount of assistance in the region. Funding from the Global Fund has increased consistently since 2005, reaching a total of US$1.2 billion for the Asia-Pacific region from 2014 to 2016. Conclusions Even with Global Fund allocations, countries in the Asia-Pacific region will not have enough resources to meet their epidemiological targets. Prevention funding is particularly vulnerable and requires greater

IAEA Nobel Peace fund schools for nutrition. Combating child malnutrition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

Full text: Dhaka, Bangladesh - Malnutrition remains the world's most serious health problem and the single biggest contributor to child deaths in the developing world, according to the World Bank. Now, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is using its Nobel Peace Prize earnings to promote the use of nuclear techniques to combat malnutrition during the earliest years of life. 'One out of every ten children born in developing countries will die before his or her fifth birthday,' explains IAEA nutrition expert Lena Davidsson. 'That's more than 10 million dead children each year. And the vast majority of these child deaths in developing countries are preventable with a combination of good care, adequate nutrition and appropriate medical treatment,' explains Dr. Davidsson. 'This brings us hope that unacceptably high childhood mortality can be substantially reduced with effective and well-targeted nutritional interventions.' Undernutrition is an important factor in more than half of all child deaths worldwide. The high prevalence of infants born with low birth weight and undernutrition among Asian children, especially in South Asia, emphasizes the urgent need to develop effective nutrition interventions within 'the window of opportunity', i.e., to target young women before pregnancy as well as infants and young children during the first 2 years of life. The IAEA Nobel Peace Prize Fund School for Nutrition for Asia will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 22-26, 2007. It will focus on Interventions to combat undernutrition during early life and seeks to disseminate information about the usefulness of stable isotope techniques in intervention programs that reduce malnutrition, in particular in infants and children. The event is hosted by the Government of Bangladesh through the International Centre for Health and Population Research (ICDDR, B) and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC). The IAEA is assisting some of the world's poorest countries in their

STRUCTURAL FUNDS ABSORPTION GROWTH BY IMPROVING THEIR MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pautu Sorina

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Grant project management is now a trend in the institutions of various types in Romania due to the opportunities offered by the EU through structural Instruments. Absorbing European funds is a challenge for Romania. The Managing Authority for Structural Instruments, together with the subordinated institutions present deficiencies in their coordination and implementation, the effect being a slow process of absorption of structural and cohesion funds. Taking action to enhance absorption of Structural and Cohesion Funds was done later; some measures are neither effective nor efficient. One of the major problems in implementing the Structural Funds is the continuous change of their national legislation. Therefore it is necessary to take measures to increase the absorption of structural funds and also the national adoption of a stable legal framework applicable to Structural Funds, guides of the applicant and clearly established project calls, without any latest changes, creating a transparent system of project proposals assessment and results communication of assessments to their beneficiaries, the payments required by the reimbursement requests within 45 days specified in the contract and not just their validation, terms compliance in approval notifications and addenda to the contract funding, proper training of the personnel from the intermediate organizations and linking information provided by their staff.

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.

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...

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 ...

A Fundamental Approach to Developing Aluminium based Bulk Amorphous Alloys based on Stable Liquid Metal Structures and Electronic Equilibrium - 154041

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-28

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2017-0027 A Fundamental Approach to Developing Aluminium -based Bulk Amorphous Alloys based on Stable Liquid-Metal Structures and...to 16 Dec 2016 4.  TITLE AND SUBTITLE A Fundamental Approach to Developing Aluminium -based Bulk Amorphous Alloys based on Stable Liquid-Metal...Air Force Research Laboratory for accurately predicting compositions of new amorphous alloys specifically based on aluminium with properties superior

Efficiency of mutual funds in Croatia: a DEA-based approach applied in the pre-crisis, crisis and post crisis period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margareta Gardijan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to estimate the overall performance of mutual funds in Croatia in terms of their relative efficiency based on several performance indicators using data envelopment analysis (DEA. DEA is a non-parametric method that can provide an overall relative efficiency score of a certain fund given a number of risk, cost or reward or profitability measures. Since traditional mutual fund performance indicators are mostly based on the CAPM paradigm that demands using rigid assumptions and questionable benchmarks, we endeavor to overcome the limitations of such an approach by considering more appropriate risk and reward measures, such as Expected Shortfall, stochastic dominance and higher order moments. In this way, we developed an adjusted DEA-based mutual fund performance index. The efficiency scores obtained from the DEA model help in identifying efficient funds and ranking the funds based on certain criteria. DEA also identifies mutual fund(s that can be benchmarks for other mutual funds that have similar investment strategies. These results were compared to various traditional indicators of absolute and relative risk-adjusted performance of mutual funds. The analysis was divided into three periods: the pre-crisis period, crisis period and post-crisis period with different conclusions for mutual fund performances in Croatia. The analysis includes altogether 60 UCITS funds in Croatia, in the period from the beginning of 2005 until the end of 2015, and was conducted on daily data of share prices, available from the Bloomberg terminal.

Predicting Global Fund grant disbursements for procurement of artemisinin-based combination therapies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O'Brien Megan E

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An accurate forecast of global demand is essential to stabilize the market for artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT and to ensure access to high-quality, life-saving medications at the lowest sustainable prices by avoiding underproduction and excessive overproduction, each of which can have negative consequences for the availability of affordable drugs. A robust forecast requires an understanding of the resources available to support procurement of these relatively expensive antimalarials, in particular from the Global Fund, at present the single largest source of ACT funding. Methods Predictive regression models estimating the timing and rate of disbursements from the Global Fund to recipient countries for each malaria grant were derived using a repeated split-sample procedure intended to avoid over-fitting. Predictions were compared against actual disbursements in a group of validation grants, and forecasts of ACT procurement extrapolated from disbursement predictions were evaluated against actual procurement in two sub-Saharan countries. Results Quarterly forecasts were correlated highly with actual smoothed disbursement rates (r = 0.987, p Conclusion This analysis derived predictive regression models that successfully forecasted disbursement patterning for individual Global Fund malaria grants. These results indicate the utility of this approach for demand forecasting of ACT and, potentially, for other commodities procured using funding from the Global Fund. Further validation using data from other countries in different regions and environments will be necessary to confirm its generalizability.

The Performance-Based Research Fund, Gender and a Cultural Cringe

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Bruce

2016-01-01

This article explores ways the Performance-based Research Fund (PBRF) produces gendered results and expresses a cultural cringe. It is argued that the research evaluation is fixated with being "world-class" at the expense of academic practice that focuses on New Zealand. In this context, disadvantage faced by female academics under the…

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...

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for adults with stable angina.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Linda; Anderson, Lindsey; Dewhirst, Alice M; He, Jingzhou; Bridges, Charlene; Gandhi, Manish; Taylor, Rod S

2018-02-02

A previous Cochrane review has shown that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can benefit myocardial infarction and post-revascularisation patients. However, the impact on stable angina remains unclear and guidance is inconsistent. Whilst recommended in the guidelines of American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and the European Society of Cardiology, in the UK the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) states that there is "no evidence to suggest that CR is clinically or cost-effective for managing stable angina". To assess the effects of exercise-based CR compared to usual care for adults with stable angina. We updated searches from the previous Cochrane review 'Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for patients with coronary heart disease' by searching the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, DARE, CINAHL and Web of Science on 2 October 2017. We searched two trials registers, and performed reference checking and forward-citation searching of all primary studies and review articles, to identify additional studies. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with a follow-up period of at least six months, which compared structured exercise-based CR with usual care for people with stable angina. Two review authors independently assessed the risk of bias and extracted data according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Two review authors also independently assessed the quality of the evidence using GRADE principles and we presented this information in a 'Summary of findings' table. Seven studies (581 participants) met our inclusion criteria. Trials had an intervention length of 6 weeks to 12 months and follow-up length of 6 to 12 months. The comparison group in all trials was usual care (without any form of structured exercise training or advice) or a no-exercise comparator. The mean age of participants within the trials ranged from 50 to 66 years, the

Modified calcium oxide as stable solid base catalyst for Aldol ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A highly efficient and stable solid-base catalyst for Aldol condensation was ... was bonded on surface of CaO chemically and almost no Ca(OH)2 formed during the modification process. ... cation, corrosion and waste generation attract great.

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...

Design and Construction for Community Health Service Precision Fund Appropriation System Based on Performance Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xing; He, Yao; Hu, Hongpu

2017-01-01

Allowing for the differences in economy development, informatization degree and characteristic of population served and so on among different community health service organizations, community health service precision fund appropriation system based on performance management is designed, which can provide support for the government to appropriate financial funds scientifically and rationally for primary care. The system has the characteristic of flexibility and practicability, in which there are five subsystems including data acquisition, parameter setting, fund appropriation, statistical analysis system and user management.

Structurally stable graphene oxide-based nanofiltration membranes with bioadhesive polydopamine coating

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chongbin; Li, Zhiyuan; Chen, Jianxin; Yin, Yongheng; Wu, Hong

2018-01-01

Graphene oxide (GO)-based membranes possess promising potential in liquid separation for its high flux. The state-of-art GO-based membranes need to be supported by a substrate to ensure that the ultra-thin GO layer can withstand transmembrane pressure in practical applications. The interfacial compatibility of this kind of composite membrane remains a great challenge due to the intrinsic difference in chemical/physical properties between the GO sheets and the substrate. In this paper, a structurally stable GO-based composite nanofiltration membrane was fabricated by coupling the mussel-inspired adhesive platform and filtration-assisted assembly of GO laminates. The water flux for the prepared GO-based nanofiltration membrane reached up to 85 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 with a high retention above 95% and 100% for Orange G and Congo Red, respectively. The membrane exhibited highly stable structure owing to the covalent and noncovalent interactions between GO separation layer and dopamine adhesive platform.

Ambiguity and Investment Decisions: An Empirical Analysis on Mutual Fund Investor Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Tang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The paper empirically studies the relationship between ambiguity and mutual fund investor behaviour. Theoretical models for investment decisions incorporating ambiguity motivate our analyses. While the models indicate that investors would less likely to invest in financial markets when ambiguity increases, there is rare empirical evidence in natural occurring financial data to examine this hypothesis. In this paper, we test the hypothesis with equity fund flow data as for investment decisions and ambiguity with the degree of disagreement in equity analysts’ prediction about asset returns. Our results support the hypothesis that increases in ambiguity could lead to less fund flows and this result remains consistently when adding various control variables affecting fund flows. Besides, we find that heterogeneous impacts of ambiguity: equity funds with high yield targets and active management style are affected more than funds investing in stable stocks; funds with larger proportion of institutional investors are more sensitive and affected by the ambiguity.

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...

Air-stable complementary-like circuits based on organic ambipolar transistors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anthopoulos, Thomas D.; Setayesh, Sepas; Smits, Edsger; Cantatore, Eugenio; Boer ,de Bert; Blom, Paul W. M.; de Leeuw, Dago M.; Cölle, Michael

2006-01-01

Air stable complementary-like circuits, such as voltage inverters (see figure) and ring oscillators, are fabricated using ambipolar organic transistors based on a nickel dithiolene derivative. In addition to the complementary-like character of the circuits, the technology is very simple and fully

Stable and efficient nitrogen-containing-carbon based electrocatalysts for reactions in energy conversion systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Sicong; Teng, Zhenyuan; Wang, Chengyin; Wang, Guoxiu

2018-05-17

High activity and stability are crucial for practical electrocatalysts used for reactions in fuel cells, metal-air batteries and water electrolysis including ORR, HER, OER and oxidation reactions of formic acid and alcohols. N-C based electrocatalysts have shown promising prospects for catalyzing these reactions, however, there is no systematic review for strategies toward engineering active and stable N-C based electrocatalysts reported by far. Herein, a comprehensive comparison of recently reported N-C based electrocatalysts regarding both electrocatalytic activity and long-term stability is presented. In the first part of this review, relationships between electrocatalytic reactions and element selections for modifying N-C based materials are discussed. Afterwards, synthesis methods for N-C based electrocatalysts are summarized, and synthetic strategies for highly stable N-C based electrocatalysts are presented. Multiple tables containing data on crucial parameters for both electrocatalytic activity and stability are displayed in this review. Finally, constructing M-Nx moieties is proposed as the most promising engineering strategy for stable N-C based electrocatalysts. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

25 CFR 1000.106 - Once a Tribe/Consortium establishes a base budget, are funding amounts renegotiated each year?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Bureau of Indian Affairs Programs Establishing Self-Governance Base Budgets § 1000.106 Once a Tribe... renegotiates funding levels: (a) It must negotiate all funding levels in the AFA using the process for determining residuals and funding amounts on the same basis as other Tribes; and (b) It is eligible for...

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...

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...

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.

Population-based health funding under attack

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The frustrated heads of health in these top-performing three provinces ... buck' results, and for 'funding to follow functionality and service delivery'. The ... benefiting from this system, which puts medicines closer to their homes, with a targeted ...

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...

Modified calcium oxide as stable solid base catalyst for Aldol

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A highly efficient and stable solid-base catalyst for Aldol condensation was prepared by modifying commercial CaO with benzyl bromide in a simple way. It was found that modified CaO can effectively catalyse the Aldol condensation of cyclohexanone and benzaldehyde, as well as various benzaldehydes, to produce ...

Time difference of arrival estimation of microseismic signals based on alpha-stable distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Rui-Sheng; Gong, Yue; Peng, Yan-Jun; Sun, Hong-Mei; Zhang, Xing-Li; Lu, Xin-Ming

2018-05-01

Microseismic signals are generally considered to follow the Gauss distribution. A comparison of the dynamic characteristics of sample variance and the symmetry of microseismic signals with the signals which follow α-stable distribution reveals that the microseismic signals have obvious pulse characteristics and that the probability density curve of the microseismic signal is approximately symmetric. Thus, the hypothesis that microseismic signals follow the symmetric α-stable distribution is proposed. On the premise of this hypothesis, the characteristic exponent α of the microseismic signals is obtained by utilizing the fractional low-order statistics, and then a new method of time difference of arrival (TDOA) estimation of microseismic signals based on fractional low-order covariance (FLOC) is proposed. Upon applying this method to the TDOA estimation of Ricker wavelet simulation signals and real microseismic signals, experimental results show that the FLOC method, which is based on the assumption of the symmetric α-stable distribution, leads to enhanced spatial resolution of the TDOA estimation relative to the generalized cross correlation (GCC) method, which is based on the assumption of the Gaussian distribution.

Norwegian mutual fund performance based on Fama and French´s five-factor model

OpenAIRE

Mustafa, Daniel Amir; Ali, Mohammad Yousaf

2016-01-01

Masteroppgave(MSc) in Master of Science in Finance - Handelshøyskolen BI, 2016 The following paper uses a dataset free of survivorship bias for the period 2002-2011. We investigate whether Norwegian mutual funds possess enough skills to outperform a passive benchmark based on Fama and French’s five-factor model. Our results suggest that the mutual fund industry exhibits significant excess returns on a 10% level in the recent financial crisis. Further, we examine whether the results obtaine...

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...

Adequacy Model for School Funding

Science.gov (United States)

Banicki, Guy; Murphy, Gregg

2014-01-01

This study considers the effectiveness of the Evidence-Based Adequacy model of school funding. In looking at the Evidence-Based Adequacy model for school funding, one researcher has been centrally associated with the development and study of this model. Allen Odden is currently a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy…

Public Health Preparedness Funding: Key Programs and Trends From 2001 to 2017.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Crystal R; Watson, Matthew; Sell, Tara Kirk

2017-09-01

To evaluate trends in funding over the past 16 years for key federal public health preparedness and response programs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, to improve understanding of federal funding history in this area, and to provide context for future resource allocation decisions for public health preparedness. In this 2017 analysis, we examined the funding history of key federal programs critical to public health preparedness by reviewing program budget data collected for our annual examination of federal funding for biodefense and health security programs since fiscal year (FY) 2001. State and local preparedness at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially received $940 million in FY2002 and resulted in significant preparedness gains, but funding levels have since decreased by 31%. Similarly, the Hospital Preparedness Program within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response was funded at a high of $515 million in FY2003, but funding was reduced by 50%. Investments in medical countermeasure development and stockpiling remained relatively stable. The United States has made significant progress in preparing for disasters and advancing public health infrastructure. To enable continued advancement, federal funding commitments must be sustained.

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.

78 FR 36833 - Money Market Fund Reform; Amendments to Form PF

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-19

... popularity. Indeed, the $1.00 stable share price has been one of the fundamental features of money market... funds, ``corporate cash managers and other institutional investors do not view an undiversified holding... research on asset ``fire sales,'' see Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, Fire Sales in Finance and...

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...

40 CFR 35.272 - Funding coordination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Funding coordination. 35.272 Section 35.272 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE....272 Funding coordination. Recipients must use the lead-based paint program funding in a way that...

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.

Using Agent-Based Modeling to Assess Liquidity Mismatch in Open-End Bond Funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald J. Berndt

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a small-scale heterogeneous agent-based model of the US corporate bond market. The model includes a realistic micro-grounded ecology of investors that trade a set of bonds through dealers. Using the model, we simulate market dynamics that emerge from agent behaviors in response to basic exogenous factors (such as interest rate shocks and the introduction of regulatory policies and constraints. A first experiment focuses on the liquidity transformation provided by mutual funds and investigates the conditions under which redemption-driven bond sales may trigger market instability. We simulate the effects of increasing mutual fund market shares in the presence of market-wide repricing of risk (in the form of a 100 basis point increase in the expected returns. The simulations highlight robust-yet-fragile aspects of the growing liquidity transformation provided by mutual funds, with an inflection point beyond which redemption-driven negative feedback loops trigger market instability.

40 CFR 35.691 - Funding coordination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Funding coordination. 35.691 Section 35.691 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE...(g)) § 35.691 Funding coordination. Recipients must use the Lead-Based Paint program funding in a way...

Study on adsorption performance of coal based activated carbon to radioactive iodine and stable iodine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Junbo; Hao, Shan; Gao, Liping; Zhang, Youchen

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The impregnated coal-based activated carbons as adsorbent for removing methyl iodide. • The coal-based activated carbons to remove stable iodine. • Iodine residues are under 0.5 μg/ml after adsorption treatment. • The decontamination factor is much higher than 1000. - Abstract: Nuclear power plant, nuclear reactors and nuclear powered ship exhaust contains a large amount of gaseous radioactive iodine, and can damage to the workplace and the surrounding environment. The quantitative test to remove methyl iodide and the qualitative test for removing stable iodine were investigated using the impregnated coal-based activated carbons and coal-based activated carbons as adsorbents. The research conducted in this work shows that iodine residues were under 0.5 μg/ml after adsorption treatment and the decontamination factor of the coal-based activated carbon for removing the stable iodine was more than 1000, which can achieve the purpose of removing harmful iodine, and satisfy the requirement of gaseous waste treatment of nuclear powered vessel and other nuclear plants

24 CFR 115.306 - Training funds.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Training funds. 115.306 Section 115.306 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban Development OFFICE OF... receive training funds. Training funds are fixed amounts based on the number of agency employees to be...

78 FR 65341 - Discretionary Grant Funds

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-31

... Deviation: Non-Competitive Expansion Supplement Funds to the Healthcare Systems Bureau (HSB). SUMMARY: HRSA... of the Non-Competitive Award: $126,144. CFDA Number: 93.253. Period of Supplemental Funding: 10/1... period that is due to end August 31, 2014. The funding was based on providing services to 50 percent of...

Crowd-Funding: A New Resource Cooperation Mode for Mobile Cloud Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Nan; Yang, Xiaolong; Zhang, Min; Sun, Yan

2016-01-01

Mobile cloud computing, which integrates the cloud computing techniques into the mobile environment, is regarded as one of the enabler technologies for 5G mobile wireless networks. There are many sporadic spare resources distributed within various devices in the networks, which can be used to support mobile cloud applications. However, these devices, with only a few spare resources, cannot support some resource-intensive mobile applications alone. If some of them cooperate with each other and share their resources, then they can support many applications. In this paper, we propose a resource cooperative provision mode referred to as "Crowd-funding", which is designed to aggregate the distributed devices together as the resource provider of mobile applications. Moreover, to facilitate high-efficiency resource management via dynamic resource allocation, different resource providers should be selected to form a stable resource coalition for different requirements. Thus, considering different requirements, we propose two different resource aggregation models for coalition formation. Finally, we may allocate the revenues based on their attributions according to the concept of the "Shapley value" to enable a more impartial revenue share among the cooperators. It is shown that a dynamic and flexible resource-management method can be developed based on the proposed Crowd-funding model, relying on the spare resources in the network.

Crowd-Funding: A New Resource Cooperation Mode for Mobile Cloud Computing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan Zhang

Full Text Available Mobile cloud computing, which integrates the cloud computing techniques into the mobile environment, is regarded as one of the enabler technologies for 5G mobile wireless networks. There are many sporadic spare resources distributed within various devices in the networks, which can be used to support mobile cloud applications. However, these devices, with only a few spare resources, cannot support some resource-intensive mobile applications alone. If some of them cooperate with each other and share their resources, then they can support many applications. In this paper, we propose a resource cooperative provision mode referred to as "Crowd-funding", which is designed to aggregate the distributed devices together as the resource provider of mobile applications. Moreover, to facilitate high-efficiency resource management via dynamic resource allocation, different resource providers should be selected to form a stable resource coalition for different requirements. Thus, considering different requirements, we propose two different resource aggregation models for coalition formation. Finally, we may allocate the revenues based on their attributions according to the concept of the "Shapley value" to enable a more impartial revenue share among the cooperators. It is shown that a dynamic and flexible resource-management method can be developed based on the proposed Crowd-funding model, relying on the spare resources in the network.

An Improvement on the rate calculation method of Nuclear R and D fund

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S. S.; Lee, M. K.; Yun, S. W.; Moon, K. H.

2015-01-01

The research and development activities in nuclear field are needing the continuous and long-term perspectives that requires the stable and the large quantity of financial supports. Viewing from the supply side of nuclear R and D fund, the annual amount levied these days appears to be unstable and difficult to predict because the annual nuclear generation is not stable due to the unexpected changes of nuclear policy and regulatory environments. This can consequently make nuclear R and D activities unstable and the growth potential consequently fetched down. The demand for nuclear R and D shows a continuously increasing trend due to the increase of operating NPPs, the complication and diversification of the surrounding environments related to the whole life cycle of nuclear power operation, and the development of future nuclear technologies. There is a necessity that the existing nuclear R and D fund system would be revised when considering the continuous increase of nuclear R and D activities to be tackled and the beneficiary charge principle. Focusing on the stability of fund and the beneficiary charge, two options besides the existing option are analyzed

An Improvement on the rate calculation method of Nuclear R and D fund

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, S. S.; Lee, M. K.; Yun, S. W.; Moon, K. H. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

The research and development activities in nuclear field are needing the continuous and long-term perspectives that requires the stable and the large quantity of financial supports. Viewing from the supply side of nuclear R and D fund, the annual amount levied these days appears to be unstable and difficult to predict because the annual nuclear generation is not stable due to the unexpected changes of nuclear policy and regulatory environments. This can consequently make nuclear R and D activities unstable and the growth potential consequently fetched down. The demand for nuclear R and D shows a continuously increasing trend due to the increase of operating NPPs, the complication and diversification of the surrounding environments related to the whole life cycle of nuclear power operation, and the development of future nuclear technologies. There is a necessity that the existing nuclear R and D fund system would be revised when considering the continuous increase of nuclear R and D activities to be tackled and the beneficiary charge principle. Focusing on the stability of fund and the beneficiary charge, two options besides the existing option are analyzed.

Grading the Metrics: Performance-Based Funding in the Florida State University System

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelius, Luke M.; Cavanaugh, Terence W.

2016-01-01

A policy analysis of Florida's 10-factor Performance-Based Funding system for state universities. The focus of the article is on the system of performance metrics developed by the state Board of Governors and their impact on institutions and their missions. The paper also discusses problems and issues with the metrics, their ongoing evolution, and…

76 FR 35138 - Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Funding and Fiscal Affairs; Farmer Mac Risk-Based...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-16

... Funding and Fiscal Affairs; Farmer Mac Risk-Based Capital Stress Test, Version 5.0 AGENCY: Farm Credit... credit rating agency) in regulations addressing the Risk-Based Capital Stress Test (RBCST or stress test...) (repealing and replacing Pub. L. 110-234). B. Risk-Based Capital and Credit Ratings Under our rules, Farmer...

Stable isotope labeling strategy based on coding theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kasai, Takuma; Koshiba, Seizo; Yokoyama, Jun; Kigawa, Takanori, E-mail: kigawa@riken.jp [RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center (QBiC), Laboratory for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics (Japan)

2015-10-15

We describe a strategy for stable isotope-aided protein nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, called stable isotope encoding. The basic idea of this strategy is that amino-acid selective labeling can be considered as “encoding and decoding” processes, in which the information of amino acid type is encoded by the stable isotope labeling ratio of the corresponding residue and it is decoded by analyzing NMR spectra. According to the idea, the strategy can diminish the required number of labelled samples by increasing information content per sample, enabling discrimination of 19 kinds of non-proline amino acids with only three labeled samples. The idea also enables this strategy to combine with information technologies, such as error detection by check digit, to improve the robustness of analyses with low quality data. Stable isotope encoding will facilitate NMR analyses of proteins under non-ideal conditions, such as those in large complex systems, with low-solubility, and in living cells.

Stable isotope labeling strategy based on coding theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasai, Takuma; Koshiba, Seizo; Yokoyama, Jun; Kigawa, Takanori

2015-01-01

We describe a strategy for stable isotope-aided protein nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, called stable isotope encoding. The basic idea of this strategy is that amino-acid selective labeling can be considered as “encoding and decoding” processes, in which the information of amino acid type is encoded by the stable isotope labeling ratio of the corresponding residue and it is decoded by analyzing NMR spectra. According to the idea, the strategy can diminish the required number of labelled samples by increasing information content per sample, enabling discrimination of 19 kinds of non-proline amino acids with only three labeled samples. The idea also enables this strategy to combine with information technologies, such as error detection by check digit, to improve the robustness of analyses with low quality data. Stable isotope encoding will facilitate NMR analyses of proteins under non-ideal conditions, such as those in large complex systems, with low-solubility, and in living cells

The Massachusetts Community College Performance-Based Funding Formula: A New Model for New England?

