The age-cutoff regression discontinuity design (RDD) has emerged as one of the most rigorous quasi-experimental approaches to determining program effects of prekindergarten on literacy and numeracy outcomes for children at kindergarten entry. However, few pre-K meta-analyses have focused attention on validity threats. The current random-effects meta-regression tests the moderating effects of prominent threats to validity, selection bias and sensitivity, on impact estimates generated from age-cutoff regression discontinuity studies from large-scale programs. Results from averaging dependent standardized mean difference effects suggested small positive moderating effects of total attrition and robust 3-month bandwidths on reading effects, but not on math. However, these results were not statistically significant. In contrast, results generated from robust variance estimation yielded a small statistically significant association between total attrition and math effects. These mixed results may warrant further research on prekindergarten evaluation methodology, evaluation estimation methods, and the totality of evidence used to inform policy.

本論文首先從三個面向討論中文對話中的主題不連續現象。第一、當說話者改變主題的時候，停頓較長、話語的自我修正較多，且很少被打斷。第二、說話者可以直接進入新的主題，或者在談論新主題之前提供一些背景訊息。最常使用來引介新主題的是問句，因為說話者可以藉由提出問題邀請其他人一起討論新話題。第三、說話者在開啟話題時通常會利用各種情境資源，包括周遭的環境、說話者共有的背景知識以及在前文談論過的人、事、時、地、物。目前的語料顯示大多數的新主題都與前文有某種程度的關聯。 研究結果亦指出不同層次的對話主題之差異。當說話者引介最高階的對話主題時，他們傾向使用共有的背景知識，並在主題改變的地方提供背景訊息; 他們的話語有較長的停頓和較多自我修正的情境;。相較之下，在開啟其他階層的對話主題時，說話者較常利用前文出現過的訊息，且不傾向在話題一開始的時候提供背景訊息; 他們的話語也較流暢。然而，不同層次的對話主題也有一些共通點。例如，在各個階層中，說話者普遍使用問句引介新話題，而當他們利用前文的訊息改變話題時，新的主題通常和前一個主題有相同的指示對象。 / The present study aims at investigating topic discontinuity in Chinese daily conversations. This pragmatic phenomenon is discussed from three perspectives. First, since changing topics requires more cognitive effort, the speaker who initiates the change is likely to produce longer pauses and repairing utterances, and is fairly unlikely to be overlapped. Second, the speaker can move to a new topic directly, or orient a new topic in various ways. Questions are the most common backgrounded clauses at the topic-shift boundary because they function to invite other speakers to join the new subject. Third, the speaker most frequently draws on some contextual resource to guide other speakers into conversing about the new topic. The most common way is by recycling the prior text. Speech disfluency, grounding, and contextual resources are also found to distinguish various levels of conversational topics. The highest level of conversational topics are usually grounded in general background knowledge, produced with more disfluency, and tend to begin with background information. The other levels of conversational topics, however, are more likely to arise from prior text, more fluently brought up, and do not use background information more often than foreground information at the topic-initial position. Despite the above-mentioned differences, the various levels of conversational topics are similar in several aspects. For example, backgrounded clauses at the topic-shift boundary are mainly questions; topics grounded in prior text predominantly maintain referential continuity across the topical boundary

L’épistémologisation de l’art dentaire se fonde sur l’évolution de deux concepts-clés des sciences de la nature : la matière, objet de la physique et de la chimie, et la vie, objet de la biologie. Elle est marquée par deux grandes discontinuités qui délimitent les trois grandes périodes de son histoire. La première discontinuité se situe au début du 18e siècle quand Fauchard, influencé par les idées de Galilée et de Descartes, fait de l’art dentaire une science de l’ingénieur et l’introduit dans la modernité. La seconde discontinuité a lieu à la fin du 19e siècle, après que l’art dentaire a intégré des concepts-clés énoncés par C. Bernard, Virchow et Pasteur qui accentuent sa biologisation et que des découvertes technologiques révolutionnaires le conduisent à instituer une alliance durable entre science et technique. Au 20e siècle, l’invention technique débouche sur l’affolement technique et la biologisation s’accélère. Alors l’art dentaire prend conscience de la nécessité d’atténuer la discordance entre valeurs organiques et valeurs mécaniques. Ce qui l’amène à renouveler son paysage disciplinaire, à se spécialiser et à adhérer à la pensée complexe. A la fin du 20e siècle, il accède aux mécanismes de la vie et se mêle d’ingénierie tissulaire, d’où de fortes présomptions d’une vaste réforme de son programme épistémologique et thérapeutique au 21e siècle. / The epistemologisation of the dentistry is based on the evolution of two concept-keys of sciences of nature : matter, object of physics and chemistry, and life, object of biology. It is marked by two great discontinuities which delimit the three great periods of its history. The first discontinuity is at the beginning of the 18th century when Fauchard, influenced by the ideas of Galileo and Descartes, makes dentistry engineering and introduces it into modernity. The second discontinuity takes place at the end of the 19th century, after the dentistry integrated concept-keys stated by C. Bernard, Virchow and Pasteur who accentuate his biologisation and whom revolutionary technological discoveries lead it to institute a durable alliance between science and technology. At the 20th century, the technical invention leads to the technical panic and the biologisation accelerates. Then the dentistry becomes aware of the need for attenuating the discordance between organic values and mechanical values. What leads it to renew its disciplinary landscape, to specialize and adhere to the complex thought. At the end of the 20th century, it reaches the mechanisms of the life and is interfered tissue engineering, from where strong presumptions of a vast reform of its epistemological and therapeutic program to the 21th century.

The thesis investigates reference to non-present, singular persons in Swedish talk-ininteraction. The overall aim of the study is to analyse instances of person reference as parts of their linguistic, sequential and social contexts, and to describe these instances with regard to interactional, formal/structural, and functional aspects. An important point of departure for the study is that instances of person reference must be analysed as choices from different alternatives. This means that instances of person reference should neither be thought of as mere manifestations of the speaker’s own state of knowledge of the referent and her/his assessment of the addressee’s knowledge state, nor as reflections of structural aspects of the discourse. Theoretically and methodologically, the study belongs to the fields of interactional linguistics and conversation analysis (CA). The data for the study are drawn from naturally occurring everyday and institutional interaction and includes two-party and multi-party interaction, and telephone as well as face-to-face interaction. The analyses of introductory references to persons highlight issues such as the speaker’s claimed knowledge of/familiarity with the referent as well as the claims being made on behalf of the addressee, the role and importance of the referent in the activity of the talk, and the implications of person reference on the affiliation/disaffiliation of the participants with the referent, as well as with each other. The analyses of references to persons that have already been introduced in the interaction centres on partly different issues. The