Science.gov (United States)

Salomon-Fernandez, Yves

2014-01-01

The Massachusetts community college system is entering a second year with funding for each of its 15 schools determined using a new performance-based formula. Under the new model, 50% of each college's allocation is based on performance on metrics related to enrollment and student success, with added incentives for "at-risk" students…

Stable haptic feedback based on a Dynamic Vision Sensor for Microrobotics.

OpenAIRE

Bolopion , Aude; Ni , Zhenjiang; Agnus , Joël; Benosman , Ryad; Régnier , Stéphane

2012-01-01

International audience; This work presents a stable vision based haptic feedback for micromanipulation using both an asynchronous Address Event Representation (AER) silicon retina and a conventional frame-based camera. At this scale, most of the grippers used to manipulate objects lack of force sensing. High frequency vision detection thus provides a sound solution to get information about the position of the object and the tool to provide virtual haptic guides. Artificial retinas present hig...

Mutual Fund Competition and Stock Market Liquidity

OpenAIRE

Massa, Massimo

2004-01-01

We study how competition in the mutual fund industry affects stock market liquidity. We argue that mutual fund families operate as multi-product firms, jointly choosing fees, performance and number of funds and sharing common research facilities. The family-based organization generates economies of scale in information that induce a trade off between performance and number of funds. The presence of more and relatively less-informed funds impacts the market, increasing stock liquidity. This in...

The effectiveness of community-based loan funds for transport during obstetric emergencies in developing countries: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nwolise, Chidiebere Hope; Hussein, Julia; Kanguru, Lovney; Bell, Jacqueline; Patel, Purvi

2015-09-01

Scarcity and costs of transport have been implicated as key barriers to accessing care when obstetric emergencies occur in community settings. Community-based loans have been used to increase utilization of health facilities and potentially reduce maternal mortality by providing funding at community level to provide emergency transport. This review aimed to provide evidence of the effect of community-based loan funds on utilization of health facilities and reduction of maternal mortality in developing countries. Electronic databases of published literature and websites were searched for relevant literature using a pre-defined set of search terms, inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screening of titles, abstracts and full-text articles were done by at least two reviewers independently. Quality assessment was carried out on the selected papers. Data related to deliveries and obstetric complications attended at facilities, maternal deaths and live births were extracted to measure and compare the effects of community-based loan funds using odds ratios (ORs) and reductions in maternal mortality ratio. Forest plots are presented where possible. The results of the review show that groups where community-based loan funds were implemented (alongside other interventions) generally recorded increases in utilization of health facilities for deliveries, with ORs of 3.5 (0.97-15.48) and 3.55 (1.56-8.05); and an increase in utilization of emergency obstetric care with ORs of 2.22 (0.51-10.38) and 3.37 (1.78-6.37). Intervention groups also experienced a positive effect on met need for complications and a reduction in maternal mortality. There is some evidence to suggest that community-based loan funds as part of a multifaceted intervention have positive effects. Conclusions are limited by challenges of study design and bias. Further studies which strengthen the evidence of the effects of loan funds, and mechanism for their functionality, are recommended. Published by Oxford

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

Funding breakthrough therapies: A systematic review and recommendation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanna, E; Toumi, M; Dussart, C; Borissov, B; Dabbous, O; Badora, K; Auquier, P

2018-03-01

Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) are innovative therapies likely associated with high prices. Payers need guidance to create a balance between ensuring patient access to breakthrough therapies and maintaining the financial sustainability of the healthcare system. The aims of this study were to identify, define, classify and compare the approaches to funding high-cost medicines proposed in the literature, to analyze their appropriateness for ATMP funding and to suggest an optimal funding model for ATMPs. Forty-eight articles suggesting new funding models for innovative high-cost therapies were identified. The models were classified into 3 groups: financial agreement, health outcomes-based agreement and healthcoin. Financial agreement encompassed: discounts, rebates, price and volume caps, price-volume agreements, loans, cost-plus price, intellectual-based payment and fund-based payment. Health outcomes-based agreements were defined as agreements between manufacturers and payers based on drug performance, and were divided into performance-based payment and coverage with evidence development. Healthcoin described a new suggested tradeable currency used to assign monetary value to incremental outcomes. With a large number of ATMPs in development, it is time for stakeholders to start thinking about new pathways and funding strategies for these innovative high-cost therapies. An "ATMP-specific fund" may constitute a reasonable solution to ensure rapid patient access to innovation without threatening the sustainability of the health care system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extramural Research Grants and Scientists’ Funding Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grimpe, Christoph

2012-01-01

Although competitive funding of public research has been characterised as providing output incentives that raise efficiency and productivity, we know very little about whether the quality of a scientist’s research is in fact the primary award criterion on which funding bodies base their grant...... decision. This paper provides insights into scientists’ strategies for obtaining project-based research funding in the presence of multiple funding opportunities. It draws a distinction between four types of grants, including the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6......), government, foundation, and industry grants. Based on a sample of more than 800 scientists at universities and public research institutes in Germany, the results indicate that scientist productivity measured in terms of publication and patent stock is a statistically significant determinant only...

The future of producing separated stable isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for accelerator applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, E.D.

1994-01-01

Separated stable isotopes, produced in the calutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are essential target materials for production of numerous radioisotopes in accelerators and reactors. Recently, separated stable isotope production has been curtailed because government appropriations were discontinued and salts revenues decreased. The calutrons were placed in standby and the operating staff reduced to enable support by sales from existing inventories. Appeals were made to industry and government to preserve this national capability. Methods for providing volume-based price reductions were created to attract support from commercial isotope users. In 1994, the Department of Energy's Isotope Production and Distribution Program was restructured and a strategy produced to seek appropriated funding for the future production of rare, nonprofitable isotopes for research uses. This strategy, together with new demands for medical isotopes, will enable future operation of the calutrons. Moreover, production may be enhanced by complementing calutron capabilities with the Plasma Separation Process

Development of a mission-based funding model for undergraduate medical education: incorporation of quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Stagnaro-Green, Alex; Roe, David; Soto-Greene, Maria; Joffe, Russell

2008-01-01

Increasing financial pressures, along with a desire to realign resources with institutional priorities, has resulted in the adoption of mission-based funding (MBF) at many medical schools. The lack of inclusion of quality and the time and expense in developing and implementing mission based funding are major deficiencies in the models reported to date. In academic year 2002-2003 New Jersey Medical School developed a model that included both quantity and quality in the education metric and that was departmentally based. Eighty percent of the undergraduate medical education allocation was based on the quantity of undergraduate medical education taught by the department ($7.35 million), and 20% ($1.89 million) was allocated based on the quality of the education delivered. Quality determinations were made by the educational leadership based on student evaluations and departmental compliance with educational administrative requirements. Evolution of the model has included the development of a faculty oversight committee and the integration of peer evaluation in the determination of educational quality. Six departments had a documented increase in quality over time, and one department had a transient decrease in quality. The MBF model has been well accepted by chairs, educational leaders, and faculty and has been instrumental in enhancing the stature of education at our institution.

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

Shifting the lens: the introduction of population-based funding in Alberta.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Neale; Church, John

2008-01-01

This paper offers a detailed historical description of the development of Alberta's population-based funding model for Regional Health Authorities (RHAs). It focuses on key political factors that may have facilitated this transition--in particular, the role of institutions, organized interests, and ideas and values. Understanding the politics of policy change as exemplified in this case can be useful in assessing future prospects for health system reform in Canada and laying the groundwork for further comparative study.

The Persistence of Mutual Fund Performance.

OpenAIRE

Grinblatt, Mark; Titman, Sheridan

1992-01-01

This paper analyzes how mutual fund performance relates to past performance. These tests are based on a multiple portfolio benchmark that was formed on the basis of securities characteristics. The authors find evidence that differences in performance between funds persist over time and that this persistence is consistent with the ability of fund managers to earn abnormal returns. Copyright 1992 by American Finance Association.

Using Data From Ontario's Episode-Based Funding Model to Assess Quality of Chemotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaizer, Leonard; Simanovski, Vicky; Lalonde, Carlin; Tariq, Huma; Blais, Irene; Evans, William K

2016-10-01

A new episode-based funding model for ambulatory systemic therapy was implemented in Ontario, Canada on April 1, 2014, after a comprehensive knowledge transfer and exchange strategy with providers and administrators. An analysis of the data from the first year of the new funding model provided an opportunity to assess the quality of chemotherapy, which was not possible under the old funding model. Options for chemotherapy regimens given with adjuvant/curative intent or palliative intent were informed by input from disease site groups. Bundles were developed and priced to enable evidence-informed best practice. Analysis of systemic therapy utilization after model implementation was performed to assess the concordance rate of the treatments chosen with recommended practice. The actual number of cycles of treatment delivered was also compared with expert recommendations. Significant improvement compared with baseline was seen in the proportion of adjuvant/curative regimens that aligned with disease site group-recommended options (98% v 90%). Similar improvement was seen for palliative regimens (94% v 89%). However, overall, the number of cycles of adjuvant/curative therapy delivered was lower than recommended best practice in 57.5% of patients. There was significant variation by disease site and between facilities. Linking funding to quality, supported by knowledge transfer and exchange, resulted in a rapid improvement in the quality of systemic treatment in Ontario. This analysis has also identified further opportunities for improvement and the need for model refinement.

DIA2: Web-based Cyberinfrastructure for Visual Analysis of Funding Portfolios.

Science.gov (United States)

Madhavan, Krishna; Elmqvist, Niklas; Vorvoreanu, Mihaela; Chen, Xin; Wong, Yuetling; Xian, Hanjun; Dong, Zhihua; Johri, Aditya

2014-12-01

We present a design study of the Deep Insights Anywhere, Anytime (DIA2) platform, a web-based visual analytics system that allows program managers and academic staff at the U.S. National Science Foundation to search, view, and analyze their research funding portfolio. The goal of this system is to facilitate users' understanding of both past and currently active research awards in order to make more informed decisions of their future funding. This user group is characterized by high domain expertise yet not necessarily high literacy in visualization and visual analytics-they are essentially casual experts-and thus require careful visual and information design, including adhering to user experience standards, providing a self-instructive interface, and progressively refining visualizations to minimize complexity. We discuss the challenges of designing a system for casual experts and highlight how we addressed this issue by modeling the organizational structure and workflows of the NSF within our system. We discuss each stage of the design process, starting with formative interviews, prototypes, and finally live deployments and evaluation with stakeholders.

Stable integrated hyper-parametric oscillator based on coupled optical microcavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Armaroli, Andrea; Feron, Patrice; Dumeige, Yannick

2015-12-01

We propose a flexible scheme based on three coupled optical microcavities that permits us to achieve stable oscillations in the microwave range, the frequency of which depends only on the cavity coupling rates. We find that the different dynamical regimes (soft and hard excitation) affect the oscillation intensity, but not their periods. This configuration may permit us to implement compact hyper-parametric sources on an integrated optical circuit with interesting applications in communications, sensing, and metrology.

Mudaraba-Venture Capital Closed-end Mutual Funds and Mudaraba-Venture Capital Open-end Mutual Funds

OpenAIRE

Halil Ibrahim Bulut

2008-01-01

The important part of this study attempts to explain that both venture capital and interest-free financing are based on similar ground, if not the same. Two new models called Mudaraba-Venture Capital Closed-End Mutual Funds and Mudaraba-Venture Capital Open-End Mutual Funds, based on both the similarities and the needs of financial innovation in the interest-free financing system, are detailed. It is believed that the development of these two models could make some improvements not only in th...

Towards Stable Adversarial Feature Learning for LiDAR based Loop Closure Detection

OpenAIRE

Xu, Lingyun; Yin, Peng; Luo, Haibo; Liu, Yunhui; Han, Jianda

2017-01-01

Stable feature extraction is the key for the Loop closure detection (LCD) task in the simultaneously localization and mapping (SLAM) framework. In our paper, the feature extraction is operated by using a generative adversarial networks (GANs) based unsupervised learning. GANs are powerful generative models, however, GANs based adversarial learning suffers from training instability. We find that the data-code joint distribution in the adversarial learning is a more complex manifold than in the...

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

Reforming Long-Term Care Funding in Alberta.

Science.gov (United States)

Crump, R Trafford; Repin, Nadya; Sutherland, Jason M

2015-01-01

Like many provinces across Canada, Alberta is facing growing demand for long-term care. Issues with the mixed funding model used to pay long-term care providers had Alberta Health Services concerned that it was not efficiently meeting the demand for long-term care. Consequently, in 2010, Alberta Health Services introduced the patient/care-based funding (PCBF) model. PCBF is similar to activity-based funding in that it directly ties the complexity and care needs of long-term care residents to the payment received by long-term care providers. This review describes PCBF and discusses some of its strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, this review is intended to inform other provinces faced with similar long-term care challenges and contemplating their own funding reforms.

[Research progress on food sources and food web structure of wetlands based on stable isotopes].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhan Yan; Wu, Hai Tao; Wang, Yun Biao; Lyu, Xian Guo

2017-07-18

The trophic dynamics of wetland organisms is the basis of assessing wetland structure and function. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen have been widely applied to identify trophic relationships in food source, food composition and food web transport in wetland ecosystem studies. This paper provided an overall review about the current methodology of isotope mixing model and trophic level in wetland ecosystems, and discussed the standards of trophic fractionation and baseline. Moreover, we characterized the typical food sources and isotopic compositions of wetland ecosystems, summarized the food sources in different trophic levels of herbivores, omnivores and carnivores based on stable isotopic analyses. We also discussed the limitations of stable isotopes in tra-cing food sources and in constructing food webs. Based on the current results, development trends and upcoming requirements, future studies should focus on sample treatment, conservation and trophic enrichment measurement in the wetland food web, as well as on combing a variety of methodologies including traditional stomach stuffing, molecular markers, and multiple isotopes.

45 CFR 2516.700 - What matching funds are required?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOOL-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS Funding Requirements § 2516.700 What matching funds... for that share through State sources, local sources, or Federal sources (other than funds made...

Unconventional funding of urban public transport

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ubbels, B.J.; Nijkamp, P.

2002-01-01

In the past decade public authorities have developed a wealth of creative funding mechanisms to support transit systems. This paper offers a taxonomy of various unconventional funding mechanisms (i.e. outside the domain of charges for transit passengers or general taxation schemes), based on a

Funding in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Juan Luis

2006-01-01

billing throughout the entire electricity sector. For other producers, tariffs for services rendered. General Radioactive Plan (June 2004 Rev.), Economic and Financial Aspects: The total amount obtained electricity tariff, plus the corresponding financial yield, shall cover the following costs: The management of radioactive wastes generated during electricity production by nuclear means from the origin. The management of radioactive wastes arising from research activities that, in the opinion of the Ministry of Economy, have been directly related to electricity production by nuclear means. The D and D of nuclear electricity generating facilities, as well as management of the resulting radioactive wastes. The D and D operations carried out as a result of uranium mining and milling activities performed prior to the constitution of ENRESA Other costs to be incurred by ENRESA for the performance of its missions in relation to the activities set out above. Financial Parameters: The Fund has to be provided during the operating lifetime of the nuclear power plants. The Fund includes provisions for waste/spent fuel management and decommissioning. The Fund required is based on Discounted Costs (Base Year: 1999, Inflation Rate: 2%, Discount Rate: 2.5%)

DNA-based stable isotope probing: a link between community structure and function

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Uhlík, Ondřej; Ječná, K.; Leigh, M. B.; Macková, Martina; Macek, Tomáš

2009-01-01

Roč. 407, č. 12 (2009), s. 3611-3619 ISSN 0048-9697 Grant - others:GA MŠk(CZ) 2B08031 Program:2B Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40550506 Keywords : DNA-based stable isotope probing * microbial diversity * bioremediation Subject RIV: EI - Biotechnology ; Bionics Impact factor: 2.905, year: 2009

Interactions between Energy Efficiency Programs funded under the Recovery Act and Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldman, Charles A.; Stuart, Elizabeth; Hoffman, Ian; Fuller, Merrian C.; Billingsley, Megan A.

2011-02-25

Since the spring of 2009, billions of federal dollars have been allocated to state and local governments as grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and programs. The scale of this American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding, focused on 'shovel-ready' projects to create and retain jobs, is unprecedented. Thousands of newly funded players - cities, counties, states, and tribes - and thousands of programs and projects are entering the existing landscape of energy efficiency programs for the first time or expanding their reach. The nation's experience base with energy efficiency is growing enormously, fed by federal dollars and driven by broader objectives than saving energy alone. State and local officials made countless choices in developing portfolios of ARRA-funded energy efficiency programs and deciding how their programs would relate to existing efficiency programs funded by utility customers. Those choices are worth examining as bellwethers of a future world where there may be multiple program administrators and funding sources in many states. What are the opportunities and challenges of this new environment? What short- and long-term impacts will this large, infusion of funds have on utility customer-funded programs; for example, on infrastructure for delivering energy efficiency services or on customer willingness to invest in energy efficiency? To what extent has the attribution of energy savings been a critical issue, especially where administrators of utility customer-funded energy efficiency programs have performance or shareholder incentives? Do the new ARRA-funded energy efficiency programs provide insights on roles or activities that are particularly well-suited to state and local program administrators vs. administrators or implementers of utility customer-funded programs? The answers could have important implications for the future of U.S. energy efficiency. This report focuses on a selected set of ARRA-funded

Wall-crossing between stable and co-stable ADHM data

Science.gov (United States)

Ohkawa, Ryo

2018-06-01

We prove formula between Nekrasov partition functions defined from stable and co-stable ADHM data for the plane following method by Nakajima and Yoshioka (Kyoto J Math 51(2):263-335, 2011) based on the theory of wall-crossing formula developed by Mochizuki (Donaldson type invariants for algebraic surfaces: transition of moduli stacks, Lecture notes in mathematics, vol 1972, Springer, Berlin, 2009). This formula is similar to conjectures by Ito et al. [J High Energy Phys 2013(5):045, 2013, (4.1), (4.2)] for A1 singularity.

Mechanical Properties of Stable Glasses Using Nanoindentation

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Sarah; Liu, Tianyi; Jiang, Yijie; Ablajan, Keyume; Zhang, Yue; Walsh, Patrick; Turner, Kevin; Fakhraai, Zahra

Glasses with enhanced stability over ordinary, liquid quenched glasses have been formed via the process of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) by using a sufficiently slow deposition rate and a substrate temperature slightly below the glass transition temperature. These stable glasses have been shown to exhibit higher density, lower enthalpy, and better kinetic stability over ordinary glass, and are typically optically birefringent, due to packing and orientational anisotropy. Given these exceptional properties, it is of interest to further investigate how the properties of stable glasses compare to those of ordinary glass. In particular, the mechanical properties of stable glasses remain relatively under-investigated. While the speed of sound and elastic moduli have been shown to increase with increased stability, little is known about their hardness and fracture toughness compared to ordinary glasses. In this study, glasses of 9-(3,5-di(naphthalen-1-yl)phenyl)anthracene were deposited at varying temperatures relative to their glass transition temperature, and their mechanical properties measured by nanoindentation. Hardness and elastic modulus of the glasses were compared across substrate temperatures. After indentation, the topography of these films were studied using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in order to further compare the relationship between thermodynamic and kinetic stability and mechanical failure. Z.F. and P.W. acknowledge funding from NSF(DMREF-1628407).

CPD Cross-Program Funding Matrix and Dashboard

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — These matrices and dashboards provide funding information for each city and state that receives CPD Program funds, in a place-based format. The reports detail the...

Philanthropy as a source of funding for nursing initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinpell, Ruth M; Start, Rachel; McIntosh, Erik; Worobec, Sophia; Llewellyn, Jane

2014-01-01

Nurse leaders are challenged with ensuring that research and evidence-based practices are being integrated into clinical care. Initiatives such as the Magnet Recognition Program have helped reinforce the importance of advancing nursing practices to integrate best practices, conduct quality improvement initiatives, improve performance metrics, and involve bedside nurses in conducting research and evidence-based practice projects. While seeking research funding is an option for some initiatives, other strategies such as seeking funding from grateful patients or from philanthropic resources are becoming important options for nurse leaders to pursue, as the availability of funding from traditional sources such as professional organizations or federal funding becomes more limited. In addition, more institutions are seeking and applying for funding, increasing the pool of candidates who are vying for existing funding. Seeking alternative sources of funding, such as through philanthropy, becomes a viable option. This article reviews important considerations in seeking funding from philanthropic sources for nursing initiatives. Examples from a multiyear project that focused on promoting a healthy work environment and improving nursing morale are used to highlight strategies that were used to solicit, obtain, and secure extension funding from private foundation funding to support the initiative.

75 FR 3647 - Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Funding and Fiscal Affairs; Risk-Based Capital...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-22

... Funding and Fiscal Affairs; Risk-Based Capital Requirements AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. ACTION... further directed FCA to estimate the credit risk on the portfolio covered by this new authority at a rate... component to directly recognize the credit risk on such loans.\\4\\ At the time of the Farm Bill's enactment...

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

Normal modified stable processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole Eiler; Shephard, N.

2002-01-01

Gaussian (NGIG) laws. The wider framework thus established provides, in particular, for added flexibility in the modelling of the dynamics of financial time series, of importance especially as regards OU based stochastic volatility models for equities. In the special case of the tempered stable OU process......This paper discusses two classes of distributions, and stochastic processes derived from them: modified stable (MS) laws and normal modified stable (NMS) laws. This extends corresponding results for the generalised inverse Gaussian (GIG) and generalised hyperbolic (GH) or normal generalised inverse...

Tunable Stable Levitation Based on Casimir Interaction between Nanostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xianglei; Zhang, Zhuomin M.

2016-03-01

Quantum levitation enabled by repulsive Casimir force has been desirable due to the potential exciting applications in passive-suspension devices and frictionless bearings. In this paper, dynamically tunable stable levitation is theoretically demonstrated based on the configuration of dissimilar gratings separated by an intervening fluid using exact scattering theory. The levitation position is insensitive to temperature variations and can be actively tuned by adjusting the lateral displacement between the two gratings. This work investigates the possibility of applying quantum Casimir interactions into macroscopic mechanical devices working in a noncontact and low-friction environment for controlling the position or transducing lateral movement into vertical displacement at the nanoscale.

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...

Securing funds for health promotion: lessons from health promotion foundations based on experiences from Austria, Australia, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Schang, Laura K; Czabanowska, Katarzyna M; Lin, Vivian

2012-06-01

Worldwide, countries face the challenge of securing funds for health promotion. To address this issue, some governments have established health promotion foundations, which are statutory bodies with long-term and recurrent public resources. This article draws on experiences from Austria, Australia, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland to illustrate four lessons learned from the foundation model to secure funding for health promotion. These lessons are concerned with: (i) the broad spectrum of potential revenue sources for health promotion foundations within national contexts; (ii) legislative anchoring of foundation revenues as a base for financial sustainability; (iii) co-financing as a means to increase funds and shared commitment for health promotion; (iv) complementarity of foundations to existing funding. Synthesizing the lessons, we discuss health promotion foundations in relation to wider concerns for investment in health based on the values of sustainability, solidarity and stewardship. We recommend policy-makers and researchers take notice of health promotion foundations as an alternative model for securing funds for health promotion, and appreciate their potential for integrating inter-sectoral revenue collection and inter-sectoral funding strategies. However, health promotion foundations are not a magic bullet. They also pose challenges to coordination and public sector stewardship. Therefore, health promotion foundations will need to act in concert with other governance instruments as part of a wider societal agenda for investment in health.

Stable isotopes in Lithuanian bioarcheological material

Science.gov (United States)

Skipityte, Raminta; Jankauskas, Rimantas; Remeikis, Vidmantas

2015-04-01

Investigation of bioarcheological material of ancient human populations allows us to understand the subsistence behavior associated with various adaptations to the environment. Feeding habits are essential to the survival and growth of ancient populations. Stable isotope analysis is accepted tool in paleodiet (Schutkowski et al, 1999) and paleoenvironmental (Zernitskaya et al, 2014) studies. However, stable isotopes can be useful not only in investigating human feeding habits but also in describing social and cultural structure of the past populations (Le Huray and Schutkowski, 2005). Only few stable isotope investigations have been performed before in Lithuanian region suggesting a quite uniform diet between males and females and protein intake from freshwater fish and animal protein. Previously, stable isotope analysis has only been used to study a Stone Age population however, more recently studies have been conducted on Iron Age and Late medieval samples (Jacobs et al, 2009). Anyway, there was a need for more precise examination. Stable isotope analysis were performed on human bone collagen and apatite samples in this study. Data represented various ages (from 5-7th cent. to 18th cent.). Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on medieval populations indicated that individuals in studied sites in Lithuania were almost exclusively consuming C3 plants, C3 fed terrestrial animals, and some freshwater resources. Current investigation demonstrated social differences between elites and country people and is promising in paleodietary and daily life reconstruction. Acknowledgement I thank prof. dr. G. Grupe, Director of the Anthropological and Palaeoanatomical State Collection in Munich for providing the opportunity to work in her laboratory. The part of this work was funded by DAAD. Antanaitis-Jacobs, Indre, et al. "Diet in early Lithuanian prehistory and the new stable isotope evidence." Archaeologia Baltica 12 (2009): 12-30. Le Huray, Jonathan D., and Holger

A Stable-Matching-Based User Linking Method with User Preference Order

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuzhong Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the development of social networks, more and more users choose to use multiple accounts from different networks to meet their needs. Linking a particular user’s multiple accounts not only can improve user’s experience of the net-services such as recommender system, but also plays a significant role in network security. However, multiple accounts of the same user are often not directly linked to each other, and further, the privacy policy provided by the service provider makes it harder to find accounts for a particular user. In this paper, we propose a stable-matching-based method with user preference order for the problem of low accuracy of user linking in cross-media sparse data. Different from the traditional way which just calculates the similarity of accounts, we take full account of the mutual influence among multiple accounts by regarding different networks as bilateral (multilateral market and user linking as a stable matching problem in such a market. Based on the combination of Game-Theoretic Machine Learning and Pairwise, a novel user linking method has been proposed. The experiment shows that our method has a 21.6% improvement in accuracy compared with the traditional linking method and a further increase of about 7.8% after adding the prior knowledge.

Categorical Funds: The Intersection of School Finance and Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Joanna; Gasparian, Hovanes; Perry, Nicholas; Capinpin, Fatima

2013-01-01

How a state chooses to design its system of funding schools is ultimately a question of education governance, determining who--state policymakers, school districts, or school principals--gets to make the decisions about how and where funding is spent. States have two primary ways of funding schools: the foundation, or base funding that is intended…

Funding bombshell hits UK physics

Science.gov (United States)

Banks, Michael; Durrani, Matin

2008-01-01

Physicists and astronomers in the UK are coming to terms with a massive funding crisis that engulfed one of the country's main funding agencies last month. As a result of an £80m black hole in the budget of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), it has decided to stop funding research into the International Linear Collider (ILC), withdraw from the Gemini telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, and cease all support for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy and ground-based solar-terrestrial physics. Research grants in particle physics and astronomy could also be cut by up to 25%, which may lead to job losses at university departments.

How does outcome-based funding affect service delivery? An analysis of consequences within employment services for people living with serious mental illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Gewurtz, Rebecca E; Cott, Cheryl; Rush, Brian; Kirsh, Bonnie

2015-01-01

This paper explores the impact of outcome-based funding on service delivery within employment services for people with serious mental illness. It draws on a case study of a policy change in the provincial disability support program in Ontario, Canada where funding for employment programs and services was changed from a fee-for-service to an outcome-based model. The findings highlight that the financial imperative for programs to meet employment targets in order to secure their funding has shifted the focus away from the provision of pre-employment supports to job development and job placements. However, there remains little attention to job matching and career development, and there is concern about access to services among those with complex barriers to employment. There is a need to reconcile tensions between the goals of outcome-based funding and on-the-ground service delivery to promote ongoing innovation in employment services for people with serious mental illness.

Stable isotope separation in calutrons: Forty years of production and distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, W.A.; Tracy, J.G.

1987-11-01

The stable isotope separation program, established in 1945, has operated continually to provide enriched stable isotopes and selected radioactive isotopes, including the actinides, for use in research, medicine, and industrial applications. This report summarizes the first forty years of effort in the production and distribution of stable isotopes. Evolution of the program along with the research and development, chemical processing, and production efforts are highlighted. A total of 3.86 million separator hours has been utilized to separate 235 isotopes of 56 elements. Relative effort expended toward processing each of these elements is shown. Collection rates (mg/separator h), which vary by a factor of 20,000 from the highest to the lowest ( 205 Tl to 46 Ca), and the attainable isotopic purity for each isotope are presented. Policies related to isotope pricing, isotope distribution, and support for the enrichment program are discussed. Changes in government funding, coupled with large variations in sales revenue, have resulted in 7-fold perturbations in production levels

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.

Stable isotopic labeling-based quantitative targeted glycomics (i-QTaG).

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyoung-Jin; Kim, Yoon-Woo; Kim, Yun-Gon; Park, Hae-Min; Jin, Jang Mi; Hwan Kim, Young; Yang, Yung-Hun; Kyu Lee, Jun; Chung, Junho; Lee, Sun-Gu; Saghatelian, Alan

2015-01-01

Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis combined with stable isotopic labeling is a promising method for the relative quantification of aberrant glycosylation in diseases and disorders. We developed a stable isotopic labeling-based quantitative targeted glycomics (i-QTaG) technique for the comparative and quantitative analysis of total N-glycans using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). We established the analytical procedure with the chemical derivatizations (i.e., sialic acid neutralization and stable isotopic labeling) of N-glycans using a model glycoprotein (bovine fetuin). Moreover, the i-QTaG using MALDI-TOF MS was evaluated with various molar ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:5) of (13) C6 /(12) C6 -2-aminobenzoic acid-labeled glycans from normal human serum. Finally, this method was applied to direct comparison of the total N-glycan profiles between normal human sera (n = 8) and prostate cancer patient sera (n = 17). The intensities of the N-glycan peaks from i-QTaG method showed a good linearity (R(2) > 0.99) with the amount of the bovine fetuin glycoproteins. The ratios of relative intensity between the isotopically 2-AA labeled N-glycans were close to the theoretical molar ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:5). We also demonstrated that the up-regulation of the Lewis antigen (~82%) in sera from prostate cancer patients. In this proof-of-concept study, we demonstrated that the i-QTaG method, which enables to achieve a reliable comparative quantitation of total N-glycans via MALDI-TOF MS analysis, has the potential to diagnose and monitor alterations in glycosylation associated with disease states or biotherapeutics. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Stable 1-Norm Error Minimization Based Linear Predictors for Speech Modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giacobello, Daniele; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Tobias Lindstrøm

2014-01-01

In linear prediction of speech, the 1-norm error minimization criterion has been shown to provide a valid alternative to the 2-norm minimization criterion. However, unlike 2-norm minimization, 1-norm minimization does not guarantee the stability of the corresponding all-pole filter and can generate...... saturations when this is used to synthesize speech. In this paper, we introduce two new methods to obtain intrinsically stable predictors with the 1-norm minimization. The first method is based on constraining the roots of the predictor to lie within the unit circle by reducing the numerical range...... based linear prediction for modeling and coding of speech....

The State's Role in Addressing the School Facility Funding Crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sielke, Catherine C.

2000-01-01

Between 1994 and 1998, capital outlay funding bills for school facilities, tax bases, and taxation bills experienced the greatest growth in state legislative activity. This article discusses the reasons for increased funding activity, various state-aid mechanisms to fund capital outlay, and future capital funding directions. (MLH)

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.

Highly air stable passivation of graphene based field effect devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagade, Abhay A; Neumaier, Daniel; Schall, Daniel; Otto, Martin; Pesquera, Amaia; Centeno, Alba; Elorza, Amaia Zurutuza; Kurz, Heinrich

2015-02-28

The sensitivity of graphene based devices to surface adsorbates and charge traps at the graphene/dielectric interface requires proper device passivation in order to operate them reproducibly under ambient conditions. Here we report on the use of atomic layer deposited aluminum oxide as passivation layer on graphene field effect devices (GFETs). We show that successful passivation produce hysteresis free DC characteristics, low doping level GFETs stable over weeks though operated and stored in ambient atmosphere. This is achieved by selecting proper seed layer prior to deposition of encapsulation layer. The passivated devices are also demonstrated to be robust towards the exposure to chemicals and heat treatments, typically used during device fabrication. Additionally, the passivation of high stability and reproducible characteristics is also shown for functional devices like integrated graphene based inverters.

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.

Infrared Spectroscopy and Stable Isotope Geochemistry of Hydrous Silicate Glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stolper, Edward

2007-03-05

The focus of this DOE-funded project has been the study of volatile components in magmas and the atmosphere. Over the twenty-one year period of this project, we have used experimental petrology and stable isotope geochemistry to study the behavior and properties of volatile components dissolved in silicate minerals and melts and glasses. More recently, we have also studied the concentration and isotopic composition of CO2 in the atmosphere, especially in relation to air quality issues in the Los Angeles basin.

Crowdfunding as an Alternative Means for Funding Sustainable Appropriate Technology: Acceptance Determinants of Backers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Younghwan Moon

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The research and development as well as the propagation of sustainable, appropriate technology requires the availability of stable funding. Crowdfunding is a form of funding whereby small sums of investments or contributions are collected from the general public and used to finance the development of goods or services. This method has been widely used in the arts and cultural fields and presents a useful alternative means by which to fund appropriate technology projects. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that influence backers who participate in appropriate technology projects through crowdfunding platforms, analyze the connections among these factors, and thereby establish the usefulness of crowdfunding as a viable new funding alternative. Results indicate that the key factors influencing user intention to crowdfund appropriate technology projects include social influence, effort expectancy, and perceived trust. In comparison to the findings of previous studies, performance expectancy was not found to have a significant effect. When compared to crowdfunding conducted in other fields, these results suggest that crowdfunding for appropriate technology is closer in nature to donations. Accordingly, for funding of these projects to be successful, aggressive online exposure using the social network service (SNS of backers should be pursued from the earliest stages of funding.

Hedge Funds and Risk-Decoupling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringe, Georg

2013-01-01

The law must remain adaptive and responsive to the constantly changing challenges of our society and our business life. One of the most pressing challenges of the past years is the emergence of alternative investment funds, in particular hedge funds, which masterfully exploit the traditional cate...... to the traditional market expectations of shareholders. Based on the insight developed from these policy perspectives, this article develops regulatory reform proposals, particularly with regard to the EU context.......The law must remain adaptive and responsive to the constantly changing challenges of our society and our business life. One of the most pressing challenges of the past years is the emergence of alternative investment funds, in particular hedge funds, which masterfully exploit the traditional...... theoretical perspectives are used as an analytical framework to examine the vast challenges of risk-decoupling: (1) a classical agency costs approach; (2) an information costs perspective; and (3) a view from corporate finance. This Article argues that shareholders with hedged risk exposure do not correspond...

Performance of Mutual Funds in India: (2002-2006)

OpenAIRE

Saboo, Manish

2006-01-01

There has been many studies in the past on performance of Mutual Funds in comparison to the market. These studies might differ in time and the market under study but most of them concluded that on an average, Mutual Funds have failed to outperform the market and thus the Efficient Market Hypothesis holds good. This research was based on performance of 25 mutual funds for a period of almost 5 years on monthly basis. Funds were evaluated using measures like Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Jense...

Air-stable memory array of bistable rectifying diodes based on ferroelectric-semiconductor polymer blends

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Manasvi; Sharifi Dehsari, Hamed; Anwar, Saleem; Asadi, Kamal

2018-03-01

Organic bistable diodes based on phase-separated blends of ferroelectric and semiconducting polymers have emerged as promising candidates for non-volatile information storage for low-cost solution processable electronics. One of the bottlenecks impeding upscaling is stability and reliable operation of the array in air. Here, we present a memory array fabricated with an air-stable amine-based semiconducting polymer. Memory diode fabrication and full electrical characterizations were carried out in atmospheric conditions (23 °C and 45% relative humidity). The memory diodes showed on/off ratios greater than 100 and further exhibited robust and stable performance upon continuous write-read-erase-read cycles. Moreover, we demonstrate a 4-bit memory array that is free from cross-talk with a shelf-life of several months. Demonstration of the stability and reliable air operation further strengthens the feasibility of the resistance switching in ferroelectric memory diodes for low-cost applications.

A stable RNA virus-based vector for citrus trees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folimonov, Alexey S.; Folimonova, Svetlana Y.; Bar-Joseph, Moshe; Dawson, William O.

2007-01-01

Virus-based vectors are important tools in plant molecular biology and plant genomics. A number of vectors based on viruses that infect herbaceous plants are in use for expression or silencing of genes in plants as well as screening unknown sequences for function. Yet there is a need for useful virus-based vectors for woody plants, which demand much greater stability because of the longer time required for systemic infection and analysis. We examined several strategies to develop a Citrus tristeza virus (CTV)-based vector for transient expression of foreign genes in citrus trees using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter. These strategies included substitution of the p13 open reading frame (ORF) by the ORF of GFP, construction of a self-processing fusion of GFP in-frame with the major coat protein (CP), or expression of the GFP ORF as an extra gene from a subgenomic (sg) mRNA controlled either by a duplicated CTV CP sgRNA controller element (CE) or an introduced heterologous CE of Beet yellows virus. Engineered vector constructs were examined for replication, encapsidation, GFP expression during multiple passages in protoplasts, and for their ability to infect, move, express GFP, and be maintained in citrus plants. The most successful vectors based on the 'add-a-gene' strategy have been unusually stable, continuing to produce GFP fluorescence after more than 4 years in citrus trees

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.

Social Security Funds Clamor for Reform

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

郑秉文

2008-01-01

This paper analyzed the institutional deficiencies inherent in China’s social security system based on a dissection of various social security fund violations. It holds that the unscientific design in social security system is the root cause for social security fund violations, which is reflected in low level of social security unification, irrational investment system and legislative loopholes etc. Currently, China’s social security funds are facing risks in management and in system; The key of risk control lies in the reforming of the overall framework of social security system through the following aspects: 1) readjust the unified account system structure to raise the level of unification; 2) reform funds investment system to boost ROI; 3) speeding up legislative to regulate the administrative costs and the behaviors of its entities.

Pollen-based reconstruction of Holocene climate variability in the Eifel region evaluated with stable isotopes

Science.gov (United States)

Kühl, Norbert; Moschen, Robert; Wagner, Stefanie

2010-05-01

Pollen as well as stable isotopes have great potential as climate proxy data. While variability in these proxy data is frequently assumed to reflect climate variability, other factors than climate, including human impact and statistical noise, can often not be excluded as primary cause for the observed variability. Multiproxy studies offer the opportunity to test different drivers by providing different lines of evidence for environmental change such as climate variability and human impact. In this multiproxy study we use pollen and peat humification to evaluate to which extent stable oxygen and carbon isotope series from the peat bog "Dürres Maar" reflect human impact rather than climate variability. For times before strong anthropogenic vegetation change, isotope series from Dürres Maar were used to validate quantitative reconstructions based on pollen. Our study site is the kettle hole peat bog "Dürres Maar" in the Eifel low mountain range, Germany (450m asl), which grew 12m during the last 10,000 years. Pollen was analysed with a sum of at least 1000 terrestrial pollen grains throughout the profile to minimize statistical effects on the reconstructions. A recently developed probabilistic indicator taxa method ("pdf-method") was used for the quantitative climate estimates (January and July temperature) based on pollen. For isotope analysis, attention was given to use monospecific Sphagnum leaves whenever possible, reducing the potential of a species effect and any potential artefact that can originate from selective degradation of different morphological parts of Sphagnum plants (Moschen et al., 2009). Pollen at "Dürres Maar" reflect the variable and partly strong human impact on vegetation during the last 4000 years. Stable isotope time series were apparently not influenced by human impact at this site. This highlights the potential of stable isotope investigations from peat for climatic interpretation, because stable isotope series from lacustrine

Performance of Mutual Funds in India 2003-2008

OpenAIRE

Raizada, Shantanu

2008-01-01

Many studies have been conducted in the past on the performance of Mutual Funds in comparison to the market index. These studies may differ in their time period, but most of them concluded that on an average the Mutual Funds failed to outperform the market thus the Efficient Market Hypothesis holds good. This research was based on the performance of 20 open ended equity diversified growth Mutual Funds for a period of 5 years from April 2003 to March 2008 and was compared to the BSE 500. Funds...

Management of Existing Funding Systems in Switzerland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxeiner, H.

2006-01-01

1 - Funds for D and D and Waste disposal: Producers pay principle: Producers of radioactive waste are responsible for financing its safe disposal. Two independent funds supervised by the Confederation: Decommissioning fund for nuclear facilities (Secure financial resources for D and D and for disposal of the resulting waste (not SF), Established January 1, 1984 as a public law entity, Berne); Disposal fund for nuclear power plants (Cover costs for management of operational waste and SF after decommissioning, Established April 1, 2000, Repositories: 2020 - 2050). Decommissioning fund: Calculation of contributions based on Estimated D and D costs (taking account of cost development (first studies 1984, latest studies 2000/2001), Disposal of waste arising from D and D, Administration costs Latest decommissioning studies: Costs amount to 1.9 Billion CHF; Annual contributions based on 40 years operation time. Disposal fund: Calculation of contributions based on Management of operational waste and SF following the decommissioning, Transport/storage containers, transport, reprocessing and/or direct disposal of SF, conditioning and interim storage, deep geological disposal, Administration costs. Latest studies: Costs amount to 12 Billion CHF. Annual contributions based on 40 years operation time. 2 - Organisation and payments: Contributions to the decommissioning fund: Contributions required up to the assumed decommissioning date are converted into annual amounts; Assumed inflation rate 3%, capital projected on a basis of 5% (net return 2%); Annual contributions reviewed every 5 years (shorter periods possible in case of unforeseen events), if new operators enter or a facility is decommissioned. Fund organisation: Executive bodies: Management Committee and Secretariat, MC nominated by Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Sub committees set up by MC (Investment Committee, Cost Committee). Management committee: 9 members (4 operators

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.

A stable murine-based RD114 retroviral packaging line efficiently transduces human hematopoietic cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Maureen; Sattler, Rose; Grossman, I Robert; Bell, Anthony J; Skerrett, Donna; Baxi, Laxmi; Bank, Arthur

2003-11-01

Several barriers exist to high-efficiency transfer of therapeutic genes into human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) using complex oncoretroviral vectors. Human clinical trials to date have used Moloney leukemia virus-based amphotropic and gibbon ape leukemia virus-based envelopes in stable retroviral packaging lines. However, retroviruses pseudotyped with these envelopes have low titers due to the inability to concentrate viral supernatants efficiently by centrifugation without damaging the virus and low transduction efficiencies because of low-level expression of viral target receptors on human HSC. The RD114 envelope from the feline endogenous virus has been shown to transduce human CD34+ cells using transient packaging systems and to be concentrated to high titers by centrifugation. Stable packaging systems have potential advantages over transient systems because greater and more reproducible viral productions can be attained. We have, therefore, constructed and tested a stable RD114-expressing packaging line capable of high-level transduction of human CD34+ cells. Viral particles from this cell line were concentrated up to 100-fold (up to 10(7) viral particles/ml) by ultracentrifugation. Human hematopoietic progenitors from cord blood and sickle cell CD34+ cells were efficiently transduced with a Neo(R)-containing vector after a single exposure to concentrated RD114-pseudotyped virus produced from this cell line. Up to 78% of progenitors from transduced cord blood CD34+ cells and 51% of progenitors from sickle cell CD34+ cells expressed the NeoR gene. We also show transfer of a human beta-globin gene into progenitor cells from CD34+ cells from sickle cell patients with this new RD114 stable packaging system. The results indicate that this packaging line may eventually be useful in human clinical trials of globin gene therapy.

A belief-based evolutionarily stable strategy

OpenAIRE

Deng, Xinyang; Wang, Zhen; Liu, Qi; Deng, Yong; Mahadevan, Sankaran

2014-01-01

As an equilibrium refinement of the Nash equilibrium, evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is a key concept in evolutionary game theory and has attracted growing interest. An ESS can be either a pure strategy or a mixed strategy. Even though the randomness is allowed in mixed strategy, the selection probability of pure strategy in a mixed strategy may fluctuate due to the impact of many factors. The fluctuation can lead to more uncertainty. In this paper, such uncertainty involved in mixed st...

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 Governing Board

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

Note The CERN pension scheme is based on the principle of defined benefits, so beneficiaries continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled in accordance with the Rules of the Pension Fund. This means that pension entitlements under the Rules are not directly affected by the financial crisis and the current economic situation. However, the adjustment of pensions to the cost of living is not automatic and, under the method applied since 2006, must take into account the Fund’s financial position. Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board The Pension Fund Governing Board held its eighth meeting at ESO in Garching, Germany (near Munich) on 24 October 2008. Before starting its work, the Governing Board had the privilege of hearing an opening address by Professor Tim de Zeeuw, the Director General of ESO. Professor de Zeeuw described the mission of ESO and the ambitious projects of his organisation, which performs astronomy observations using telescopes located in...

Pension Fund Governing Board

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

Note The CERN pension scheme is based on the principle of defined benefits, so beneficiaries continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled in accordance with the Rules of the Pension Fund. This means that pension entitlements under the Rules are not directly affected by the financial crisis and the current economic situation. However, the adjustment of pensions to the cost of living is not automatic and, under the method applied since 2006, must take into account the Fund’s financial position. Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board The Pension Fund Governing Board held its eighth meeting at ESO in Garching (near Munich), Germany on 24 October 2008. Before starting its work, the Governing Board had the privilege of hearing an opening address by Professor Tim de Zeeuw, the Director General of ESO. Professor de Zeeuw described the mission of ESO and the ambitious projects of his organisation, which performs astronomy observations using telescopes located in Chile. The Director-General receiv...

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...

A call for a value based approach to laboratory medicine funding.

Science.gov (United States)

St John, A; Edwards, G; Fisher, S; Badrick, T; Callahan, J; Crothers, J

2015-09-01

All areas of healthcare, including pathology, are being challenged by the reality that the days of ever increasing budgets are over and the key debate is about how to provide value for money. As originally described by Porter and Tiesberg, value-based healthcare is defined as maximising outcomes over cost by moving away from fee for service models to ones that reward providers on the basis of outcomes (1). While production efficiencies will continue to evolve, the opportunities for future stepwise improvements in production costs are likely to have diminished. The focus now is on delivering improved testing outcomes in a relatively cost neutral or at least cost effective way. This brings pathology into line with other health services that focus on value for money for payers, and maximising health outcomes for consumers. This would signal a break from the existing pathology funding model, which does not directly recognise or reward the contribution of pathology towards improved health outcomes, or seek to decommission tests that offer little clinical value. Pathology has a direct impact on clinical and economic outcomes that extend from testing and it is important to garner support for a new approach to funding that incentivises improvements of the overall quality and contribution of the pathology service. Copyright © 2015 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

The Adaptation Fund: a model for the future?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandani, Achala; Harmeling, Sven; Kaloga, Alpha Oumar

2009-08-15

With millions of the poor already facing the impacts of a changing climate, adaptation is a globally urgent – and costly – issue. The Adaptation Fund, created under the Kyoto Protocol, has unique features that could herald a new era of international cooperation on adaptation. Its governance structure, for instance, offers a fresh approach to fund management under the UN climate convention. The Fund's Board has also developed a constructive working atmosphere, and further progress is expected before the 2009 climate summit in Copenhagen. But developing countries' demand for adaptation funding is huge: conservative estimates put it at US$50 billion a year. The Fund's current structure and funding base are clearly only a first step towards filling that gap. And despite its significant progress over the last 18 months, many countries, particularly in the developed world, remain sceptical about this approach. Looking in detail at the Fund's evolution offers insight into its future potential as a model for adaptation finance.

DEVELOPMENT OF KOSOVO PENSION SAVING TRUST FUND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ymer Havolli

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Pension system in Kosovo has experienced various developments in the last three decades. These changes have been driven by both, political and economic developments. The political developments were most important, especially that the previous system failed due to the lack of access to the fund in the post-war Kosovo. The newly established system in post-war Kosovo continues its operations with principles of modern pension fund, savings-based. KPST was established by Law in December 2001 as a not-for-profit institution. As such, the sole objective of KPST is to serve only the best interests of its contributors. KPST is funded in a similar way as are all defined contribution pension funds i.e. by charging fees on assets under management (pension assets. KPST is funded in a similar way as are all defined contribution pension funds i.e. by charging fees on assets under management (pension assets. Throughout this discussion paper, the implications of the crisis, management, asset management issues and most importantly, investment strategy are discussed and some potential solutions to these problems are proposed in order to increase the flexibility of the fund to improve performance in times of crisis.

From Funding Liquidity to Market Liquidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dick-Nielsen, Jens; Lund, Jesper; Gyntelberg, Jacob

This paper shows empirically that funding liquidity drives market liquidity. As it becomes harder to secure term funding in the money markets, liquidity deteriorates in the Danish bond market. We show that the first principal component of bond market liquidity is driven by the market makers...... for other European government bonds using MTS data. The findings suggest that regulatory bond based liquidity buffers for banks will have limited effectiveness....

Research funding systems in Australia, New Zealand and the UK

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lewis, Jenny; Ross, S

2011-01-01

The funding of research in universities is increasingly based on direction of resources in support of 'excellence'. Funding decisions are linked to evaluation through research funding systems, but there has so far been little comparative empirical research on the perceived effects of these system...

What Can We Expect from Value-Based Funding of Medicines? A Retrospective Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Anthony; Li, Jing Jing; Yong, Karen

2016-04-01

Deciding on public funding for pharmaceuticals on the basis of value for money is now widespread. We suggest that evidence-based assessment of value has restricted the availability of medicines in Australia in a way that reflects the relative bargaining power of government and the pharmaceutical industry. We propose a simple informal game-theoretic model of bargaining between the funding agency and industry and test its predictions using a logistic multiple regression model of past funding decisions made by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee in Australia. The model estimates the probability of a drug being recommended for subsidy as a function of incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), as well as other drug and market characteristics. Data are major submissions or resubmissions from 1993 to 2009 where there was a claim of superiority and evidence of a difference in quality of life. Independent variables measure the incremental cost per QALY, the cost to the public budget, the strength and quality of the clinical and economic evidence, need as measured by severity of illness and the availability of alternative treatments, whether or not a resubmission, and newspaper reports as a measure of public pressure. We report the odds ratio for each variable and calculate the ratio of the marginal effect of each variable to the marginal effect of the cost per QALY as a measure of the revealed willingness to pay for each of the variables that influence the decision. The results are consistent with a bargaining model where a 10,000 Australian dollar ($A) fall in value (increase in cost per QALY) reduces the average probability of public funding from 37 to 33% (95% CI 34-32). If the condition is life threatening or the drug has no active comparator, then the odds of a positive recommendation are 3.18 (95% CI 1.00-10.11) and 2.14 (95% CI 0.95-4.83) greater, equivalent to a $A33,000 and a $A21,000 increase in value (fall in cost per QALY). If both

25 CFR 39.105 - Are additional funds available for special education?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Are additional funds available for special education? 39... additional funds available for special education? (a) Schools may supplement the 15 percent base academic funding reserved under § 39.104 for special education with funds available under part B of the Individuals...

Cobalt-Based Electrolytes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Recent Advances towards Stable Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federico Bella

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Redox mediators based on cobalt complexes allowed dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs to achieve efficiencies exceeding 14%, thus challenging the emerging class of perovskite solar cells. Unfortunately, cobalt-based electrolytes demonstrate much lower long-term stability trends if compared to the traditional iodide/triiodide redox couple. In view of the large-scale commercialization of cobalt-based DSCs, the scientific community has recently proposed various approaches and materials to increase the stability of these devices, which comprise gelling agents, crosslinked polymeric matrices and mixtures of solvents (including water. This review summarizes the most significant advances recently focused towards this direction, also suggesting some intriguing way to fabricate third-generation cobalt-based photoelectrochemical devices stable over time.

Funding of Graduate Medical Education in a Market-Based Healthcare System.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Barbara L

2017-02-01

The graduate medical education (GME) process in the United States is considered the most respected model for high-quality education of graduate physicians in the world. With substantial funding through government and private insurers and through structured educational accreditation standards, the American Board of Medical Specialists-certified physicians are recognized for their expertise in delivering high-quality medical care. However, under fiscal constraints and changing social expectations, questions are continually posed about the process of funding and whether the "physician outcomes" are sufficient to continue with the investment. This article reviews the history of postgraduate physician education, the multiple funding pathways, disruptions to a placid educational system and changing social expectations. The ultimate issues involve the core goals of GME and how much GME should shoulder responsibility for changing the healthcare system. Copyright © 2017 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-objective portfolio optimization of mutual funds under downside risk measure using fuzzy theory

OpenAIRE

M. Amiri; M. Zandieh; A. Alimi

2012-01-01

Mutual fund is one of the most popular techniques for many people to invest their funds where a professional fund manager invests people's funds based on some special predefined objectives; therefore, performance evaluation of mutual funds is an important problem. This paper proposes a multi-objective portfolio optimization to offer asset allocation. The proposed model clusters mutual funds with two methods based on six characteristics including rate of return, variance, semivariance, turnove...

Performance Evaluation of Some Index Funds-Indian Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranav Mishra

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The popularity of the index funds as an investment option has increased manifolds ever since they were introduced. This is primarily because of the merits that the investor enjoys through passive style of funds management. This includes the low cost involved in managing such funds and the significant tax savings. Most of the researchers have compared the performance of the actively managed funds with that of index funds. However the index funds of US and for that reason other parts of the world are different from that of India. Unlike other countries in India the benchmark indices comprise of very less number of securities and thus are unable to represent the entire economy. So in Indian context comparison of performance of actively managed funds with index funds is not logical. Therefore this paper attempts to make an intra-class performance evaluation of some Indian index funds based on some statistics. The study includes the use of graphical interpretations coupled with statistical tools like R-square and tracking error values. Two models of tracking error have been employed to test empirically the performance of the selected index funds. The study is useful for those interested in mutual funds, which includes researchers, academicians, and financial advisors. The paper suits the requirement and the situations prevalent in Indian economy during the period under study.

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.

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 ...

The World Banks' BioCarbon Fund

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noble, I.

2003-03-01

In November 2002 the World Bank launched the BioCarbon Fund, a public/private initiative to provide finance to projects that store carbon in vegetation and soils ('sinks') while helping to reverse land degradation, conserve biodiversity and improve the livelihoods of local communities. The Fund will seek projects to sequester or conserve carbon in non-Annex I countries and in countries in transition. Sinks may be the only option for poor nations with small energy to benefit from the carbon finance business. The Fund will include a portion of assets based on reductions in emissions such as substitution of biofuels for fossil fuels. The author Ian Noble of the World Bank, is chairman of the BioCarbon Fund Technical Advisory Committee.

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...

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...

Funding issues and options for pharmacists providing sessional services to rural hospitals in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Amy Cw; Emmerton, Lynne M; Hattingh, H Laetitia; La Caze, Adam

2015-06-01

Many of Australia' s rural hospitals operate without an on-site pharmacist. In some, community pharmacists have sessional contracts to provide medication management services to inpatients. This paper discusses the funding arrangements of identified sessional employment models to raise awareness of options for other rural hospitals. Semistructured one-on-one interviews were conducted with rural pharmacists with experience in a sessional employment role (n =8) or who were seeking sessional arrangements (n = 4). Participants were identified via publicity and referrals. Interviews were conducted via telephone or Skype for ~40-55 min each, recorded and analysed descriptively. A shortage of state funding and reliance on federal funding was reported. Pharmacists accredited to provide medication reviews claimed remuneration via these federal schemes; however, restrictive criteria limited their scope of services. Funds pooling to subsidise remuneration for the pharmacists was evident and arrangements with local community pharmacies provided business frameworks to support sessional services. Participants were unaware of each other's models of practice, highlighting the need to share information and these findings. Several similarities existed, namely, pooling funds and use of federal medication review remuneration. Findings highlighted the need for a stable remuneration pathway and business model to enable wider implementation of sessional pharmacist models.

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).

[Analysis on funds application of community based organizations involved in HIV/AIDS response and government financial investment in China, 2014].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G; Zhu, Y X; Wang, P; Liu, P; Li, J F; Sha, S; Yang, W Z; Li, H

2017-03-06

Objective: To understand the government financial investments to community based organizations (CBO) involved in HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention of China and its influencing factors. Methods: Questionnaire of the situation of CBO involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention were designed, and filled by the staff of Provincial Health Administrative Departments of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). The research focused on the fields of CBO involved in HIV/AIDS response in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), including intervention on HIV/AIDS high risk population (female sex worker (FSW), man who sex with man (MSM), drug user (DU) and case management and care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH)). 29 valid questionnaires were collecting, with Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regions not filled. Questionnaire included financial supports from local governments, transfer payment from central government for CBO involved in HIV/AIDS response in 2014, and unit cost for CBO involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention. Multivariate analysis was conducted on the project application and financial investment of community based organizations involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention in 2014. Results: The total amount of CBO to apply for participation in AIDS prevention and control was 64 482 828 Yuan in 2014. The actual total amount of investment was 50 616 367 Yuan, The investment came from the central government funding, the provincial level government funding, the prefecture and county level government funding investment and other sources of funding. 22 of 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) received the funds from the central government finance, and median of investment funds 500 000 Yuan. 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) gained the funds from the provincial government finance, and median of investment funds 350 000 Yuan. 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) got the funds

The Persistence of Risk-Adjusted Mutual Fund Performance.

OpenAIRE

Elton, Edwin J; Gruber, Martin J; Blake, Christopher R

1996-01-01

The authors examine predictability for stock mutual funds using risk-adjusted returns. They find that past performance is predictive of future risk-adjusted performance. Applying modern portfolio theory techniques to past data improves selection and allows the authors to construct a portfolio of funds that significantly outperforms a rule based on past rank alone. In addition, they can form a combination of actively managed portfolios with the same risk as a portfolio of index funds but with ...

Stable convergence and stable limit theorems

CERN Document Server

Häusler, Erich

2015-01-01

The authors present a concise but complete exposition of the mathematical theory of stable convergence and give various applications in different areas of probability theory and mathematical statistics to illustrate the usefulness of this concept. Stable convergence holds in many limit theorems of probability theory and statistics – such as the classical central limit theorem – which are usually formulated in terms of convergence in distribution. Originated by Alfred Rényi, the notion of stable convergence is stronger than the classical weak convergence of probability measures. A variety of methods is described which can be used to establish this stronger stable convergence in many limit theorems which were originally formulated only in terms of weak convergence. Naturally, these stronger limit theorems have new and stronger consequences which should not be missed by neglecting the notion of stable convergence. The presentation will be accessible to researchers and advanced students at the master's level...

New Solutions to the Funding Dilemma of Technology Startups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Kousari

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This article explores the current funding challenges facing technology startups and describes new models based on smaller investments and collective action. First, the advantages and disadvantages of traditional startup funding models are presented, with an emphasis on venture capital and angel investment. Next, an overview of existing seed funds, or seed accelerators, shows how entrepreneurs can leverage this approach to access subsequent rounds of funding and create successful ventures. Then, an overview of crowd funding is provided, including examples of companies that have adopted this approach to funding startups and their founders. Finally, the article presents the basis of a new approach that uses crowd funding as means of attracting investors to collectives. In these business ecosystems, startups are exposed to less risk and investors can benefit from attractive returns by investing in these promising startups.

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 ...

The Optimal Strategy to Research Pension Funds in China Based on the Loss Function

OpenAIRE

Gao, Jian-wei; Guo, Hong-zhen; Ye, Yan-cheng

2007-01-01

Based on the theory of actuarial present value, a pension fund investment goal can be formulated as an objective function. The mean-variance model is extended by defining the objective loss function. Furthermore, using the theory of stochastic optimal control, an optimal investment model is established under the minimum expectation of loss function. In the light of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation, the analytic solution of the optimal investment strategy problem is derived.

Lorenz curves in a new science-funding model

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ding-wei

2017-12-01

We propose an agent-based model to theoretically and systematically explore the implications of a new approach to fund science, which has been suggested recently by J. Bollen et al.[?] We introduce various parameters and examine their effects. The concentration of funding is shown by the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. In this model, all scientists are treated equally and follow the well-intended regulations. All scientists give a fixed ratio of their funding to others. The fixed ratio becomes an upper bound for the Gini coefficient. We observe two distinct regimes in the parameter space: valley and plateau. In the valley regime, the fluidity of funding is significant. The Lorenz curve is smooth. The Gini coefficient is well below the upper bound. The funding distribution is the desired result. In the plateau regime, the cumulative advantage is significant. The Lorenz curve has a sharp turn. The Gini coefficient saturates to the upper bound. The undue concentration of funding happens swiftly. The funding distribution is the undesired results, where a minority of scientists take the majority of funding. Phase transitions between these two regimes are discussed.

Assessment of financial management of the National Health Fund in 2005-2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agata Gastecka

2015-04-01

Full Text Available After many reforms of the Polish health care system, the current entity responsible for financing medical services to the insured patients is the National Health Fund. Despite the constantly increasing funds being allocated to the health care system, it still remains underfunded. A tool that facilitates the evaluation and assessment of the viability, stability and profitability of a business is called the financial analysis. The primary source of data necessary for the preparation of the financial analysis comes from the financial statement which includes the balance sheets, profit and loss account, notes, cash flow statement, and statement of changes in equity. On the basis of the information contained in these documents one can understand the structure of assets, earnings, revenues and expenses, as well as the level of indebtedness and liquidity. The National Health Fund has a monopoly on the health insurance market. Therefore, the financial management conducted by this entity should be based on the rationalization of the expenditure in terms of revenue and stable income generation. The financial analysis carried out between 2005 and 2011 showed that the total assets of the entity were dominated by the current assets which can be justified by the nature of the business. The structure of equity relative compared to the foreign capital did not show positive trends. Since 2009, the bad financial situation was manifested by the profit and loss accounts, which reached negative values and costs exceeding the revenue. The ratio analysis showed a high debt rates experienced by the health care payers. At the same time, however, the liquidity has been maintained.

Funding of Geosciences: Coordinating National and International Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Bye, B.; Fontaine, K. S.

2012-12-01

Funding is an important element of national as well as international policy for Earth observations. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is coordinating efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS. The lack of dedicated funding to support specific S&T activities in support of GEOSS is one of the most important obstacles to engaging the S&T communities in its implementation. This problem can be addressed by establishing explicit linkages between research and development programmes funded by GEO Members and Participating Organizations and GEOSS. In appropriate funding programs, these links may take the form of requiring explanations of how projects to be funded will interface with GEOSS and ensuring that demonstrating significant relevance for GEOSS is viewed as an asset of these proposals, requiring registration of Earth observing systems developed in these projects, or stipulating that data and products must adhere to the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles. Examples of Earth observations include: - Measurements from ground-based, in situ monitors; - Observations from Earth satellites; - Products and predictive capabilities from Earth system models, often using the capabilities of high-performance computers; - Scientific knowledge about the Earth system; and, - Data visualization techniques. These examples of Earth observations activities requires different types of resources, R&D top-down, bottom-up funding and programs of various sizes. Where innovation and infrastructure are involved different kind of resources are better suited, for developing countries completely other sources of funding are applicable etc. The European Commission funded Egida project is coordinating the development of a funding mechanism based on current national and international funding instruments such as the European ERANet, the new Joint Programming Initiatives, ESFRI as well as other European and non-European instruments. A general introduction to various

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.

GOVERNING BOARD OF THE PENSION FUND

CERN Document Server

2001-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its ninety-ninth meeting on 6 March. On that occasion, it examined the assets-liabilities management report presented by Professor Guus E. Boender and Mr H. Steehouwer of the firm ORTEC of Rotterdam. The first part of the presentation of the report consisted of a general introduction to the principles of an assets-liabilities management study, its mechanisms and its goals. Professor Boender particularly underlined the importance of such studies which are based on a probabilistic approach to determine the trend in the long-term financial position of a pension fund in a dynamic context. For bodies responsible for ensuring that the prerequisites for a balanced pension fund exist, the assets-liabilities management study provides the opportunity, on the basis of a large number of financial scenarios, to assess the risks of insufficient asset cover to meet a pension fund's long-term commitments and to identify measures for remedying it. The second part of the presentatio...

The Research Funding Service: a model for expanded library services

OpenAIRE

Means, Martha L.

2000-01-01

Traditionally, libraries have provided a modest amount of information about grants and funding opportunities to researchers in need of research funding. Ten years ago, the University of Washington (UW) Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center joined in a cooperative effort with the School of Medicine to develop a complete, library-based grant and funding service for health sciences researchers called the Research Funding Service. The library provided space, access to the library colle...

International Fund of Aral Sea rescue:prospects and new aims

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aslov, S.M.

2003-01-01

In this chapter of book author suggest about aims and prospects of International Fund of Aral Sea rescue. The base aim of International Fund of Aral Sea rescue was the funds attraction of Central Asia governments and international community-donors for financing of Program of Aral Sea basin. Now the Executive Committee of International Fund of Aral Sea rescue develops the program of basin of Aral Sea for the period till 2010

7 CFR 1944.525 - Targeting of TSA funds to States.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Targeting of TSA funds to States. 1944.525 Section... § 1944.525 Targeting of TSA funds to States. (a) The Administrator will determine, based on the most... portion of the available funds for TSA to these States, leaving the balance available for national...

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. ...

1-Dodecanethiol based highly stable self-assembled monolayers for germanium passivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Qi; Xu, Baojian; Ye, Lin; Di, Zengfeng; Huang, Shanluo; Du, Xiaowei; Zhang, Jishen; Jin, Qinghui; Zhao, Jianlong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A simple and effective approach for higly stable germanium passivation. • 1-Dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayers for germanium oxidation resistance. • The influence factors of germanium passivation were systematically studied. • The stability of the passivated Ge was more than 10 days even in water conditions. - Abstract: As a typical semiconductor material, germanium has the potential to replace silicon for future-generation microelectronics, due to its better electrical properties. However, the lack of stable surface state has limited its extensive use for several decades. In this work, we demonstrated highly stable self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Ge surface to prevent oxidization for further applications. After the pretreatment in hydrochloric acid, the oxide-free and Cl-terminated Ge could be further coated with 1-dodecanethiol (NDM) SAMs. The influence factors including reaction time, solvent component and reaction temperature were optimized to obtain stable passivated monolayer for oxidation resistance. Contact angle analysis, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to characterize the functionalized Ge surface respectively. Meanwhile, the reaction mechanism and stability of thiols SAMs on Ge (1 1 1) surface were investigated. Finally, highly stable passivated NDM SAMs on Ge surface could be formed through immersing oxide-free Ge in mixture solvent (water/ethanol, v/v = 1:1) at appropriately elevated temperature (∼80 °C) for 24 h. And the corresponding optimized passivated Ge surface was stable for more than 10 days even in water condition, which was much longer than the data reported and paved the way for the future practical applications of Ge.

1-Dodecanethiol based highly stable self-assembled monolayers for germanium passivation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, Qi [State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China); Xu, Baojian, E-mail: xbj@mail.sim.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); Shanghai Internet of Things Co., LTD, No. 1455, Pingcheng Road, Shanghai 201899 (China); Ye, Lin [State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China); Di, Zengfeng [State Key Laboratory of Functional Materials for Informatics, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); Huang, Shanluo; Du, Xiaowei [State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049 (China); Zhang, Jishen; Jin, Qinghui [State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China); Zhao, Jianlong, E-mail: jlzhao@mail.sim.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 865, Changning Road, Shanghai 200050 (China)

2015-10-30

Highlights: • A simple and effective approach for higly stable germanium passivation. • 1-Dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayers for germanium oxidation resistance. • The influence factors of germanium passivation were systematically studied. • The stability of the passivated Ge was more than 10 days even in water conditions. - Abstract: As a typical semiconductor material, germanium has the potential to replace silicon for future-generation microelectronics, due to its better electrical properties. However, the lack of stable surface state has limited its extensive use for several decades. In this work, we demonstrated highly stable self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Ge surface to prevent oxidization for further applications. After the pretreatment in hydrochloric acid, the oxide-free and Cl-terminated Ge could be further coated with 1-dodecanethiol (NDM) SAMs. The influence factors including reaction time, solvent component and reaction temperature were optimized to obtain stable passivated monolayer for oxidation resistance. Contact angle analysis, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to characterize the functionalized Ge surface respectively. Meanwhile, the reaction mechanism and stability of thiols SAMs on Ge (1 1 1) surface were investigated. Finally, highly stable passivated NDM SAMs on Ge surface could be formed through immersing oxide-free Ge in mixture solvent (water/ethanol, v/v = 1:1) at appropriately elevated temperature (∼80 °C) for 24 h. And the corresponding optimized passivated Ge surface was stable for more than 10 days even in water condition, which was much longer than the data reported and paved the way for the future practical applications of Ge.

The funding landscape for HIV in Asia and the Pacific

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stuart, Robyn Margaret; Lief, Eric; Donald, Braedon

2015-01-01

-Pacific region between 2004 and 2013, we obtained funding data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Creditor Reporting System database. Where possible, we checked these amounts against the funding data available from government aid agencies. Estimates of multilateral ODA financing...... for HIV/AIDS were based on the country allocations announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) for the period 2014 to 2016. RESULTS: Countries in the Asia-Pacific region receive the largest share of aid for HIV from the Global Fund. Bilateral funding for HIV......, but the United States is the bilateral donor providing the greatest amount of assistance in the region. Funding from the Global Fund has increased consistently since 2005, reaching a total of US$1.2 billion for the Asia-Pacific region from 2014 to 2016. CONCLUSIONS: Even with Global Fund allocations, countries...

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...

Investing for Impact: The Global Fund Approach to Measurement of AIDS Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Suman; Zorzi, Nathalie

2017-07-01

The Global Fund raises and invests nearly US$4 billion a year to support programs run in more than 140 countries. The Global Fund strategy 2012-2016 is focused on "Investing for Impact". In order to accomplish this, timely and accurate data are needed to inform strategies and prioritize activities to achieve greater coverage with quality services. Monitoring and evaluation is intrinsic to the Global Fund's system of performance-based funding. The Global Fund invests in strengthening measurement and reporting of results at all stages of the grant cycle. The Global Fund approach to measurement is based on three key principles-(1) simplified reporting: the Global Fund has updated its measurement guidance to focus on impact, coverage and quality with the use of a harmonized set of indicators. (2) Supporting data systems-based on a common framework developed and supported by partners, it promotes investment in five common data systems: routine reporting including HMIS; Surveys-population based and risk group surveys; Analysis, reviews and transparency; Administrative and financial data sources; and, Vital registration systems. (3) Strengthen data use: the Global Fund funding encourages use of data at all levels-national, subnational and site level. Countries do not automatically prioritize M&E but when guidance, tools and investments are available, there is high level utilization of M&E systems in program design, planning, implementation, and results reporting. An in-depth analysis of the available data helps the Global Fund and countries to direct investments towards interventions where impact could be achieved and focus on target population groups and geographic areas that are most affected.

An Empirical Study on Hedge Fund Portfolio Optimization, Mean-Risk Based Approaches

OpenAIRE

Li, Yang

2011-01-01

Abstract This research attempts to investigate the divergences between the Mean-Variance and the Mean-CVaR portfolio optimization methods in examining various assets classes, such as equities, bonds, and especially hedge funds. In order to get a thorough understanding of hedge funds facts and available optimization techniques, relevant literatures are carefully reviewed and incorporated into later stage computer modelling. By constructing three hypothetical portfolios, including traditiona...

Picking Funds with Confidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønborg, Niels Strange; Lunde, Asger; Timmermann, Allan

We present a new approach to selecting active mutual funds that uses both holdings and return information to eliminate funds with predicted inferior performance through a sequence of pair-wise comparisons. Our methodology determines both the number of skilled funds and their identity, funds...... identified ex-ante as being superior earn substantially higher risk-adjusted returns than top funds identified by conventional alpha ranking methods. Importantly, we find strong evidence of variation in the breadth of the set of funds identified as superior, as well as fluctuations in the style and industry...... exposures of such funds over time and across different volatility states....

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.

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

Network Physics - the only company to provide physics-based network management - secures additional funding and new executives

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

"Network Physics, the only provider of physics-based network management products, today announced an additional venture round of $6 million in funding, as well as the addition of David Jones as president and CEO and Tom Dunn as vice president of sales and business development" (1 page).

The Optimal Strategy to Research Pension Funds in China Based on the Loss Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian-wei Gao

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Based on the theory of actuarial present value, a pension fund investment goal can be formulated as an objective function. The mean-variance model is extended by defining the objective loss function. Furthermore, using the theory of stochastic optimal control, an optimal investment model is established under the minimum expectation of loss function. In the light of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB equation, the analytic solution of the optimal investment strategy problem is derived.

Stable particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samios, N.P.

1993-01-01

I have been asked to review the subject of stable particles, essentially the particles that eventually comprised the meson and baryon octets. with a few more additions -- with an emphasis on the contributions made by experiments utilizing the bubble chamber technique. In this activity, much work had been done by the photographic emulsion technique and cloud chambers-exposed to cosmic rays as well as accelerator based beams. In fact, many if not most of the stable particles were found by these latter two techniques, however, the forte of the bubble chamber (coupled with the newer and more powerful accelerators) was to verify, and reinforce with large statistics, the existence of these states, to find some of the more difficult ones, mainly neutrals and further to elucidate their properties, i.e., spin, parity, lifetimes, decay parameters, etc

PENSION FUND

CERN Multimedia

1999-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its first three meetings of the year on 2 February, 2 March and 13 April.At the first of these meetings the Board first heard a presentation by Mrs H. Richmond of JP Morgan on the results of the currency overlay programme applied to the Fund's assets. Thanks to the policy pursued by this company, volatility, i.e. portfolio risk for assets denominated in currencies other than the Swiss franc, has been reduced. However, despite the fact that JP Morgan has considerable expertise in this field, no gain has been achieved over the past year. The Governing Board heard a report by the Investment Committee Chairman G. Maurin on the meetings of 21-22 and 28 January at which the Pension Fund's various fund managers had been interviewed on their results. Decisions were taken on benchmarks aimed at optimising management and on the terms of reference of the Internal Management Unit. It was also decided to place two fund managers on a watching list and to request them to make eve...

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)

Specific Features in Accessing European Funding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Alexandra CĂLDĂRARU

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: European Funds are the European Union financial instruments in order to assist Member States in reducing the existing disparities between regions and between countries, and for harmonization with the economic, social and cultural European standards. This paper intends to present some general characteristics applicable to the most important financing programs, and also to outline certain features of the main financing lines, referring to investment projects development and their implementation, based on the Applicant Guides analysis. The paper treats institutional, legal, financial, technical, social and environmental aspects and outlines proposals and recommendations to achieve a better EU funds absorption and also a higher success rate of initiated projects. In knowledge-based economy circumstances, training consultancy specialists, that represent the intellectual capital in this area, will ensure the professional management of the developing process, submission and ongoing competitive projects, and will help enhance the funds absorption at national level. Thus, the European support for investments in ensuring sustainable growth will help overcoming the difficulties encountered by our country, and will sustain the Romanian economy recovery.

Discussion on management of decommissioning funds for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hailiang

2013-01-01

Decommissioning funding is one of the major issues with regard to the policy and management of nuclear power. This paper describes current status of decommissioning of nuclear power plants in some foreign countries and narrates the practices in these countries on the estimation of decommissioning cost, the retrieval and management of decommissioning funds, and the guarantee of fund sufficiency. Based on a brief analysis of the status of decommissioning funding management for nuclear power plants in China, suggestions on tasks or activities needed to be carried out at present in the field of decommissioning funding are proposed. (authors)

Statistical analyses of the performance of Macedonian investment and pension funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petar Taleski

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The foundation of the post-modern portfolio theory is creating a portfolio based on a desired target return. This specifically applies to the performance of investment and pension funds that provide a rate of return meeting payment requirements from investment funds. A desired target return is the goal of an investment or pension fund. It is the primary benchmark used to measure performances, dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the risk–return ratio on investment funds. The analysis in this paper is based on monthly returns of Macedonian investment and pension funds (June 2011 - June 2014. Such analysis utilizes the basic, but highly informative statistical characteristic moments like skewness, kurtosis, Jarque–Bera, and Chebyishev’s Inequality. The objective of this study is to perform a trough analysis, utilizing the above mentioned and other types of statistical techniques (Sharpe, Sortino, omega, upside potential, Calmar, Sterling to draw relevant conclusions regarding the risks and characteristic moments in Macedonian investment and pension funds. Pension funds are the second largest segment of the financial system, and has great potential for further growth due to constant inflows from pension insurance. The importance of investment funds for the financial system in the Republic of Macedonia is still small, although open-end investment funds have been the fastest growing segment of the financial system. Statistical analysis has shown that pension funds have delivered a significantly positive volatility-adjusted risk premium in the analyzed period more so than investment funds.

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

School Funding and Resource Allocation: How It Impacts Instructional Practices at the School Level

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Shelly R.

2012-01-01

In the 2006-2007 school year, the State of Wyoming adopted an evidenced-based school funding model. The Wyoming funding model reviewed in this study is considered an evidence-based approach, utilizing expert judgment to determine educational funding. In an evidence-based approach, educational strategies are identified and a dollar figure is…

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).

Explaining the Allocation of Regional Structural Funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Charron, Nicholas

2016-01-01

What regional factors can explain the heterogeneity in Structural Funds distribution to European Union regions? Past studies have shown that aside from the level of economic development and rates of unemployment, other political, and economic factors systematically explain why certain European...... Union regions receive greater funding than others, in particular where there is room for bargaining. In this article, a novel theory is posited which argues that the determination of Structural Funds is based on an interaction between a region’s formal institutions (the level of a regional autonomy......) and informal institutions (its level of quality of government). In cases of low regional autonomy, member states and European Union level actors prefer to allocate greater levels of Funds to regions with lower quality of government in order to increase cohesion. Yet in cases of high regional autonomy, risks...

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: SCOPE AND METHODS OF FINANCIAL PENETRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Wiśniewski

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Central and Eastern European (CEE capital markets (of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine and, to a limited extent, Belarus are gradually evolving towards increased breadth (diversity and depth (liquidity, however, they are still exposed to considerable cross-country volatility and interdependence spill-overs – especially in times of capital flight to more established asset classes (“safe havens”. Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs have widely been censured for their undesirable political interference and chronic operational opacity. This paper demonstrates that in CEE, contrary to widespread perceptions attributable to developed markets, SWFs can act as natural and powerful risk mitigators (contributing to a more stable capital base and reduced systemic volatility. Such a proposition is premised on several factors specific to SWFs oriented to CEE. They comprise: strategic long-termism and patience in overcoming interim pricing deficiencies, commitments to elements of a broadly interpreted infrastructure, and absence of overt conflicts of interest with the CEE host economies. The paper, besides reviewing the utilitarianism of SWFs in the CEE’s risk mitigation context, highlights regulatory and technical barriers to more SWF funding for CEE. It also recommends policy measures to the CEE economies aimed at luring more host-friendly SWF investment into the region.

Can a publicly funded home care system successfully allocate service based on perceived need rather than socioeconomic status? A Canadian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Laporte, Audrey; Croxford, Ruth; Coyte, Peter C

2007-03-01

The present quantitative study evaluates the degree to which socioeconomic status (SES), as opposed to perceived need, determines utilisation of publicly funded home care in Ontario, Canada. The Registered Persons Data Base of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan was used to identify the age, sex and place of residence for all Ontarians who had coverage for the complete calendar year 1998. Utilisation was characterised in two dimensions: (1) propensity - the probability that an individual received service, which was estimated using a multinomial logit equation; and (2) intensity - the amount of service received, conditional on receipt. Short- and long-term service intensity were modelled separately using ordinary least squares regression. Age, sex and co-morbidity were the best predictors (P funded home care as well as how much care was received, with sicker individuals having increased utilisation. The propensity and intensity of service receipt increased with lower SES (P funded home care service was primarily based on perceived need rather than ability to pay, barriers to utilisation for those from areas with a high proportion of recent immigrants were identified. Future research is needed to assess whether the current mix and level of publicly funded resources are indeed sufficient to offset the added costs associated with the provision of high-quality home care.

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.

Management of Portfolio Investment Held by Pension Funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Armeanu

2008-09-01

Full Text Available As a result of the fact that pension funds are financial intermediaries, the value of their assets and liabilities is influenced by changing conditions in financial markets. The market image of a pension fund (and hence its perceived value are closely tied to the “financial health” of the fund. Setting up and managing complex investment portfolios requires that pension administrators use scientific models of portfolio selection and optimization based on the risk-expected return relationship. Most investment portfolios are modified in time as result of changing stock prices and investment policy objectives. Having established investment policy guidelines, the administrators of pension funds have to determine the structure of their portfolios so that the latter meet legal requirements.

Substance abuse treatment and services by criminal justice and other funding sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Arfken, Cynthia L; Kubiak, Sheryl Pimlott

2009-01-01

Studies have found funding source, whether public or private, is associated with treatment and services offered in community-based agencies. However, the association of criminal justice funding with community-based treatment and services is unknown. Using a mixed method case study approach with 34 agencies within one state we assessed administrators' perspectives of the most important funding source, treatment and services offered. We found that agencies rely on multiple funding sources and the source rated most important was associated with treatment and services offered in the agency. Those agencies citing a criminal justice entity as the most important funder were more likely to offer specific ancillary services and adopt motivational interviewing than those citing private funds. Although client characteristics or training opportunities may determine these services and practices, the agency's most important funding source may have implications for services offered.

Governing board of the pension fund

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

On 4 February 2003 the Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its hundred and fourteenth meeting, the first meeting to be attended by G. de la Fuente and M. Goossens, recently elected as Alternates to I. Seis and J.-P. Matheys respectively. Opening the meeting, J. Bezemer, Chairman of the Governing Board with effect from 1st January 2003, paid tribute to the outgoing Chairman, P. Levaux, on behalf of all members of the Governing Board, underlining the skill, clarity of vision and unfailing commitment to the Fund that had marked the twelve years of a remarkable chairmanship. Over that time Paul Levaux had successfully guided the Fund towards the broader-based, dynamic scheme it had now become, and towards a central role within the Organization. The special guest at the meeting, CERN Director-General L. Maiani, also warmly thanked the former Chairman for his remarkable work for the Fund on behalf of the Organization to which he had made so many contributions and for the invaluable role he had played in promot...

(The Style Analysis of Pension Investment Funds in Turkey)

OpenAIRE

Kokrmaz, Turhan; Uygurtürk, Hasan

2007-01-01

In this study, the investment style and its variations of Turkish pension funds have been examined during the period of January 2004 - June 2006. For this purpose, “style analysis method” have been applied both in general and periodical base and their results are interpreted. Consequently, it is observed that during the research period pension fund managers followed a risk reduction strategy. As a result fund managers chose to invest fixed income and risk-free financial instruments within the...

Funding California Schools: The Revenue Limit System. Technical Appendices

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Margaret

2010-01-01

This document presents the technical appendices accompanying the report, "Funding California Schools: The Revenue Limit System." Included are: (1) Revenue Limit Calculation and Decomposition; (2) Data and Methods; and (3) Base Funding Alternative Simulation Results. (Contains 5 tables and 26 footnotes.) [For the main report,…

GPU seeks new funding for TMI cleanup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utroska, D.

1982-01-01

General Public Utilities (GPU) wants approval for annual transfer of money from base rate increases in other accounts to pay for the cleanup at Three Mile Island (TMI) until TMI-1 returns to service or the public utility commission takes further action. This proposal confirms fears of a delay in TMI-1 startup and demonstrates that the January negotiated settlement will produce little funding for TMI-2 cleanup. A review of the settlement terms outlines the three-step process for base rate increases and revenue adjustments after the startup of TMI-1, and points out where controversy and delays due to psychological stress make a new source of money essential. GPU thinks customer funding will motivate other parties to a broad-based cost-sharing agreement

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

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...

Mount Sinai Hospital's approach to Ontario's Health System Funding Reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalk, Tyler; Lau, Davina; Morgan, Matthew; Dietrich, Sandra; Beduz, Mary Agnes; Bell, Chaim M

2014-01-01

In April 2012, the Ontario government introduced Health System Funding Reform (HSFR), a transformational shift in how hospitals are funded. Mount Sinai Hospital recognized that moving from global funding to a "patient-based" model would have substantial operational and clinical implications. Adjusting to the new funding environment was set as a top corporate priority, serving as the strategic basis for re-examining and redesigning operations to further improve both quality and efficiency. Two years into HSFR, this article outlines Mount Sinai Hospital's approach and highlights key lessons learned. Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.

Tips for School Districts: GASB's New Fund Balance Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, Dean Michael

2010-01-01

In March 2009, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement No. 54, "Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions." School districts that prepare financial reports based on generally accepted accounting principles are required to implement this standard no later than the first fiscal year that starts after…

Are international fund flows related to exchange rate dynamics?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2018-01-01

Employing monthly data for 53 countries between 1996 and 2015, we investigate the relationship between international fund flows and exchange rate dynamics. We find strong co-movement between funds flows (as measured with the EPFR Global data base) and bilateral real exchange rates vis-à-vis the USD.

An Intricate Multiple-Factor Approach To Evaluate Performance Of Indian Mutual Fund

OpenAIRE

Suyash Bhatt

2013-01-01

This research paper examines performance of top twelve Indian mutual funds by Asset Under Management (AUM).  We use seven portfolio performance measurement parameters like Alpha, Beta, Standard Deviation, R Squared, Sharpe Ratio, Treynor Ratio and Jensen’s Alpha. The study reveals which amongst these mutual fund is the best performer based on all these parameters and the benchmark taken for this is NIFTY Index. The mutual funds selected are HDFC Top 200 Fund, Franklin India Bluechip Fund, ICI...

An algorithm for calculating exam quality as a basis for performance-based allocation of funds at medical schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschstein, Timo; Wolters, Alexander; Lenz, Jan-Hendrik; Fröhlich, Susanne; Hakenberg, Oliver; Kundt, Günther; Darmüntzel, Martin; Hecker, Michael; Altiner, Attila; Müller-Hilke, Brigitte

2016-01-01

The amendment of the Medical Licensing Act (ÄAppO) in Germany in 2002 led to the introduction of graded assessments in the clinical part of medical studies. This, in turn, lent new weight to the importance of written tests, even though the minimum requirements for exam quality are sometimes difficult to reach. Introducing exam quality as a criterion for the award of performance-based allocation of funds is expected to steer the attention of faculty members towards more quality and perpetuate higher standards. However, at present there is a lack of suitable algorithms for calculating exam quality. In the spring of 2014, the students' dean commissioned the "core group" for curricular improvement at the University Medical Center in Rostock to revise the criteria for the allocation of performance-based funds for teaching. In a first approach, we developed an algorithm that was based on the results of the most common type of exam in medical education, multiple choice tests. It included item difficulty and discrimination, reliability as well as the distribution of grades achieved. This algorithm quantitatively describes exam quality of multiple choice exams. However, it can also be applied to exams involving short assay questions and the OSCE. It thus allows for the quantitation of exam quality in the various subjects and - in analogy to impact factors and third party grants - a ranking among faculty. Our algorithm can be applied to all test formats in which item difficulty, the discriminatory power of the individual items, reliability of the exam and the distribution of grades are measured. Even though the content validity of an exam is not considered here, we believe that our algorithm is suitable as a general basis for performance-based allocation of funds.

An algorithm for calculating exam quality as a basis for performance-based allocation of funds at medical schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirschstein, Timo

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: The amendment of the Medical Licensing Act (ÄAppO in Germany in 2002 led to the introduction of graded assessments in the clinical part of medical studies. This, in turn, lent new weight to the importance of written tests, even though the minimum requirements for exam quality are sometimes difficult to reach. Introducing exam quality as a criterion for the award of performance-based allocation of funds is expected to steer the attention of faculty members towards more quality and perpetuate higher standards. However, at present there is a lack of suitable algorithms for calculating exam quality.Methods: In the spring of 2014, the students‘ dean commissioned the „core group“ for curricular improvement at the University Medical Center in Rostock to revise the criteria for the allocation of performance-based funds for teaching. In a first approach, we developed an algorithm that was based on the results of the most common type of exam in medical education, multiple choice tests. It included item difficulty and discrimination, reliability as well as the distribution of grades achieved. Results: This algorithm quantitatively describes exam quality of multiple choice exams. However, it can also be applied to exams involving short assay questions and the OSCE. It thus allows for the quantitation of exam quality in the various subjects and – in analogy to impact factors and third party grants – a ranking among faculty. Conclusion: Our algorithm can be applied to all test formats in which item difficulty, the discriminatory power of the individual items, reliability of the exam and the distribution of grades are measured. Even though the content validity of an exam is not considered here, we believe that our algorithm is suitable as a general basis for performance-based allocation of funds.

Training Funds and the Incidence of Training: The Case of Mauritius

Science.gov (United States)

Kuku, Oluyemisi; Orazem, Peter F.; Rojid, Sawkut; Vodopivec, Milan

2016-01-01

Training funds are used to incentivize training in developing countries, but the funds are based on payroll taxes that lower the return to training. In the absence of training funds, larger, high-wage and more capital-intensive firms are the most likely to offer training unless they are liquidity constrained. If firms are not liquidity…

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

31 CFR 205.17 - Are funds transfers delayed by automated payment systems restrictions based on the size and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... automated payment systems restrictions based on the size and timing of the drawdown request subject to this... Treasury-State Agreement § 205.17 Are funds transfers delayed by automated payment systems restrictions... to payment processes that automatically reject drawdown requests that fall outside a pre-determined...

A stable systemic risk ranking in China's banking sector: Based on principal component analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Libing; Xiao, Binqing; Yu, Honghai; You, Qixing

2018-02-01

In this paper, we compare five popular systemic risk rankings, and apply principal component analysis (PCA) model to provide a stable systemic risk ranking for the Chinese banking sector. Our empirical results indicate that five methods suggest vastly different systemic risk rankings for the same bank, while the combined systemic risk measure based on PCA provides a reliable ranking. Furthermore, according to factor loadings of the first component, PCA combined ranking is mainly based on fundamentals instead of market price data. We clearly find that price-based rankings are not as practical a method as fundamentals-based ones. This PCA combined ranking directly shows systemic risk contributions of each bank for banking supervision purpose and reminds banks to prevent and cope with the financial crisis in advance.

Manager, External Funds Management | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Job Summary The Manager, External Funds Management is responsible for ... in consultation with project staff, the annual project-based operational budgets and is ... and liaises with the Treasury Accountant on treasury management issues.

Funding intensive care - approaches in systems using diagnosis-related groups.

OpenAIRE

Ettelt, S; Nolte, E

2010-01-01

This report reviews approaches to funding intensive care in health systems that use activitybased payment mechanisms based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) to reimburse hospital care. The report aims to inform the current debate about options for funding intensive care services for adults, children and newborns in England. Funding mechanisms reviewed here include those in Australia (Victoria), Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United States (Medicare). Approaches to org...

Comparing the determinants of fund flows in domestically managed Malaysian Islamic and conventional equity funds.

OpenAIRE

Othman, J.; Asutay, M.; Jamailan, N.

2018-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an empirical evidence on the fund flows-past return performance relationship by also considering the management expense ratio, the portfolio turnover, the fund size and the fund age of Islamic equity funds (IEF) investors in comparison with conventional equity funds (CEF) investors. Design/methodology/approach: By using panel data, the sample of Malaysian domestic managed equity funds are considered comprised of 20 individual funds from IEF a...

Ensuring the Availability of Funds (Germany)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warnecke, Ernst; Paul, Michael

2006-01-01

1 - Legislation and regulation pertinent to funding: no site / facility specific legislation / regulation (Decommissioning Guideline); the obligation for D+D results from the Atomic Energy Act; the AtG requires a license for D + D of a nuclear facility; the Commercial Code requires reserves for liabilities; the Income Tax Law (EStG) is relevant for the taxation of reserves; the 'Ordinance on Advance Payments' is relevant for the construction of RW disposal facilities; the AtG is relevant for the payment of RW disposal costs. 2 - Financing system: Basic Principle: Polluter pays; Publicly funded facilities (mainly Federal Government): payment from annual budget; Privately owned facilities: collection of 'reserves' during operation / linear accumulation over 25 years, coverage: processing, storage and disposal of radioactive waste/spent fuel, D + D of nuclear facilities, reserves are in the portfolio of industry, financial risk lies with the operator; Availability of private funds: annual review / revision of the cost calculations by the operator, review of cost calculations by tax authorities. 3 - Costs: Cost calculation by the operator are based on detailed planning, need to be assessed conservatively. D + D cost calculation (as of 1999): ca. 300 x 10 6 Euro (1200 MW PWR, excl. disposal), ca. 350 x 10 6 Euro (800 MW BWR excl. disposal), ca. 700 x 10 6 Euro (incl. disposal of non-heat generating waste), immediate dismantling is slightly cheaper than deferred dismantling. Review and decision on adequacy of cost calculation by tax authorities. 4 - Experience: A lot of experience (public and private) has been gained, Experience is good, funds were available. 5 - Changing conditions - new challenges: Termination of nuclear energy generation, New approach to waste disposal, Privatisation of utilities, Liberalisation of energy market. Does the existing funding system need improvement?: Reconsideration of the existing situation, Exploration of potential improvements

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

Integrating Faith-Based Organizations into State-Funded Pre-K Programs: Resolving Constitutional Conflict. Pre-K Policy Brief Series

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, Dan; Boylan, Ellen

2010-01-01

This policy brief addresses federal and state constitutional issues that arise when faith-based organizations participate in state prekindergarten (pre-k) programs and recommends safeguards to ensure that public funding of those programs complies with constitutional principles respecting the separation of church and state and freedom of religion.…

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.

[National health fund and morbidity-based risk structure equalization with focus on haemophilia].

Science.gov (United States)

König, T

2010-11-01

The Gesundheitsfonds (national health fund) was established in Germany on January 1st, 2009, in combination with the morbidity-based risk structure equalization (RSA) in order to manage the cash flow between the statutory health insurances. The RSA equalizes income differences due to the varying levels of contributory income of the members of a health insurance (basic wage totals) and expenditure differences due to varying distribution of morbidity risks across different health insurances, as well as the varying numbers of non-contributing insured family members. Additionally, insured persons are allocated to morbidity groups according to a classification model based upon diagnoses and prescriptions anticipating medical expenses in the subsequent year. Haemophilia falls, among 80 disease entities, in the morbidity group which generates the highest risk supplement. Matching of prescribed drugs with disease entities facilitates disease grading and improves the accuracy of risk supplements.

An alternative mechanism for international health aid: evaluating a Global Social Protection Fund.

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, Sanjay; Stuckler, David; McKee, Martin

2014-01-01

Several public health groups have called for the creation of a global fund for 'social protection'-a fund that produces the international equivalent of domestic tax collection and safety net systems to finance care for the ill and disabled and related health costs. All participating countries would pay into a global fund based on a metric of their ability to pay and withdraw from the common pool based on a metric of their need for funds. We assessed how alternative strategies and metrics by which to operate such a fund would affect its size and impact on health system financing. Using a mathematical model, we found that common targets for health funding in low-income countries require higher levels of aid expenditures than presently distributed. Some mechanisms exist that may incentivize reduction of domestic health inequalities, and direct most funds towards the poorest populations. Payments from high-income countries are also likely to decrease over time as middle-income countries' economies grow.

Funding Acknowledgements in the Web of Science: inconsistencies in data collection and standardization of funding organizations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Honk, J.; Calero-Medina, C.; Costas, R.

2016-07-01

Funding acknowledgements (FAs), as provided by the Web of Science, are a recent inclusion in the bibliometric toolset. They are starting to be used to study the presence, relationships and effects of funding and funders in the production of new scientific research. The incorporation of this new source of information comes with the need to understand how these data are collected and indexed in the database. This paper discusses important inconsistencies related to the method by which the data for FA and funders are selected, extracted and indexed by WoS, thereby highlighting the need to construct a thesaurus for the data. Problematic areas are found to be the quality of the input data and the conceptualization of what does and does not constitute a funding acknowledgement. Based on this critical analysis of the data and the identification of the main issues, we provide several recommendations for researchers, funders, WoS and other users of the data. (Author)

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.

Needs-based Funding for Home Care and Community Support Services in Ontario: A New Approach Based on Linked Survey and Administrative Data

OpenAIRE

Jeremiah Hurley; Brian Hutchison; Gioia Buckley; Christel Woodward

2003-01-01

1.0 Background Since 1994, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (MOHLTC) has used an equity funding formula to allocate new funding for the delivery of long-term care (LTC) community services, which includes home care services and community support services in the province.[Ontario Ministry of Health 2000] The objective of the formula is to reduce historical disparities in funding among Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) regions by allocating new funds on the basis of the relati...

Design and synthesis of a water-stable anionic uranium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) with ultra large pores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Peng; Vermeulen, Nicolaas A.; Gong, Xirui; Malliakas, Christos D.; Stoddart, J. Fraser; Hupp, Joseph T. [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Farha, Omar K. [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; King Abdulaziz Univ., Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Dept. of Chemistry

2016-08-22

Ionic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a subclass of porous materials that have the ability to incorporate different charged species in confined nanospace by ion-exchange. To date, however, very few examples combining mesoporosity and water stability have been realized in ionic MOF chemistry. Herein, we report the rational design and synthesis of a water-stable anionic mesoporous MOF based on uranium and featuring tbo-type topology. The resulting tbo MOF exhibits exceptionally large open cavities (3.9 nm) exceeding those of all known anionic MOFs. By supercritical CO{sub 2} activation, a record-high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (2100 m{sup 2} g{sup -1}) for actinide-based MOFs has been obtained. Most importantly, however, this new uranium-based MOF is water-stable and able to absorb positively charged ions selectively over negatively charged ones, enabling the efficient separation of organic dyes and biomolecules.

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...

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

The effect of the introduction of a case-mix-based funding model of rehabilitation for severe stroke: an Australian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Brock, Kim A; Vale, Stephen J; Cotton, Susan M

2007-07-01

To compare resource use of, and outcomes for, rehabilitation for severe stroke before and after the implementation of the Casemix and Rehabilitation Funding Tree case-mix-based funding model. Prospective, observational cohort study. Eight inpatient rehabilitation centers in Australia. Consecutive sample of 609 patients with severe stroke. Not applicable. Rehabilitation length of stay (LOS), discharge destination, and FIM instrument motor score at discharge. The average rehabilitation LOS changed significantly between the preimplementation year and the implementation year (Mann-Whitney U, P=.001). There were no significant differences in discharge destination. FIM motor score at discharge showed significant reduction in improvement (Mann-Whitney U, P=.001) between the preimplementation year and the implementation year. There were no significant correlations between LOS in rehabilitation and gain in function for either the preimplementation year (Spearman rho, P=.07) or the implementation year (P=.15). The change in funding model was associated with a decrease in inpatient costs and with an associated increase in disability at discharge. Our results suggest that the rate of improvement in severe stroke is variable; also, they support the use of funding models for stroke rehabilitation that allow flexibility in resource allocation.

The Nature of Stable Insomnia Phenotypes

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Vivek; Roth, Thomas; Drake, Christopher L.

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: We examined the 1-y stability of four insomnia symptom profiles: sleep onset insomnia; sleep maintenance insomnia; combined onset and maintenance insomnia; and neither criterion (i.e., insomnia cases that do not meet quantitative thresholds for onset or maintenance problems). Insomnia cases that exhibited the same symptom profile over a 1-y period were considered to be phenotypes, and were compared in terms of clinical and demographic characteristics. Design: Longitudinal. Setting: Urban, community-based. Participants: Nine hundred fifty-four adults with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition based current insomnia (46.6 ± 12.6 y; 69.4% female). Interventions: None. Measurements and results: At baseline, participants were divided into four symptom profile groups based on quantitative criteria. Follow-up assessment 1 y later revealed that approximately 60% of participants retained the same symptom profile, and were hence judged to be phenotypes. Stability varied significantly by phenotype, such that sleep onset insomnia (SOI) was the least stable (42%), whereas combined insomnia (CI) was the most stable (69%). Baseline symptom groups (cross-sectionally defined) differed significantly across various clinical indices, including daytime impairment, depression, and anxiety. Importantly, however, a comparison of stable phenotypes (longitudinally defined) did not reveal any differences in impairment or comorbid psychopathology. Another interesting finding was that whereas all other insomnia phenotypes showed evidence of an elevated wake drive both at night and during the day, the “neither criterion” phenotype did not; this latter phenotype exhibited significantly higher daytime sleepiness despite subthreshold onset and maintenance difficulties. Conclusions: By adopting a stringent, stability-based definition, this study offers timely and important data on the longitudinal trajectory of specific insomnia phenotypes. With

Funding and Implementing Universal Access

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The principles for the subsidy awards are based not only on the experience of ... the best-practice model for special funding to support access to communications .... Malaysia, Russia, Mongolia and elsewhere).5 The Ugandan model uses the ...... services or serve additional areas, access to radio spectrum and lower taxes.

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...

Social value and individual choice: The value of a choice-based decision-making process in a collectively funded health system.

Science.gov (United States)

Espinoza, Manuel Antonio; Manca, Andrea; Claxton, Karl; Sculpher, Mark

2018-02-01

Evidence about cost-effectiveness is increasingly being used to inform decisions about the funding of new technologies that are usually implemented as guidelines from centralized decision-making bodies. However, there is also an increasing recognition for the role of patients in determining their preferred treatment option. This paper presents a method to estimate the value of implementing a choice-based decision process using the cost-effectiveness analysis toolbox. This value is estimated for 3 alternative scenarios. First, it compares centralized decisions, based on population average cost-effectiveness, against a decision process based on patient choice. Second, it compares centralized decision based on patients' subgroups versus an individual choice-based decision process. Third, it compares a centralized process based on average cost-effectiveness against a choice-based process where patients choose according to a different measure of outcome to that used by the centralized decision maker. The methods are applied to a case study for the management of acute coronary syndrome. It is concluded that implementing a choice-based process of treatment allocation may be an option in collectively funded health systems. However, its value will depend on the specific health problem and the social values considered relevant to the health system. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

LEGISLATION AND MANAGEMENT FUND FOR MOSQUE IN MANADO, INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deicy Natalia Karamoy

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to analyze the development of religious institutions as foundations or agencies virtue (Non-profit Organizations, which manage funds mosques and churches under the Act No. 28 of 2004 (Act 28/2004. The problem, though these agencies manage the funds mosques and churches as houses of worship, but still apply some cases broken trust and abuse in care funds. Content analysis will be made based on two data sources. First, it is the secondary data obtained than the Law 28/2004 and reports inscribed. Second is the primary data obtained from fieldwork. Revenue study is expected to back up the bodies of virtue for the management of funds increased more mosques in Manado, Indonesia. Conversely, if the enactment cases of study broken trust and misappropriation of funds in a thin, it acts in accordance with the laws that exist in Indonesia can be taken.

A population-based evaluation of a publicly funded, school-based HPV vaccine program in British Columbia, Canada: parental factors associated with HPV vaccine receipt.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogilvie, Gina; Anderson, Maureen; Marra, Fawziah; McNeil, Shelly; Pielak, Karen; Dawar, Meena; McIvor, Marilyn; Ehlen, Thomas; Dobson, Simon; Money, Deborah; Patrick, David M; Naus, Monika

2010-05-04

Information on factors that influence parental decisions for actual human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine receipt in publicly funded, school-based HPV vaccine programs for girls is limited. We report on the level of uptake of the first dose of the HPV vaccine, and determine parental factors associated with receipt of the HPV vaccine, in a publicly funded school-based HPV vaccine program in British Columbia, Canada. All parents of girls enrolled in grade 6 during the academic year of September 2008-June 2009 in the province of British Columbia were eligible to participate. Eligible households identified through the provincial public health information system were randomly selected and those who consented completed a validated survey exploring factors associated with HPV vaccine uptake. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to calculate adjusted odds ratios to identify the factors that were associated with parents' decision to vaccinate their daughter(s) against HPV. 2,025 parents agreed to complete the survey, and 65.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 63.1-67.1) of parents in the survey reported that their daughters received the first dose of the HPV vaccine. In the same school-based vaccine program, 88.4% (95% CI 87.1-89.7) consented to the hepatitis B vaccine, and 86.5% (95% CI 85.1-87.9) consented to the meningococcal C vaccine. The main reasons for having a daughter receive the HPV vaccine were the effectiveness of the vaccine (47.9%), advice from a physician (8.7%), and concerns about daughter's health (8.4%). The main reasons for not having a daughter receive the HPV vaccine were concerns about HPV vaccine safety (29.2%), preference to wait until the daughter is older (15.6%), and not enough information to make an informed decision (12.6%). In multivariate analysis, overall attitudes to vaccines, the impact of the HPV vaccine on sexual practices, and childhood vaccine history were predictive of parents having a daughter receive the HPV vaccine in a

A population-based evaluation of a publicly funded, school-based HPV vaccine program in British Columbia, Canada: parental factors associated with HPV vaccine receipt.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gina Ogilvie

2010-05-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Information on factors that influence parental decisions for actual human papillomavirus (HPV vaccine receipt in publicly funded, school-based HPV vaccine programs for girls is limited. We report on the level of uptake of the first dose of the HPV vaccine, and determine parental factors associated with receipt of the HPV vaccine, in a publicly funded school-based HPV vaccine program in British Columbia, Canada. METHODS AND FINDINGS: All parents of girls enrolled in grade 6 during the academic year of September 2008-June 2009 in the province of British Columbia were eligible to participate. Eligible households identified through the provincial public health information system were randomly selected and those who consented completed a validated survey exploring factors associated with HPV vaccine uptake. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to calculate adjusted odds ratios to identify the factors that were associated with parents' decision to vaccinate their daughter(s against HPV. 2,025 parents agreed to complete the survey, and 65.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 63.1-67.1 of parents in the survey reported that their daughters received the first dose of the HPV vaccine. In the same school-based vaccine program, 88.4% (95% CI 87.1-89.7 consented to the hepatitis B vaccine, and 86.5% (95% CI 85.1-87.9 consented to the meningococcal C vaccine. The main reasons for having a daughter receive the HPV vaccine were the effectiveness of the vaccine (47.9%, advice from a physician (8.7%, and concerns about daughter's health (8.4%. The main reasons for not having a daughter receive the HPV vaccine were concerns about HPV vaccine safety (29.2%, preference to wait until the daughter is older (15.6%, and not enough information to make an informed decision (12.6%. In multivariate analysis, overall attitudes to vaccines, the impact of the HPV vaccine on sexual practices, and childhood vaccine history were predictive of parents having

21st Century Community Learning Centers: Stable Funding for Innovation and Continuous Improvement. Research Update: Highlights from the Out-of-School Time Database. Number 8

Science.gov (United States)

Wimer, Christopher; Harris, Erin

2012-01-01

As the only federal funding stream that provides dedicated funds for afterschool programs across the country, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative plays an important role in supporting the innovation that takes place in afterschool programs. Social innovation has been defined as "a novel solution to a social…

30 CFR 872.21 - What are historic coal funds?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What are historic coal funds? 872.21 Section... What are historic coal funds? (a) “Historic coal funds” are moneys provided under section 402(g)(5) of SMCRA based on the amount of coal produced before August 3, 1977, in your State or on Indian lands in...

Project Management Methods in Projects Co-financed by EU Funds

OpenAIRE

Kostalova, Jana; Tetrevova, Libena; Patak, Michal

2017-01-01

This paper deals with the management of projects co-financed by European Union funds (structural funds and the Cohesion Fund) in the Czech Republic (EU projects). The authors aimed to analyze and assess the scope of familiarity with basic project management methods and their application within the implementation of EU projects in the Czech Republic in the Programming Period 2007–2013. Based on a questionnaire survey of EU project organisers, the authors evaluate their attitudes to project man...

Modelling a budgetary impact analysis for funding drug-based smoking cessation therapies for patients with major depressive disorder in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Rejas-Gutiérrez, J; Bruguera, E; Cedillo, S

2017-09-01

Smoking is associated with high healthcare resource utilisation and cost to society. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit high susceptibility to nicotine dependence. Varenicline, bupropion and nicotine replacement therapy are all indicated for smoking cessation; however funding by the Spanish national health system (SNHS) is limited. We modelled a budgetary impact analysis (BIA) to estimate the impact of the SNHS funding drug-based therapies for smoking cessation in smokers with MDD. The BIA compared the current unfunded scenario versus a funded scenario (varenicline, bupropion, nicotine replacement therapy combined with medical follow-up and counselling) using the Spanish SNHS and societal perspectives. The BIA design was a hybrid model using a decision tree algorithm (population size: smokers with MDD) and Markov chains (smoking cessation attempts) over a 5-year horizon. Smoking cessation drug efficacy was derived from clinical trials, and smoking cessation costs avoided were taken from an analysis of the Spanish National Health Survey. Results were shown as incremental cost savings. Scenarios and threshold univariate sensitivity analyses tested model robustness. The funded scenario resulted in an increase of 43,478 cessation attempts and 8930 fewer smokers after 5 years compared to the unfunded scenario. The cost of funding was €25.3 million and costs avoided were €26.5 million. There was a cumulative 5-year incremental cost saving of €1.2 million to Spanish society. Results were robust using alternative scenarios. Funding smoking cessation drugs in patients with MDD is of economic benefit to Spain and could produce net savings from the third year of implementation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Design and synthesis of a water-stable anionic uranium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) with ultra large pores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Peng; Vermeulen, Nicolaas A.; Gong, Xirui; Malliakas, Christos D.; Stoddart, J. Fraser; Hupp, Joseph T. [Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (United States); Farha, Omar K. [Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (United States); Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

2016-08-22

Ionic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a subclass of porous materials that have the ability to incorporate different charged species in confined nanospace by ion-exchange. To date, however, very few examples combining mesoporosity and water stability have been realized in ionic MOF chemistry. Herein, we report the rational design and synthesis of a water-stable anionic mesoporous MOF based on uranium and featuring tbo-type topology. The resulting tbo MOF exhibits exceptionally large open cavities (3.9 nm) exceeding those of all known anionic MOFs. By supercritical CO{sub 2} activation, a record-high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (2100 m{sup 2} g{sup -1}) for actinide-based MOFs has been obtained. Most importantly, however, this new uranium-based MOF is water-stable and able to absorb positively charged ions selectively over negatively charged ones, enabling the efficient separation of organic dyes and biomolecules. (copyright 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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...

Public funding of abortions and abortion counseling for poor women.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, R B

1997-01-01

This essay seeks to reveal the weakness in arguments against public funding of abortions and abortion counseling in the US based on economic, ethico-religious, anti-racist, and logical-consistency objections and to show that public funding of abortion is strongly supported by appeals to basic human rights, to freedom of speech, to informed consent, to protection from great harm, to justice, and to equal protection under the law. The first part of the article presents the case against public funding with detailed considerations of the economic argument, the ethico/religious argument, the argument that such funding supports racist genocide or eugenic quality control, and arguments that a logical inconsistency exists between the principles used to justify the legalization of abortions and arguments for public funding. The second part of the article presents the case for public funding by discussing the spending of public funds on morally offensive programs, arguments for public funding of abortion counseling for the poor, and arguments for public funding of abortions for the poor. It is concluded that it is morally unacceptable and rationally unjustifiable to refuse to expend public funds for abortions for low income women, because after all most money for legal abortions for the poor comes from welfare payments made to women. If conservative forces want to insure that no public funds pay for abortions, they must stop all welfare payments to pregnant women.

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

Hedge Fund Performance Attribution Under Various Market Conditions

OpenAIRE

Stafylas, Dimitrios; Anderson, Keith Philip; Uddin, Muhammad Moshfique

2018-01-01

We investigate US hedge funds’ performance. Our proposed model contains exogenous and endogenous break points, based on business cycles and on a regime switching process conditional on different states of the market. During difficult market conditions most hedge fund strategies do not provide significant alphas. At such times hedge funds reduce both the number of their exposures to different asset classes and their portfolio allocations, while some strategies even reverse their exposures. Dir...

State-Funded Activism: Lessons from Civil Society Organizations in Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Visser

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Civil society organizations (CSOs in Ireland receive significant state funding and institutional support according to the logic that they are important contributors to democratic governance, with the effect that the CSO sector has expanded and become more embedded in formal decision-making processes over the past several decades. At the same time, dependency on government funding exposes CSOs to three important challenges: to stay true to activist mandates in the face of pressure from state funders to focus on service provision; to maintain accountability to constituents while also satisfying the vertically oriented accountability requirements of the state; and to nurture collaboration among CSOs in a context of competition for state funding. University-based activists, who are also reliant on (increasingly scarce government funding, face similar challenges, and therefore should pay more attention to debates regarding state funding in the CSO sphere. By working together to overcome common challenges associated with state funding, activists in both spheres can more effectively contribute to progressive social change.

Evaluating the Impact of Performance Funding in Ohio and Tennessee

Science.gov (United States)

Hillman, Nicholas W.; Hicklin Fryar, Alisa; Crespín-Trujillo, Valerie

2018-01-01

Today, 35 states use performance-based funding models tying appropriations directly to educational outcomes. Financial incentives should induce colleges to improve performance, but there are several well-documented reasons why this is unlikely to occur. We examine how two of the most robust performance funding states--Tennessee and Ohio--responded…

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...

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 map of community-based obesity prevention initiatives in Australia following obesity funding 2009-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Whelan, Jillian; Love, Penny; Romanus, Anne; Pettman, Tahna; Bolton, Kristy; Smith, Erin; Gill, Tim; Coveney, John; Waters, Elizabeth; Allender, Steve

2015-04-01

Obesity is the single biggest public health threat to developed and developing economies. In concert with healthy public policy, multi-strategy, multi-level community-based initiatives appear promising in preventing obesity, with several countries trialling this approach. In Australia, multiple levels of government have funded and facilitated a range of community-based obesity prevention initiatives (CBI), heterogeneous in their funding, timing, target audience and structure. This paper aims to present a central repository of CBI operating in Australia during 2013, to facilitate knowledge exchange and shared opportunities for learning, and to guide professional development towards best practice for CBI practitioners. A comprehensive search of government, non-government and community websites was undertaken to identify CBI in Australia in 2013. This was supplemented with data drawn from available reports, personal communication and key informant interviews. The data was translated into an interactive map for use by preventive health practitioners and other parties. We identified 259 CBI; with the majority (84%) having a dual focus on physical activity and healthy eating. Few initiatives, (n=37) adopted a four-pronged multi-strategy approach implementing policy, built environment, social marketing and/or partnership building. This comprehensive overview of Australian CBI has the potential to facilitate engagement and collaboration through knowledge exchange and information sharing amongst CBI practitioners, funders, communities and researchers. An enhanced understanding of current practice highlights areas of strengths and opportunities for improvement to maximise the impact of obesity prevention initiatives. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

The nature of stable insomnia phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pillai, Vivek; Roth, Thomas; Drake, Christopher L

2015-01-01

We examined the 1-y stability of four insomnia symptom profiles: sleep onset insomnia; sleep maintenance insomnia; combined onset and maintenance insomnia; and neither criterion (i.e., insomnia cases that do not meet quantitative thresholds for onset or maintenance problems). Insomnia cases that exhibited the same symptom profile over a 1-y period were considered to be phenotypes, and were compared in terms of clinical and demographic characteristics. Longitudinal. Urban, community-based. Nine hundred fifty-four adults with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition based current insomnia (46.6 ± 12.6 y; 69.4% female). None. At baseline, participants were divided into four symptom profile groups based on quantitative criteria. Follow-up assessment 1 y later revealed that approximately 60% of participants retained the same symptom profile, and were hence judged to be phenotypes. Stability varied significantly by phenotype, such that sleep onset insomnia (SOI) was the least stable (42%), whereas combined insomnia (CI) was the most stable (69%). Baseline symptom groups (cross-sectionally defined) differed significantly across various clinical indices, including daytime impairment, depression, and anxiety. Importantly, however, a comparison of stable phenotypes (longitudinally defined) did not reveal any differences in impairment or comorbid psychopathology. Another interesting finding was that whereas all other insomnia phenotypes showed evidence of an elevated wake drive both at night and during the day, the 'neither criterion' phenotype did not; this latter phenotype exhibited significantly higher daytime sleepiness despite subthreshold onset and maintenance difficulties. By adopting a stringent, stability-based definition, this study offers timely and important data on the longitudinal trajectory of specific insomnia phenotypes. With the exception of daytime sleepiness, few clinical differences are apparent across stable phenotypes. �

78 FR 10085 - Limited Reductions of Funding, Termination, and Debarment Procedures; Recompetition; Enforcement...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-13

... reductions of funding, expansion of non-audit based suspensions for up to ninety days, and immediate special... LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION 45 CFR Parts 1606, 1614, 1618, and 1623 Limited Reductions of Funding... regulations regarding grants for the provision of legal assistance: (1) A new ``limited reduction of funding...

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...

Stable isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, D.K.

1986-01-01

Seventy-five percent of the world's stable isotope supply comes from one producer, Oak Ridge Nuclear Laboratory (ORNL) in the US. Canadian concern is that foreign needs will be met only after domestic needs, thus creating a shortage of stable isotopes in Canada. This article describes the present situation in Canada (availability and cost) of stable isotopes, the isotope enrichment techniques, and related research programs at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL)

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.

Selectivity Skills of Mutual Fund Managers in India: An Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bilal Ahmad Pandow

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Stock selection is the nucleus in the investment management process. It involves identifying and selecting undervalued securities which among other things requires the successful forecasting of the company specific events or an ability to predict the general behavior of security prices in the future. If the fund manager is able to identify and select the undervalued securities for the portfolio, then it will be possible for the fund manager to increase the returns of the schemes and vice versa. In practice fund managers are expected to earn superior returns for unit holders consistently as being professionals therefore possess superior skills to collect and analyze the data with the purpose to select the right type of securities for the portfolio. The present work is based on the review of tens of studies both foreign and Indian studies relating to mutual funds. The mutual fund industry in India consists of public sector, private sector and foreign funds. All the three sectors were studied to compare the selectivity and timing performance on the basis of sponsorship of funds. However, from these only active funds belongings to Growth, Income, Balanced and Tax-Saving Schemes were selected for the study. In this paper stock selectivity skills of sample fund managers were tested by using Jensen’s Alpha and Fama’s net selectivity measure.

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.

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).

Science on a Shoestring: Building Nursing Knowledge With Limited Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Conn, Vicki S; Topp, Robert; Dunn, Susan L; Hopp, Lisa; Jadack, Rosemary; Jansen, Debra A; Jefferson, Urmeka T; Moch, Susan Diemert

2015-10-01

Building the science for nursing practice has never been more important. However, shrunken federal and state research budgets mean that investigators must find alternative sources of financial support and develop projects that are less costly to carry out. New investigators often build beginning programs of research with limited funding. This article provides an overview of some cost-effective research approaches and gives suggestions for finding other sources of funding. Examples of more cost-effective research approaches include adding complementary questions to existing funded research projects; conducting primary analysis of electronic patient records and social media content; conducting secondary analysis of data from completed studies; reviewing and synthesizing previously completed research; implementing community-based participatory research; participating in collaborative research efforts such as inter-campus team research, practice-based research networks (PBRNs), and involving undergraduate and doctoral students in research efforts. Instead of relying on funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies, nurse researchers may be able to find support for research from local sources such as businesses, organizations, or clinical agencies. Investigators will increasingly have to rely on these and other creative approaches to fund and implement their research programs if granting agency budgets do not significantly expand. © The Author(s) 2015.

75 FR 28713 - Teacher Incentive Fund

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-21

... staff in its schools) in these schools to take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles... efforts that ensure an equitable distribution of effective teachers between high- and low- poverty schools... assesses the impact of performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems supported by the funds...

Evaluation of Performance of Mutual Funds in India from 2000 to 2007

OpenAIRE

Saboo, Manish

2008-01-01

There have been many studies in the past on performance of Mutual Funds in comparison to the market. These studies might differ in time and the market under study but most of them concluded that on an average, Mutual Funds have failed to outperform the market and thus the Efficient Market Hypothesis holds good. This research was based on performance of 22 mutual funds for a period of almost 8 years on monthly basis. Funds were evaluated using measures like Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Jensen'...

Stable radiographic scanning agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

Stable compositions which are useful in the preparation of Technetium-99m-based scintigraphic agents are discussed. They are comprised of ascorbic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof in combination with a pertechnetate reducing agent or dissolved in oxidized pertechnetate-99m (sup(99m)TcO 4 - ) solution

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...

Kryolize - KT Fund Project

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

Safety standards and best practices do exist in the field of cryogenics but, as in most domains, they are generally inserted in a few ‘envelope’ cases commonly used in the industry, whereas applicability to the particularity of research facilities are not fully tailored to its needs. The main objective in these cases is to find a harmonised approach, based on lessons learnt and scientific knowledge. The Kryolize Project was created in order to produce tools with a harmonized approach to size pressure relief devices for cryogenic applications. In view of disseminating such tools to other institutes and industrial partners, the project was submitted to CERN’s KT Fund committee. This talk will focus on the process and deliverables of the KT-Funded Kryolize project, including the method on how to cope with the sizing of pressure relief devices and the R&D collaboration agreement between CERN and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for an experimental programme.

Is community-based ecotourism a good use of biodiversity conservation funds?

Science.gov (United States)

Kiss, Agnes

2004-05-01

Community-based ecotourism (CBET) has become a popular tool for biodiversity conservation, based on the principle that biodiversity must pay for itself by generating economic benefits, particularly for local people. There are many examples of projects that produce revenues for local communities and improve local attitudes towards conservation, but the contribution of CBET to conservation and local economic development is limited by factors such as the small areas and few people involved, limited earnings, weak linkages between biodiversity gains and commercial success, and the competitive and specialized nature of the tourism industry. Many CBET projects cited as success stories actually involve little change in existing local land and resource-use practices, provide only a modest supplement to local livelihoods, and remain dependent on external support for long periods, if not indefinitely. Investment in CBET might be justified in cases where such small changes and benefits can yield significant conservation and social benefits, although it must still be recognized as requiring a long term funding commitment. Here, I aim to identify conditions under which CBET is, and is not, likely to be effective, efficient and sustainable compared with alternative approaches for conserving biodiversity. I also highlight the need for better data and more rigorous analysis of both conservation and economic impacts.

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…

Stable atomic hydrogen: Polarized atomic beam source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niinikoski, T.O.; Penttilae, S.; Rieubland, J.M.; Rijllart, A.

1984-01-01

We have carried out experiments with stable atomic hydrogen with a view to possible applications in polarized targets or polarized atomic beam sources. Recent results from the stabilization apparatus are described. The first stable atomic hydrogen beam source based on the microwave extraction method (which is being tested ) is presented. The effect of the stabilized hydrogen gas density on the properties of the source is discussed. (orig.)

Stable Isotope Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Tissue samples (skin, bone, blood, muscle) are analyzed for stable carbon, stable nitrogen, and stable sulfur analysis. Many samples are used in their entirety for...

stableGP

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The code in the stableGP package implements Gaussian process calculations using efficient and numerically stable algorithms. Description of the algorithms is in the...

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)

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.

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.

VERIFICATION PROCEDURE EUROPEAN FUNDED PROJECTS THROUGH FINANCIAL AUDITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riana Iren RADU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The work developed by the authors assumes a definite need for reflection on funding mechanisms and macroeconomic management at all levels of budget deficit, amid the economic crisis unprecedented in the recent history of Romania and the whole of Europe. In this direction, this paper attempts to highlight issues that arise in terms of absorption of European funds for economic development based on this absorption emphasizing the role of grants in the economy and the need to audit projects.

Casemix funding for acute hospital inpatient services in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Duckett, S J

1998-10-19

Casemix funding was introduced first in Victoria in 1993-94, and since then most States have moved towards either casemix funding or using casemix to inform the budget setting process. The five States implementing casemix have adopted some common funding elements: all use AN-DRG-3; all have introduced capping, msot commonly at the hospital level; and all ensure accuracy of diagnosis and procedure coding through coding audits. Two funding models have been developed. The fixed and variable model involves a fixed grant for hospital overhead costs and a payment for each patient treated, covering only variable costs. The integrated model provides an integrated payment to hospitals for each patient treated, covering both the fixed and variable costs. There are different weight setting processes and base prices between the States, which result in marked differences in the price paid for the same type of case treated in similar hospitals. Learning across State boundaries should be encouraged, with knowledge of what is effective and what is ineffective in casemix funding arrangements being used to develop Australian best practice in this area.

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...

The Management of Village Fund Finances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inten Meutia

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to know the implementation of fund management of village fund in Ogan Ilir Regency, South Sumatera. The population in this study were 224 villages in Ogan Ilir Regency that received the allocation of Village Funds in 2016. The purposive sampling technique was applied to obtain samples and produce 26 villages. The analysis will be carried out with a quantitative and qualitative description process. Based on the data obtained, the researcher tries to describe or describe systematically, accurately, and factually about matters relating to the field as fact, nature, and relationship between phenomena. Quantitative techniques will also use frequency analysis that aims to provide an overview of the general condition. The results reveal that the financial management aspects are generally in accordance with those set out in Permendagri 113/2014 and have complied with the basic principles of financial management. Reporting and accountability remain a problem for some villages. Not all of the villages studied have aspects of human resource reporting and accountability. Taking into account the composition of village budgeting, the village does not meet the rules that require a ratio of 70:30, this results in inequality in the implementation of rural development. The conclusion of this research is that the implementation of village fund management in Ogan Ilur Regency has been running well according to Permendagri 113/2014.

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

Funding Innovation in Poland through Crowdfunding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Kozioł-Nadolna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Funding innovative projects is one of the most serious problems faced by business owners in Poland. Therefore, due to the difficulties of obtaining external sources of financing, crowdfunding may constitute a new source of fundraising for innovative ventures. Therefore, crowdfunding – as a way of raising capital for projects – is the subject of the discussion in this article. The research aim of the article is to identify and evaluate crowdfunding platforms as well as the innovative projects carried out by these platforms in Poland in 2014-2016. The first part characterizes crowdfunding as a source of funding innovation and presents the nature of crowdfunding, its characteristics and models. The empirical part is based on inductive-deductive inference, desk research, i.e. the analysis of crowdfunding market in Poland in two research periods and a case study analysis. The article shows the results of the research on the Polish crowdfunding market in 2014-2016. The author also presents a case study of funding innovation on the Kickstarter.com platform by a Polish company Sher.ly.

The potential economic and environmental impact of a Public Benefit Fund in Louisiana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, M.J.; Pulsipher, A.G.; Baumann, R.H.

2004-01-01

Public Benefit Fund programs are one approach to provide energy assistance to low-income households placed at risk in a competitive electric industry. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential economic and environmental impact of a proposed Public Benefit Fund for the state of Louisiana. The 'best available' model to estimate the relationship between the cost of Public Benefit Fund programs and the benefits delivered by its implementation would be based on an evaluation of existent energy conservation and weatherization programs in the state, but unfortunately, such an evaluation has not been previously performed and so the 'next best' analytic model was employed. The impact of a Public Benefit Fund on energy savings and environmental consequences is assessed through a simulation model and input-output analysis. The model developed is based on publicly available data and infer results under a reasonable assumption set. The model structure and system assumptions of the Public Benefit Fund program are described, realistic policy alternatives are examined--including cost-ceiling, variable funding, and target group strategies--and the limitations of the analysis are outlined

The potential economic and environmental impact of a Public Benefit Fund in Louisiana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, Mark J.; Pulsipher, Allan G.; Baumann, Robert H.

2004-01-01

Public Benefit Fund programs are one approach to provide energy assistance to low-income households placed at risk in a competitive electric industry. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential economic and environmental impact of a proposed Public Benefit Fund for the state of Louisiana. The 'best available' model to estimate the relationship between the cost of Public Benefit Fund programs and the benefits delivered by its implementation would be based on an evaluation of existent energy conservation and weatherization programs in the state, but unfortunately, such an evaluation has not been previously performed and so the 'next best' analytic model was employed. The impact of a Public Benefit Fund on energy savings and environmental consequences is assessed through a simulation model and input-output analysis. The model developed is based on publicly available data and infer results under a reasonable assumption set. The model structure and system assumptions of the Public Benefit Fund program are described, realistic policy alternatives are examined, including cost-ceiling, variable funding, and target group strategies, and the limitations of the analysis are outlined. (Author)

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...

The Association Between NIMH Funding and h-index in Psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Saraykar, Smita; Saleh, Ayman; Selek, Salih

2017-08-01

Academic productivity is measured under many domains: number of high impact publications, objective bibliometrics, securing extra-mural funding, etc. Citation impact is measured by an objective bibliometric called h-index. Securing funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is considered prestigious in the field of psychiatry. It is unknown if NIMH takes into consideration the author's h-index during the grant review process. The goal of this study was to determine the correlation between a principal investigator's (PI's) h-index and the NIMH funding. Correlational analysis was conducted on publicly available 2012 NIMH funding data to assess the relationship between NIMH funding and a PI's h-index. A simple linear regression was calculated to predict the h-index based on the amount of funding offered to the PI. A total of 139 PIs and their corresponding h-index and NIMH funding (direct, indirect, and total cost) were included. A strong correlation was found between h-index and NIMH funding: direct cost (r = 0.632, p h-index, β = 0.821, t (2.599), p h-index, R 2  = 0.410, F (3, 119) = 27.59, p h-index and securing NIMH funding. Thus, h-index stands out as a reliable measure for assessing the impact of scholarly contributions in academic psychiatry and can be used as an adjunct for performance evaluations, appointment, and promotions in academia.

Stock investment funds in Brazil: performance and management expertise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Rogério Faustino Matos

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the stock investment fund market in Brazil and proposes dynamic rankings constructed from different risk-return metrics, during the period from 1998 to 2009. We find an uncommon level of persistence, mainly among the best performing funds, due to the expertise of the managers. The quadrimestral rebalancing of the portfolios based on these rankings permits inferring that in scenarios characterized as economic booms or recovery of financial markets, the strategies with equal participation in winner funds provides significantly higher average monthly gains, reduction of risk associated with diversification and consequently enhanced performance in relation to market or sector benchmarks. This evidence is robust to the use of different performance metrics for fund selection, indicating that active investors in winning funds demand good performance not only in terms of the Sharpe ratio, but also with respect to other metrics, such as the Treynor, Calmar and Sortino ratios. In these optimistic scenarios, only the industrial sector index (INDX provided returns compatible with those of these fund’s portfolios. However, during periods of crisis, no strategy involving the funds managed to provide hedge levels characteristic of the electric energy sector index (IEE, so it can be said that the majority of investing strategies are dominated in gain-risk criteria by sector or market indexes, with the exception of value-weighted portfolios composed of losing funds, a signal that the usual passive investors in large funds indexed to the Ibovespa can be presenting a greater level of inertia.

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...

34 CFR 692.110 - How does the Secretary allot funds to the States?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... same amount of Federal GAP funds allotted in the prior fiscal year, but are not sufficient both to allot the same amount of Federal GAP funds allotted in the prior fiscal year to these States and also to... participate in the prior year, an amount of Federal GAP funds available to States based on the ratio used to...

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...

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)

Portfolio Risk of International Diversification of Kosovo Pension Fund: A Historical Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florin Aliu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Finance do not stand on static variables like exact sciences, they are changeable and influenced from human actions. The question where to invest funds, is a crucial task for financial managers. The study aimed at assessing the portfolio risk of different asset managers of the Kosovo Pension and Saving Trust. In general, the assessment has been categorized in two historical perspectives. The first phase is an assessment of the portfolio risk of the fund from 2003 to 2009 and the second phase is from 2003 to 2013. In general, portfolio risk in the second stage has shown a reduction as compared to the first stage. However, the return side shows also a reduction in the second phase than the first one. The overall risk of Kosovo Pension and Saving Trust has been in accepted range. Majority of money have been invested in stocks which automatically exposes huge risk on KPST portfolio, since it is proven that financial markets are not stable and they are prone to asset bubbles.

Meta-analysis review of fish trophic level at marine protected areas based on stable isotopes data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. de LOPE ARIAS

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Stable isotopes (δ15N are used to determine trophic level in marine food webs. We assessed if Marine Protected Areas (MPAs affect trophic level of fishes based on stable isotopes on the Western Mediterranean. A total of 22 studies including 600 observations were found and the final dataset consisted of 11 fish species and 146 observations comparing trophic level inside and outside MPAs. The database was analysed by meta-analysis and the covariate selected was the level of protection (inside vs. outside MPAs. The results indicate significant difference between trophic levels inside and outside MPAs. However, results differ from expectations since the trophic level inside was lower than outside MPAs. Three habitats were analysed (coastal lagoons, demersal and littoral and significant differences were found among them. Trophic level was higher in demersal habitats than in coastal lagoons and littoral areas. No significant differences were found in species classified by trophic functional groups. We consider several hypotheses explaining the obtained results linked to protection level of the MPAs, time since protection and MPAs size. We debate the suitability of using the stable isotope (δ15N as direct indicator of trophic level in evaluating MPAs effects on food webs.

Stable Molecular Diodes Based on π-π Interactions of the Molecular Frontier Orbitals with Graphene Electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Peng; Guerin, Sarah; Tan, Sherman Jun Rong; Annadata, Harshini Venkata; Yu, Xiaojiang; Scully, Micheál; Han, Ying Mei; Roemer, Max; Loh, Kian Ping; Thompson, Damien; Nijhuis, Christian A

2018-03-01

In molecular electronics, it is important to control the strength of the molecule-electrode interaction to balance the trade-off between electronic coupling strength and broadening of the molecular frontier orbitals: too strong coupling results in severe broadening of the molecular orbitals while the molecular orbitals cannot follow the changes in the Fermi levels under applied bias when the coupling is too weak. Here, a platform based on graphene bottom electrodes to which molecules can bind via π-π interactions is reported. These interactions are strong enough to induce electronic function (rectification) while minimizing broadening of the molecular frontier orbitals. Molecular tunnel junctions are fabricated based on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of Fc(CH 2 ) 11 X (Fc = ferrocenyl, X = NH 2 , Br, or H) on graphene bottom electrodes contacted to eutectic alloy of gallium and indium top electrodes. The Fc units interact more strongly with graphene than the X units resulting in SAMs with the Fc at the bottom of the SAM. The molecular diodes perform well with rectification ratios of 30-40, and they are stable against bias stressing under ambient conditions. Thus, tunnel junctions based on graphene with π-π molecule-electrode coupling are promising platforms to fabricate stable and well-performing molecular diodes. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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…

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.

Exact simulation of max-stable processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dombry, Clément; Engelke, Sebastian; Oesting, Marco

2016-06-01

Max-stable processes play an important role as models for spatial extreme events. Their complex structure as the pointwise maximum over an infinite number of random functions makes their simulation difficult. Algorithms based on finite approximations are often inexact and computationally inefficient. We present a new algorithm for exact simulation of a max-stable process at a finite number of locations. It relies on the idea of simulating only the extremal functions, that is, those functions in the construction of a max-stable process that effectively contribute to the pointwise maximum. We further generalize the algorithm by Dieker & Mikosch (2015) for Brown-Resnick processes and use it for exact simulation via the spectral measure. We study the complexity of both algorithms, prove that our new approach via extremal functions is always more efficient, and provide closed-form expressions for their implementation that cover most popular models for max-stable processes and multivariate extreme value distributions. For simulation on dense grids, an adaptive design of the extremal function algorithm is proposed.

Does External Funding Help Adaptation? Evidence from Community-Based Water Management in the Colombian Andes

Science.gov (United States)

Murtinho, Felipe; Eakin, Hallie; López-Carr, David; Hayes, Tanya M.

2013-11-01

Despite debate regarding whether, and in what form, communities need external support for adaptation to environmental change, few studies have examined how external funding impacts adaptation decisions in rural resource-dependent communities. In this article, we use quantitative and qualitative methods to assess how different funding sources influence the initiative to adapt to water scarcity in the Colombian Andes. We compare efforts to adapt to water scarcity in 111 rural Andean communities with varied dependence on external funding for water management activities. Findings suggest that despite efforts to use their own internal resources, communities often need external support to finance adaptation strategies. However, not all external financial support positively impacts a community’s abilities to adapt. Results show the importance of community-driven requests for external support. In cases where external support was unsolicited, the results show a decline, or “crowding-out,” in community efforts to adapt. In contrast, in cases where communities initiated the request for external support to fund their own projects, findings show that external intervention is more likely to enhance or “crowds-in” community-driven adaptation.

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

Funding for malaria control 2006–2010: A comprehensive global assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pigott David M

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in international and domestic funding for malaria control, coupled with important declines in malaria incidence and mortality in some regions of the world. As the ongoing climate of financial uncertainty places strains on investment in global health, there is an increasing need to audit the origin, recipients and geographical distribution of funding for malaria control relative to populations at risk of the disease. Methods A comprehensive review of malaria control funding from international donors, bilateral sources and national governments was undertaken to reconstruct total funding by country for each year 2006 to 2010. Regions at risk from Plasmodium falciparum and/or Plasmodium vivax transmission were identified using global risk maps for 2010 and funding was assessed relative to populations at risk. Those nations with unequal funding relative to a regional average were identified and potential explanations highlighted, such as differences in national policies, government inaction or donor neglect. Results US$8.9 billion was disbursed for malaria control and elimination programmes over the study period. Africa had the largest levels of funding per capita-at-risk, with most nations supported primarily by international aid. Countries of the Americas, in contrast, were supported typically through national government funding. Disbursements and government funding in Asia were far lower with a large variation in funding patterns. Nations with relatively high and low levels of funding are discussed. Conclusions Global funding for malaria control is substantially less than required. Inequity in funding is pronounced in some regions particularly when considering the distinct goals of malaria control and malaria elimination. Efforts to sustain and increase international investment in malaria control should be informed by evidence-based assessment of funding equity.

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...

The Use of Performance Based Funding in a Sport Organization: A Case Study of the United States Olympic Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2009-08-01

description and analysis of a single instance, phenomenon, or social unit (Merriam, 1998). Management by Objective (MBO). A control system designed to...theoretical principles of performance based funding instead of testing a hypothesis, my epistemology will be constructivist. Constructionism Maynard...operate. This constitutes a vital epistemological position that constructionism takes in relation to the interaction between the investigator and

Great Expectations: An Examination of Section 180c Funding Allocations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dilger, F.C.; Halstead, R.J.

2006-01-01

As the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) moves toward milestones in developing a plan to ship high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain, an increasingly difficult issue is the distribution of Federal emergency management funds to mitigate costs of preparing for the shipments. DOE staff and contractors, and state transportation planning groups, have high expectations that some allocation formula based on technical factors can be used to distribute funds effectively and equitably. This paper examines the empirical results of a funding allocation formula proposed by the Western Governors Association among the eleven affected states which are members of the Western Interstate Energy Board. The amount of Federal funds allocated to Western states is also compared to the amount of revenue that would be generated by state-imposed fees on DOE shipments. (authors)

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)…

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...

Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board

CERN Document Server

HR Department

2009-01-01

Reminder Given the current state of the financial markets and the continuing uncertainty as to their future evolution, we begin by reiterating the introductory statement of the last report from the Pension Fund: "The CERN pension scheme is based on the principle of defined benefits, so beneficiaries continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled in accordance with the Rules of the Pension Fund. This means that pension entitlements under the Rules are not directly affected by the financial crisis and the current economic situation. However, the adjustment of pensions to the cost of living is not automatic and, under the method applied since 2006, must take into account the Fund’s financial position." Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB) The PFGB held its ninth and tenth meetings on 1st December 2008 and 11 February 2009 respectively. At the ninth meeting, the Governing Board bade farewell to P. Lambert, who had been an expert member since November 2007 and a membe...

Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board

CERN Document Server

HR Department

2009-01-01

Reminder Given the current state of the financial markets and the continuing uncertainty as to their future evolution, we begin by reiterating the introductory statement of the last report from the Pension Fund: "The CERN pension scheme is based on the principle of defined benefits, so beneficiaries continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled in accordance with the Rules of the Pension Fund. This means that pension entitlements under the Rules are not directly affected by the financial crisis and the current economic situation. However, the adjustment of pensions to the cost of living is not automatic and, under the method applied since 2006, must take into account the Fund’s financial position." Meeting of the Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB) The PFGB held its ninth and tenth meetings on 1st December 2008 and 11 February 2009 respectively. At the ninth meeting, the Governing Board bade farewell to P. Lambert, who had been an expert member since November...

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

Self-association of an indole based guanidinium-carboxylate-zwitterion: formation of stable dimers in solution and the solid state

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolin Rether

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The indole based zwitterion 2 forms stable dimers held together by H-bond assisted ion pairs. Dimerisation was confirmed in the solid state and studied in solution using dilution NMR experiments. Even though zwitterion 2 forms very stable dimers even in DMSO, their stability is lower than of an analogous pyrrole based zwitterion 1. As revealed by the X-ray crystal structure the two binding sites in 2 cannot be planar due to steric interactions between the guanidinium group and a neighbouring aromatic CH. Hence the guanidinium moiety is twisted out of planarity from the rest of the molecule forcing the two monomers in dimer 2·2 to interact in a non-ideal orientation. Furthermore, the acidity of the NHs is lower than in 1 (as determined by UV-pH-titration also leading to less efficient binding interactions.

Asset Liability Management for Pension Funds: A Multistage Chance Constrained Programming Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.L. Dert (Cees)

1995-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This thesis presents a scenario based optimisation model to analyze the investment policy and funding policy for pension funds, taking into account the development of the liabilities in conjunction with the economic environment. Such a policy will be referred to as

Donor funding for family planning: levels and trends between 2003 and 2013.

OpenAIRE

Grollman, C; Cavallaro, FL; Duclos, D; Bakare, V; Martínez Álvarez, M; Borghi, J

2018-01-01

The International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 set targets for donor funding to support family planning programmes, and recent initiatives such as FP2020 have renewed focus on the need for adequate funding to rights-based family planning. Disbursements supporting family planning disaggregated by donor, recipient country and year are not available for recent years. We estimate international donor funding for family planning in 2003-13, the period covering the introduction o...

Myocardial perfusion SPECT in stable angina;Place de la scintigraphie myocardique dans l'angor stable

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jau, P.; Jacob, T. [HP Clairval, Service de medecine nucleaire, 13 - Marseille (France); Lecorff, G.; Bouvier, J.L.; Novella, P.; Bechet, V.; Pelet, V. [HP Clairval, Service de cardiologie, 13 - Marseille (France)

2010-03-15

We study the precise contribution of myocardial scintigraphy in the therapeutic management of stable coronary artery disease. Until recently, treatment was focused on revascularization, often by coronary angioplasty.Recent studies have challenged this practice by showing the absence of superiority of angioplasty compared to optimal medical therapy.The problem now is to define for each stable coronary artery disease, and individually, the best of both treatment options. In this spirit, the functional approach to coronary artery disease by myocardial perfusion scintigraphy is most interesting.The diagnostic performance, including sensitivity and negative predictive value, and the prognostic value of the technique are clearly established. Recent studies show that a therapeutic decision based on a functional approach to the patient is valid.We need to know this development in cardiology for best position in the multidisciplinary discussions, myocardial scintigraphy as a functional approach to stable coronary artery disease. (N.C.)

Risk-adjusted capitation funding models for chronic disease in Australia: alternatives to casemix funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Antioch, K M; Walsh, M K

2002-01-01

Under Australian casemix funding arrangements that use Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) the average price is policy based, not benchmarked. Cost weights are too low for State-wide chronic disease services. Risk-adjusted Capitation Funding Models (RACFM) are feasible alternatives. A RACFM was developed for public patients with cystic fibrosis treated by an Australian Health Maintenance Organization (AHMO). Adverse selection is of limited concern since patients pay solidarity contributions via Medicare levy with no premium contributions to the AHMO. Sponsors paying premium subsidies are the State of Victoria and the Federal Government. Cost per patient is the dependent variable in the multiple regression. Data on DRG 173 (cystic fibrosis) patients were assessed for heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, structural stability and functional form. Stepwise linear regression excluded non-significant variables. Significant variables were 'emergency' (1276.9), 'outlier' (6377.1), 'complexity' (3043.5), 'procedures' (317.4) and the constant (4492.7) (R(2)=0.21, SE=3598.3, F=14.39, Probpayment (constant). The model explained 21% of the variance in cost per patient. The payment rate is adjusted by a best practice annual admission rate per patient. The model is a blended RACFM for in-patient, out-patient, Hospital In The Home, Fee-For-Service Federal payments for drugs and medical services; lump sum lung transplant payments and risk sharing through cost (loss) outlier payments. State and Federally funded home and palliative services are 'carved out'. The model, which has national application via Coordinated Care Trials and by Australian States for RACFMs may be instructive for Germany, which plans to use Australian DRGs for casemix funding. The capitation alternative for chronic disease can improve equity, allocative efficiency and distributional justice. The use of Diagnostic Cost Groups (DCGs) is a promising alternative classification system for capitation arrangements.

A map of community-based obesity prevention initiatives in Australia following obesity funding 2009–2013

Science.gov (United States)

Whelan, Jillian; Love, Penny; Romanus, Anne; Pettman, Tahna; Bolton, Kristy; Smith, Erin; Gill, Tim; Coveney, John; Waters, Elizabeth; Allender, Steve

2015-01-01

Abstract Objective: Obesity is the single biggest public health threat to developed and developing economies. In concert with healthy public policy, multi-strategy, multi-level community-based initiatives appear promising in preventing obesity, with several countries trialling this approach. In Australia, multiple levels of government have funded and facilitated a range of community-based obesity prevention initiatives (CBI), heterogeneous in their funding, timing, target audience and structure. This paper aims to present a central repository of CBI operating in Australia during 2013, to facilitate knowledge exchange and shared opportunities for learning, and to guide professional development towards best practice for CBI practitioners. Methods: A comprehensive search of government, non-government and community websites was undertaken to identify CBI in Australia in 2013. This was supplemented with data drawn from available reports, personal communication and key informant interviews. The data was translated into an interactive map for use by preventive health practitioners and other parties. Results: We identified 259 CBI; with the majority (84%) having a dual focus on physical activity and healthy eating. Few initiatives, (n=37) adopted a four-pronged multi-strategy approach implementing policy, built environment, social marketing and/or partnership building. Conclusion: This comprehensive overview of Australian CBI has the potential to facilitate engagement and collaboration through knowledge exchange and information sharing amongst CBI practitioners, funders, communities and researchers. Implications: An enhanced understanding of current practice highlights areas of strengths and opportunities for improvement to maximise the impact of obesity prevention initiatives. PMID:25561083

Sorting mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility: A FLOWSORT application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Verheyden

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We establish a robust FLOWSORT-based tool to sort mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility and recommend the use of limiting profiles with open classes. The tool provides an alternative for the limited dichotomous classification of funds, i.e. socially responsible investing (SRI versus conventional funds. By allowing for more heterogeneity in social responsibility the sorting tool is promising for scholars to improve fund performance measurements, and useful for governments to better regulate the supply of SRI products.

Multi-objective portfolio optimization of mutual funds under downside risk measure using fuzzy theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Amiri

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Mutual fund is one of the most popular techniques for many people to invest their funds where a professional fund manager invests people's funds based on some special predefined objectives; therefore, performance evaluation of mutual funds is an important problem. This paper proposes a multi-objective portfolio optimization to offer asset allocation. The proposed model clusters mutual funds with two methods based on six characteristics including rate of return, variance, semivariance, turnover rate, Treynor index and Sharpe index. Semivariance is used as a downside risk measure. The proposed model of this paper uses fuzzy variables for return rate and semivariance. A multi-objective fuzzy mean-semivariance portfolio optimization model is implemented and fuzzy programming technique is adopted to solve the resulted problem. The proposed model of this paper has gathered the information of mutual fund traded on Nasdaq from 2007 to 2009 and Pareto optimal solutions are obtained considering different weights for objective functions. The results of asset allocation, rate of return and risk of each cluster are also determined and they are compared with the results of two clustering methods.

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.

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.

Financing state newborn screening programs: sources and uses of funds.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kay; Lloyd-Puryear, Michele A; Mann, Marie Y; Ramos, Lauren Raskin; Therrell, Bradford L

2006-05-01

Financing for newborn screening is different from virtually all other public health programs. All except 5 screening programs collect fees as the primary source of program funding. A fee-based approach to financing newborn screening has been adopted by most states, to ensure consistent funding for this critical public health activity. Two types of data are reported here, ie, primary data from a survey of 37 state public health agencies and findings from exploratory case studies from 7 states. Most of the programs that participated in this survey (73%) reported that their newborn screening funding increased between 2002 and 2005, typically through increased fees and to a lesser extent through Medicaid, Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, and state general revenue funding. All of the responding states that collect fees (n = 31) use such funds to support laboratory expenses, and most (70%) finance short-term follow-up services and program management. Nearly one half (47%) finance longer-term follow-up services, case management, or family support beyond diagnosis. Other states (43%) finance genetic or nutritional counseling and formula foods or treatment. Regardless of the source of funds, the available evidence indicates that states are committed to maintaining their programs and securing the necessary financing for the initial screening through diagnosis. Use of federal funding is currently limited; however, pressure to provide dedicated federal funding would likely increase if national recommendations for a uniform newborn screening panel were issued.

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.

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.

MALDI-based identification of stable hazelnut protein derived tryptic marker peptides.

Science.gov (United States)

Cucu, T; De Meulenaer, B; Devreese, B

2012-01-01

Food allergy is an important health problem especially in industrialised countries. Tree nuts, among which are hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), are typically causing serious and life-threatening symptoms in sensitive subjects. Hazelnut is used as a food ingredient in pastry, confectionary products, ice cream and meat products, therefore undeclared hazelnut can be often present as a cross-contaminant representing a threat for allergic consumers. Mass spectrometric techniques are used for the detection of food allergens in processed foods, but limited information regarding stable tryptic peptide markers for hazelnut is available. The aim of this study was to detect stable peptide markers from modified hazelnut protein through the Maillard reaction and oxidation in a buffered solution. Peptides ³⁹⁵Gly-Arg⁴⁰³ from Cor a 11 and ²⁰⁹Gln-Arg²¹⁷, ³⁵¹Ile-Arg³⁶³, ⁴⁶⁴Ala-Arg⁴⁷⁸ and ⁴⁰¹Val-Arg⁴¹⁷ from Cor a 9 hazelnut allergens proved to be the most stable and could be detected and confirmed with high scores in most of the modified samples. The identified peptides can be further used as analytical targets for the development of more robust quantitative methods for hazelnut detection in processed foods.

Study of the length of hospital stay for free flap reconstruction of oral and pharyngeal cancer in the context of the new French casemix-based funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Girod, Angélique; Brancati, Antonio; Mosseri, Véronique; Kriegel, Irène; Jouffroy, Thomas; Rodriguez, José

2010-03-01

The French national health insurance reimbursement system has recently changed from a global hospital funding system to casemix-based funding. The authors studied the factors likely to influence the length of hospital stay for free flap reconstructions after surgery for cancers of the oral cavity or pharynx. Data concerning 207 oral cavity or pharynx free flap reconstructions were extracted from a prospective registration. Lengths of hospital stay were compared by an analysis of variance F test or a nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test, and transfusion rates were compared by Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. The median length of hospital stay was 24 days (range: 7-145 days). Length of hospital stay was significantly longer according to the type of flap (pcasemix-based funding, this study raises the problem of harvesting of the fibula flap, management of preoperative haemoglobin and nutritional status. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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...

A trust fund approach to accelerating deployment of CCS: options and considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naomi Pena; Edward S. Rubin

2008-01-15

The paper discusses one possible avenue to accelerate deployment of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies: use of a special-purpose CCS Trust Fund. A CCS Trust Fund financed, for example, through fees on coal-based or fossil fuel-based electricity generation may have a role in reducing CO{sub 2} emissions from power plants because it could: raise funds at the scale needed to support a significant number (e.g., 10 to 30) of commercial-scale CCS projects; ensure that the funds raised would be used to demonstrate CCS at commercial scale for a full range of systems applicable to U.S. power plants; establish the true costs, reliability, and operability of power plants with CCS; utilize private-sector business standards for project selection and management to ensure program cost effectiveness; and significantly reduce CCS costs within 10 to 15 years by supporting approximately 30 demonstrations, yielding substantial national economic benefits as CCS becomes widely deployed. The United States has considerable experience with trust funds. While no single existing fund illustrates all the features that might be desirable for a CCS Trust Fund, lessons from prior U.S. experience can be used to design an effective, efficient mechanism for advancing commercial-scale deployment of CCS. In particular, experience has indicated the importance of financial self-sufficiency, private-sector management standards, insulation from the annual Congressional appropriations process, and termination upon completion of objectives. Carefully crafted enabling legislation and, most likely, use of a quasi-public or private entity to manage a CCS Trust Fund will be needed to incorporate these and other desirable features. 25 refs., 1 tab., 1 app.

Cast thermally stable high temperature nickel-base alloys and casting made therefrom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acuncius, D.A.; Herchenroeder, R.B.; Kirchner, R.W.; Silence, W.L.

1977-01-01

A cast thermally stable high temperature nickel-base alloy characterized by superior oxidation resistance, sustainable hot strength and retention of ductility on aging is provided by maintaining the alloy chemistry within the composition molybdenum 13.7% to 15.5%; chromium 14.7% to 16.5%; carbon up to 0.1%, lanthanum in an effective amount to provide oxidation resistance up to 0.08%; boron up to 0.015%; manganese 0.3% to 1.0%; silicon 0.2% to 0.8%; cobalt up to 2.0%; iron up to 3.0%; tungsten up to 1.0%; copper up to 0.4%; phosphorous up to 0.02%; sulfur up to 0.015%; aluminum 0.1% to 0.5% and the balance nickel while maintaining the Nv number less than 2.31

How a new funding model will shift allocations from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Victoria Y; Glassman, Amanda; Silverman, Rachel L

2014-12-01

Policy makers deciding how to fund global health programs in low- and middle-income countries face important but difficult questions about how to allocate resources across countries. In this article we present a typology of three allocation methodologies to align allocations with priorities. We then apply our typology to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. We examined the Global Fund's historical HIV allocations and its predicted allocations under a new funding model that creates an explicit allocation methodology. We found that under the new funding model, substantial shifts in the Global Fund's portfolio are likely to result from concentrating resources in countries with more HIV cases and lower per capita incomes. For example, South Africa, which had 15.8 percent of global HIV cases in 2009, could see its Global Fund HIV funding more than triple, from historic levels that averaged 3.0 percent to 9.7 percent of total Global Fund allocations. The new funding model methodology is expected, but not guaranteed, to improve the efficiency of Global Fund allocations in comparison to historical practice. We conclude with recommendations for the Global Fund and other global health donors to further develop their allocation methodologies and processes to improve efficiency and transparency. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

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...

28 CFR 33.20 - Fund availability.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... shall receive a base amount of $250,000 with the remaining funds allocated to each state on the basis of... subgranted by the state to state agencies and units of local government to carry out programs and projects... distributed to local units, the most recent and complete data available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics...

Dynamics and control of twisting bi-stable structures

Science.gov (United States)

Arrieta, Andres F.; van Gemmeren, Valentin; Anderson, Aaron J.; Weaver, Paul M.

2018-02-01

Compliance-based morphing structures have the potential to offer large shape adaptation, high stiffness and low weight, while reducing complexity, friction, and scalability problems of mechanism based systems. A promising class of structure that enables these characteristics are multi-stable structures given their ability to exhibit large deflections and rotations without the expensive need for continuous actuation, with the latter only required intermittently. Furthermore, multi-stable structures exhibit inherently fast response due to the snap-through instability governing changes between stable states, enabling rapid configuration switching between the discrete number of programmed shapes of the structure. In this paper, the design and utilisation of the inherent nonlinear dynamics of bi-stable twisting I-beam structures for actuation with low strain piezoelectric materials is presented. The I-beam structure consists of three compliant components assembled into a monolithic single element, free of moving parts, and showing large deflections between two stable states. Finite element analysis is utilised to uncover the distribution of strain across the width of the flange, guiding the choice of positioning for piezoelectric actuators. In addition, the actuation authority is maximised by calculating the generalised coupling coefficient for different positions of the piezoelectric actuators. The results obtained are employed to tailor and test I-beam designs exhibiting desired large deflection between stable states, while still enabling the activation of snap-through with the low strain piezoelectric actuators. To this end, the dynamic response of the I-beams to piezoelectric excitation is investigated, revealing that resonant excitations are insufficient to dynamically trigger snap-through. A novel bang-bang control strategy, which exploits the nonlinear dynamics of the structure successfully triggers both single and constant snap-through between the stable states

Multivariate Max-Stable Spatial Processes

KAUST Repository

Genton, Marc G.

2014-01-06

Analysis of spatial extremes is currently based on univariate processes. Max-stable processes allow the spatial dependence of extremes to be modelled and explicitly quantified, they are therefore widely adopted in applications. For a better understanding of extreme events of real processes, such as environmental phenomena, it may be useful to study several spatial variables simultaneously. To this end, we extend some theoretical results and applications of max-stable processes to the multivariate setting to analyze extreme events of several variables observed across space. In particular, we study the maxima of independent replicates of multivariate processes, both in the Gaussian and Student-t cases. Then, we define a Poisson process construction in the multivariate setting and introduce multivariate versions of the Smith Gaussian extremevalue, the Schlather extremal-Gaussian and extremal-t, and the BrownResnick models. Inferential aspects of those models based on composite likelihoods are developed. We present results of various Monte Carlo simulations and of an application to a dataset of summer daily temperature maxima and minima in Oklahoma, U.S.A., highlighting the utility of working with multivariate models in contrast to the univariate case. Based on joint work with Simone Padoan and Huiyan Sang.

Multivariate Max-Stable Spatial Processes

KAUST Repository

Genton, Marc G.

2014-01-01

Analysis of spatial extremes is currently based on univariate processes. Max-stable processes allow the spatial dependence of extremes to be modelled and explicitly quantified, they are therefore widely adopted in applications. For a better understanding of extreme events of real processes, such as environmental phenomena, it may be useful to study several spatial variables simultaneously. To this end, we extend some theoretical results and applications of max-stable processes to the multivariate setting to analyze extreme events of several variables observed across space. In particular, we study the maxima of independent replicates of multivariate processes, both in the Gaussian and Student-t cases. Then, we define a Poisson process construction in the multivariate setting and introduce multivariate versions of the Smith Gaussian extremevalue, the Schlather extremal-Gaussian and extremal-t, and the BrownResnick models. Inferential aspects of those models based on composite likelihoods are developed. We present results of various Monte Carlo simulations and of an application to a dataset of summer daily temperature maxima and minima in Oklahoma, U.S.A., highlighting the utility of working with multivariate models in contrast to the univariate case. Based on joint work with Simone Padoan and Huiyan Sang.

Multiturn Extraction Based on Trapping in Stable Islands at CERN PS: Recent Measurement Advances

CERN Multimedia

Cappi, R; Giovannozzi, Massimo; Martini, M; Métral, Elias; Müller, A S; Sakumi, A; Steerenberg, R

2004-01-01

Recently a novel approach to perform multi-turn extraction was proposed based on beam splitting in the transverse phase space by means of trapping inside stable islands. During the year 2002, preliminary measurements at the CERN Proton Synchrotron with a low-intensity, singlebunch, proton beam, confirmed the possibility of generating various beamlets starting from a single Gaussian beam. The experimental campaign continued also during the year 2003 to assess a number of key issues, such as the feasibility of trapping with high-intensity beam and capture efficiency. The experimental results are presented and discussed in detail in this paper.

Preparation and properties studies of halogen-free flame retardant form-stable phase change materials based on paraffin/high density polyethylene composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Yibing; Wei Qufu; Huang Fenglin; Gao Weidong

2008-01-01

The halogen-free flame retardant form-stable phase change materials (PCM) based on paraffin/high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites were prepared by using twin-screw extruder technique. The structures and properties of the form-stable PCM composites based on intumescent flame retardant system with expandable graphite (EG) and different synergistic additives, such as ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and zinc borate (ZB) were characterized by scanning electronic microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), dynamic Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and Cone calorimeter test. The TGA results showed that the halogen-free flame retardant form-stable PCM composites produced a larger amount of charred residue at 700 deg. C, although the onset of weight loss of the halogen-free flame retardant form-stable PCM composites occurred at a lower temperature due to the thermal decomposition of flame retardant. The DSC measurements indicated that the additives of flame retardant had little effect on the thermal energy storage property, and the temperatures of phase change peaks and the latent heat of the paraffin showed better occurrence during the freezing process. The dynamic FTIR monitoring results revealed that the breakdowns of main chains (HDPE and paraffin) and formations of various residues increased with increasing thermo-oxidation temperature. It was also found from the Cone calorimeter tests that the peak of heat release rate (PHRR) decreased significantly. Both the decrease of the PHRR and the structure of charred residue after combustion indicated that there was a synergistic effect between the EG and APP, contributing to the improved flammability of the halogen-free flame retardant form-stable PCM composites

An outline of the bibliometric indicator used for performancebased funding of research institutions in Norway

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schneider, Jesper Wiborg

2009-01-01

This article outlines and discusses the bibliometric indicator used for performance-based funding of research institutions in Norway. It is argued that the indicator is novel and innovative as compared to the indicators used in other funding models. It compares institutions based on all...

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...

Stable Au–C bonds to the substrate for fullerene-based nanostructures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taras Chutora

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We report on the formation of fullerene-derived nanostructures on Au(111 at room temperature and under UHV conditions. After low-energy ion sputtering of fullerene films deposited on Au(111, bright spots appear at the herringbone corner sites when measured using a scanning tunneling microscope. These features are stable at room temperature against diffusion on the surface. We carry out DFT calculations of fullerene molecules having one missing carbon atom to simulate the vacancies in the molecules resulting from the sputtering process. These modified fullerenes have an adsorption energy on the Au(111 surface that is 1.6 eV higher than that of C60 molecules. This increased binding energy arises from the saturation by the Au surface of the bonds around the molecular vacancy defect. We therefore interpret the observed features as adsorbed fullerene-derived molecules with C vacancies. This provides a pathway for the formation of fullerene-based nanostructures on Au at room temperature.

Role of additives in combustion waves and effect on stable combustion limit of double-base propellants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kubota, N [Japan Defence Agency, Tachikawa. 3. Research Center

1978-12-01

The effect of additives on the flame structures and the burning rates of double-base propellants have been examined by means of photographic observations and temperature profile measurements. The additives used for this study are lead salicylate (PbSa, 2%), nickel (Ni, 1%), ammonium perchlorate (AP, 30%), and cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX, 30%). The addition of PbSa increases the burning rate, but does not improve the flame temperature characteristics. The addition of Ni increases the flame temperature significantly at pressures below 30 atm. The Ni acts as a catalyst to promote the flame reaction while it does not act as a burning rate modifier. The additions of AP and HMX increase the thermal performance of the propellant system, however, the HMX does not improve the stable combustion limit of the rocket motor at low pressures. The addition of Ni or AP is found to increase the flame temperature at pressures below 30 atm, and the stable combustion limits is lowered to below 3 atm.

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...

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…

A Diversified Approach to Funding a Paleontology Program

Science.gov (United States)

Dooley, A., Jr.

2014-12-01

Routine field collection of fossils and other geologic specimens and maintenance of the resulting collections do not typically receive frequent infusions of large amounts of grant money, in spite of the relatively low costs of these activities and the baseline of data they provide. This type of work is often carried out by chronically-underfunded museums that that must use innovative methods of fundraising to carry out their missions. The Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH) is an independent state agency that is not affiliated with a university or any other institution. The VMNH paleontology department carries out frequent excavations of vertebrate fossils at three different localities in Virginia and Wyoming, maintains a collection of several hundred thousand specimens, and conducts original research and participates in professional meetings. Yet the annual operations (non-salary) appropriation for the paleontology department is only $500/year. Since 2007, state appropriations have accounted for only 3% of the department's non-salary funding, while grants (excluding salary-specific funding) have accounted for 27% and cash donations provided 1%. The remaining 69% has come from a diverse suite of alternate fundraising methods. Ecotourism and educational programming fees (37%) include fees paid by students and members of the public to participate in VMNH excavations, as well as fee-based field trips and programs involving fossils or casts. Merchandise sales (15%) are based on casts of specimens held in either the VMNH collections or at smaller museums that have contracted with VMNH to provide paleontology services. Contract work (13%) has included paleo-themed exhibit design, specimen evaluation, and repair of fossil specimens for smaller museums and visitor centers that lack a paleontology staff. A crowdfunding campaign designed to support a specific fossil excavation was responsible for 4% of the department's funds. This diverse range of funding sources has

Wideband quin-stable energy harvesting via combined nonlinearity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Wang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In this work, we propose a wideband quintuple-well potential piezoelectric-based vibration energy harvester using a combined nonlinearity: the magnetic nonlinearity induced by magnetic force and the piecewise-linearity produced by mechanical impact. With extra stable states compared to other multi-stable harvesters, the quin-stable harvester can distribute its potential energy more uniformly, which provides shallower potential wells and results in lower excitation threshold for interwell motion. The mathematical model of this quin-stable harvester is derived and its equivalent piecewise-nonlinear restoring force is measured in the experiment and identified as piecewise polynomials. Numerical simulations and experimental verifications are performed in different levels of sinusoid excitation ranging from 1 to 25 Hz. The results demonstrate that, with lower potential barriers compared with tri-stable counterpart, the quin-stable arrangement can escape potential wells more easily for doing high-energy interwell motion over a wider band of frequencies. Moreover, by utilizing the mechanical stoppers, this harvester can produce significant output voltage under small tip deflections, which results in a high power density and is especially suitable for a compact MEMS approach.

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.

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...

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 Cost of Family Medicine Residency Training: Impacts of Federal and State Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauwels, Judith; Weidner, Amanda

2018-02-01

Numerous organizations are calling for the expansion of graduate medical education (GME) positions nationally. Developing new residency programs and expanding existing programs can only happen if financial resources are available to pay for the expenses of training beyond what can be generated in direct clinical income by the residents and faculty in the program. The goal of this study was to evaluate trended data regarding the finances of family medicine residency programs to identify what financial resources are needed to sustain graduate medical education programs. A group of family medicine residency programs have shared their financial data since 2002 through a biennial survey of program revenues, expenses, and staffing. Data sets over 12 years were collected and analyzed, and results compared to analyze trends. Overall expenses increased 70.4% during this period. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) GME revenue per resident increased by 15.7% for those programs receiving these monies. Overall, total revenue per resident, including clinical revenues, state funding, and any other revenue stream, increased 44.5% from 2006 to 2016. The median cost per resident among these programs, excluding federal GME funds, is currently $179,353; this amount has increased over the 12 years by 93.7%. For this study group of family medicine programs, data suggests a cost per resident per year, excluding federal and state GME funding streams, of about $180,000. This excess expense compared to revenue must be met by other agencies, whether from CMS, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), state expenditures or other sources, through stable long-term commitments to these funding mechanisms to ensure program viability for these essential family medicine programs in the future.

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.

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...

Performance Funding Policy Effects on Community College Outcomes: Are Short-Term Certificates on the Rise?

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Amy Y.; Kennedy, Alec I.

2018-01-01

Objective: Performance funding (PF) policies allocate a portion of state funding to colleges based on student outcomes. This study is the first to account for policy type and design differences, and explores the impact of performance funding on three levels of credential completions: short-term certificates, medium-term certificates, and…

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.G. Verwer (Jan); M.A. Botchev

2008-01-01

htmlabstractNumerical integration of Maxwell''s equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction

The Impacts of a Fully Funded Postgraduate Education on Promotion and Command Screen for Fixed-Wing, Carrier-Based Pilots and Naval Flight Officers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Phillips, William

2001-01-01

This thesis evaluates the effect of fully-funded graduate education on the joint outcome of promote to Pay Grade 5 and screen for squadron command for fixed-wing, carrier-based aviator lieutenant commanders (Pay Grade 4...

The paradox of non-evidence based, publicly funded complementary alternative medicine in the English National Health Service: An explanation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheppard, Maria K

2015-10-01

Despite the unproven effectiveness of many practices that are under the umbrella term 'complementary alternative medicine' (CAM), there is provision of CAM within the English National Health Service (NHS). Moreover, although the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence was established to promote scientifically validated medicine in the NHS, the paradox of publicly funded, non-evidence based CAM can be explained as linked with government policy of patient choice and specifically patient treatment choice. Patient choice is useful in the political and policy discourse as it is open to different interpretations and can be justified by policy-makers who rely on the traditional NHS values of equity and universality. Treatment choice finds expression in the policy of personalised healthcare linked with patient responsibilisation which finds resonance in the emphasis CAM places on self-care and self-management. More importantly, however, policy-makers also use patient choice and treatment choice as a policy initiative with the objective of encouraging destabilisation of the entrenched healthcare institutions and practices considered resistant to change. This political strategy of system reform has the unintended, paradoxical consequence of allowing for the emergence of non-evidence based, publicly funded CAM in the NHS. The political and policy discourse of patient choice thus trumps evidence based medicine, with patients that demand access to CAM becoming the unwitting beneficiaries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Report on all ARRA Funded Technical Work

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2013-10-05

The main focus of this American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funded project was to design an energy efficient carbon capture and storage (CCS) process using the Recipients membrane system for H{sub 2} separation and CO{sub 2} capture. In the ARRA-funded project, the Recipient accelerated development and scale-up of ongoing hydrogen membrane technology research and development (R&D). Specifically, this project focused on accelerating the current R&D work scope of the base program-funded project, involving lab scale tests, detail design of a 250 lb/day H{sub 2} process development unit (PDU), and scale-up of membrane tube and coating manufacturing. This project scope included the site selection and a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study of a nominally 4 to 10 ton-per-day (TPD) Pre-Commercial Module (PCM) hydrogen separation membrane system. Process models and techno-economic analysis were updated to include studies on integration of this technology into an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power generation system with CCS.

ACCOUNTING OF AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES AND EUROPEAN FUNDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Petru VARTEIU

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The economical operations developed by the beneficiaries of European funds projects, are registered in accounting, based on justifying documents, in accordance with the national and international legislation in effect. The beneficiaries of European funds projects may be organized starting from the simplest form of organisation, which takes the form of self – employed person (SEP till the most complex form of organisation such as trading companies (T.C.. The Romanian institutions which finance agricultural activities are Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (M.A.R.D which subordinates Rural Investment Finance Agency (R.I.F.A and Payment and Intervention Agency in Agriculture (P.I.A.A. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has an authority role, of management (AM for the National Rural Development Program (N.R.D.P and for the Fisheries Operational Program (F.O.P. The funds obtained from the European Union and from Romanian institutions for the development of agricultural activities are registered in accounting as grants, in the category of grants afferent to assets or afferent to incomes.

Redesigning A Program of Ecosystem Conservation Fund

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwak, Seung Jun; Yoo, Seung Hoon [Korea University, Seoul (Korea)

2000-08-01

A program of ecosystem conservation fund was proposed by the Ministry of Environment in Korea and has been supposed to come into force in early 2001. However, currently the program is withheld because there are strong objections to it for several reasons. The prime purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons and problems involved in the program, to suggest some guidances to revise the program, and to design a new program by using a multi attribute index based on environmental significance. We found that there are two major problems of the program: first, inequity in choosing those whom the fund are levied on; second, irrationality of the way the fund are imposed. The paper also provides a simulation study to analyze the effects of four scenarios concerning feasible alternatives. We argue that natural resource damages caused by development works cannot be fairly prevented by the existing environmental impact assessment system only and should be used in harmony with the new system. (author). 10 refs., 10 tabs.

Current and future funding sources for specialty mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Levit, Katharine R; Stranges, Elizabeth; Coffey, Rosanna M; Kassed, Cheryl; Mark, Tami L; Buck, Jeffrey A; Vandivort-Warren, Rita

2013-06-01

Goals were to describe funding for specialty behavioral health providers in 1986 and 2005 and examine how the recession, parity law, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) may affect future funding. Numerous public data sets and actuarial methods were used to estimate spending for services from specialty behavioral health providers (general hospital specialty units; specialty hospitals; psychiatrists; other behavioral health professionals; and specialty mental health and substance abuse treatment centers). Between 1986 and 2005, hospitals-which had received the largest share of behavioral health spending-declined in importance, and spending shares trended away from specialty hospitals that were largely funded by state and local governments. Hospitals' share of funding from private insurance decreased from 25% in 1986 to 12% in 2005, and the Medicaid share increased from 11% to 23%. Office-based specialty providers continued to be largely dependent on private insurance and out-of-pocket payments, with psychiatrists receiving increased Medicaid funding. Specialty centers received increased funding shares from Medicaid (from 11% to 29%), and shares from other state and local government sources fell (from 64% to 46%). With ACA's full implementation, spending on behavioral health will likely increase under private insurance and Medicaid. Parity in private plans will also push a larger share of payments for office-based professionals from out-of-pocket payments to private insurance. As ACA provides insurance for formerly uninsured individuals, funding by state behavioral health authorities of center-based treatment will likely refocus on recovery and support services. Federal Medicaid rules will increase in importance as more people needing behavioral health treatment become covered.

A Multi-Level Examination of Stakeholder Perspectives of Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in a Large Urban Publicly-Funded Mental Health System.

Science.gov (United States)

Beidas, Rinad S; Stewart, Rebecca E; Adams, Danielle R; Fernandez, Tara; Lustbader, Susanna; Powell, Byron J; Aarons, Gregory A; Hoagwood, Kimberly E; Evans, Arthur C; Hurford, Matthew O; Rubin, Ronnie; Hadley, Trevor; Mandell, David S; Barg, Frances K

2016-11-01

Our goal was to identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of evidence-based practices from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in a large publicly funded mental health system. We completed 56 interviews with three stakeholder groups: treatment developers (n = 7), agency administrators (n = 33), and system leadership (n = 16). The three stakeholder groups converged on the importance of inner (e.g., agency competing resources and demands, therapist educational background) and outer context (e.g., funding) factors as barriers to implementation. Potential threats to implementation and sustainability included the fiscal landscape of community mental health clinics and an evolving workforce. Intervention characteristics were rarely endorsed as barriers. Inner context, outer context, and intervention characteristics were all seen as important facilitators. All stakeholders endorsed the importance of coordinated collaboration across stakeholder groups within the system to successfully implement evidence-based practices.

The Prediction of States' PK-12 Funding Effort and Distribution Based on Their Ideological Makeups

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Joel R.

2016-01-01

States differ markedly in their funding for public schools, both in terms of the fiscal effort their citizens demonstrate and the progressivity with which funds are distributed. Yet, less is known about why different states have enacted such different policies and financing systems. In this study, the relationships between a measure of states'…

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. ...

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.

Room Temperature Stable PspA-Based Nanovaccine Induces Protective Immunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle A. Wagner-Muñiz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major causative agent of pneumonia, a debilitating disease particularly in young and elderly populations, and is the leading worldwide cause of death in children under the age of five. While there are existing vaccines against S. pneumoniae, none are protective across all serotypes. Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA, a key virulence factor of S. pneumoniae, is an antigen that may be incorporated into future vaccines to address the immunological challenges presented by the diversity of capsular antigens. PspA has been shown to be immunogenic and capable of initiating a humoral immune response that is reactive across approximately 94% of pneumococcal strains. Biodegradable polyanhydrides have been studied as a nanoparticle-based vaccine (i.e., nanovaccine platform to stabilize labile proteins, to provide adjuvanticity, and enhance patient compliance by providing protective immunity in a single dose. In this study, we designed a room temperature stable PspA-based polyanhydride nanovaccine that eliminated the need for a free protein component (i.e., 100% encapsulated within the nanoparticles. Mice were immunized once with the lead nanovaccine and upon challenge, presented significantly higher survival rates than animals immunized with soluble protein alone, even with a 25-fold reduction in protein dose. This lead nanovaccine formulation performed similarly to protein adjuvanted with Alum, however, with much less tissue reactogenicity at the site of immunization. By eliminating the free PspA from the nanovaccine formulation, the lead nanovaccine was efficacious after being stored dry for 60 days at room temperature, breaking the need for maintaining the cold chain. Altogether, this study demonstrated that a single dose PspA-based nanovaccine against S. pneumoniae induced protective immunity and provided thermal stability when stored at room temperature for at least 60 days.

Poland - Electricity and gas marked development study and practical guidelines for using EU funds. Practical guidelines for using EU funds for energy projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-12-01

The present report is prepared as part of the project 'Poland - Electricity and gas market development study and practical guidelines for using EU - funds'. The EU structural and cohesion funds are presently considered the most relevant funds concerning support to energy projects. In general, the Polish administration of the EU structural funds is strongly decentralized. The eligible project types to be supported from the various structural funds are described in a number of sector programmes. The sector programmes are described in vertical view, meaning that it is difficult to assess what kind of energy projects are eligible for support and, if eligible, then under which programme. This report presents a horizontal view of the various programmes in order to give an overview of the possibilities of support to energy related projects. The background for this report is a study of the following sector programmes: 1. Improvement of the competitiveness of enterprises. 2. Human resources development. 3. Restructuring and modernization of food sector and rural development. 4. Fisheries and fish processing. 5. Transport - maritime economy. 6. Integrated regional operational programme. 7. Technical assistance. Based on this review, it can be stated that energy projects in general have a low priority but can be supported under various measures within the programmes. (BA)

Actuarial status of the old-age and survivors insurance and disability insurance trust funds.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballantyne, H C

1982-06-01

The 1982 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds indicates sever financial problems in both the short and the long range. The short-range financial status is significantly worse than was estimated last year, after enactment of the 1981 legislation, because of continuing unfavorable economic conditions. The estimated long-range deficit is the same as the deficit that was estimated last year before the 1981 legislation and is therefore somewhat worse than was estimated immediately after enactment of the legislation. Under present law, which authorizes temporary interfund borrowing amount the OASI, DI, and Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Funds, the OASI Trust Fund would become unable to pay benefits on time by July 1983. The assets of the DI Trust Fund, on the other hand, are expected to grow rapidly in both the short and long range. If the assets of both the OASI and DI Trust Funds were combined, however, the two funds would still become unable to pay benefits on time by the latter half of 1983, based on all four sets of economic and demographic assumptions in the 1982 report. Even if the temporary interfund borrowing authority in present law were extended, the combined assets of the OASI, DI, and HI Trust Funds would become insufficient to pay benefits on time by 1984, based on the two less favorable sets of assumptions in the 1982 report. Based on the other two, more favorable, sets of assumptions, the three combined funds could pay benefits on time through the 1980's but there would be little or no margin of safety to permit timely payment of benefits if economic conditions are even slightly less favorable.

Allocation of budget funds on agricultural loan programs: Group consensus decision making in the provincial fund for agricultural development of Vojvodina province in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blagojević Boško

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel approach that could be used for scientifically verified group decision making for the allocation of budget funds on agricultural loan programs in the Provincial Fund for Agricultural Development of Vojvodina Province in Serbia. An approach is structured based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a recognized multi-criteria method suitable for supporting both individual and group decision making processes. The decision makers' weights in a group are derived in an objective manner and based on demonstrated individual consistency while assessing and evaluating elements within the decision-making framework. A real life application is used to demonstrate how the four key decision-makers can individually evaluate and rank agricultural loan programs and how their decisions are afterwards compiled into the final consensus based group decision.

A Stable, Non-Cesiated III-Nitride Photocathode for Ultraviolet Astronomy Application

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Lloyd

In this effort, we propose to develop a new type of cesium-free photocathode using III-nitride (III-N) materials (GaN, AlN, and their alloys) and to achieve highly efficient, solar blind, and stable UV response. Currently, detectors used in UV instruments utilize a photocathode to convert UV photons into electrons that are subsequently detected by microchannel plate or CCD. The performance of these detectors critically depends on the efficiency and stability of their photocathodes. In particular, photocathode instability is responsible for many of the fabrication difficulties commonly experienced with this class of detectors. In recent years, III-N (in particular GaN) photocathodes have been demonstrated with very high QE (>50%) in parts of UV spectral range. Moreover, due to the wide bandgaps of III-nitride materials, photocathode response can be tailored to be intrinsically solar-blind. However, these photocathodes still rely on cesiation for activation, necessitating all-vacuum fabrication and sealed-tube operation. The proposed photocathode structure will achieve activation through methods for band structure engineering such as delta-doping and polarization field engineering. Compared to the current state-of-the-art in flight-ready microchannel plate sealed tubes, photocathodes based on III-N materials will yield high QE and significantly enhance both fabrication yield and reliability, since they do not require cesium or other highly reactive materials for activation. This performance will enable a ~4 meter medium class UV spectroscopic and imaging mission that is of high scientific priority for NASA. This work will build on the success of our previous APRA-funded effort. In that work, we demonstrated III-nitride photocathode operation without the use of cesium and stable response with respect to time. These accomplishments represent major improvements to the state-of-the-art for photocathode technologies. In the proposed effort, we will implement III

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...

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verwer, J.G.; Bochev, Mikhail A.

Numerical integration of Maxwell's equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction implicit finite difference

Unconditionally stable integration of Maxwell's equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.G. Verwer (Jan); M.A. Botchev

2009-01-01

textabstractNumerical integration of Maxwell’s equations is often based on explicit methods accepting a stability step size restriction. In literature evidence is given that there is also a need for unconditionally stable methods, as exemplified by the successful alternating direction implicit –

Societal views on NICE, cancer drugs fund and value-based pricing criteria for prioritising medicines: a cross-sectional survey of 4118 adults in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Linley, Warren G; Hughes, Dyfrig A

2013-08-01

The criteria used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for accepting higher incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for some medicines over others, and the recent introduction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England, are assumed to reflect societal preferences for National Health Service resource allocation. Robust empirical evidence to this effect is lacking. To explore societal preferences for these and other criteria, including those proposed for rewarding new medicines under the future value-based pricing (VBP) system, we conducted a choice-based experiment in 4118 UK adults via web-based surveys. Preferences were determined by asking respondents to allocate fixed funds between different patient and disease types reflecting nine specific prioritisation criteria. Respondents supported the criteria proposed under the VBP system (for severe diseases, address unmet needs, are innovative--provided they offered substantial health benefits, and have wider societal benefits) but did not support the end-of-life premium or the prioritisation of children or disadvantaged populations as specified by NICE, nor the special funding status for treatments of rare diseases, nor the CDF. Policies introduced on the basis of perceived--and not actual--societal values may lead to inappropriate resource allocation decisions with the potential for significant population health and economic consequences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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

Stable isotope dimethyl labelling for quantitative proteomics and beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jue-Liang; Chen, Shu-Hui

2016-01-01

Stable-isotope reductive dimethylation, a cost-effective, simple, robust, reliable and easy-to- multiplex labelling method, is widely applied to quantitative proteomics using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. This review focuses on biological applications of stable-isotope dimethyl labelling for a large-scale comparative analysis of protein expression and post-translational modifications based on its unique properties of the labelling chemistry. Some other applications of the labelling method for sample preparation and mass spectrometry-based protein identification and characterization are also summarized. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Quantitative mass spectrometry’. PMID:27644970

Style Analysis: Asset Allocation & Performance Evaluation of Indonesian Equity Funds, April 2004 – March 2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boniarga Mangiring

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper explores investment styles and risk exposures of mutual funds in Indonesia using Sharpe's return-based style analysis, a quadratic optimization of an asset class factor model,  proposed  by  William  F.  Sharpe  in  1992.  The  research  observes  nine  sectoral  asset class indexes and ifteen survivor Indonesian equity funds within April 2004 - March 2009. The  results  suggest  that  the  infrastructure  sector  has  the  biggest  exposure  on  average. This  study  also  measures  the  relative  performance  of  the  funds  with  respect  to  their  style benchmarks.  The  results  indicate  that  the  nine  funds  have  been  able  to  beat  their  style benchmarks on average. From all funds, Fortis Ekuitas is the best fund based on its average monthly selection return. ";} // -->activate javascript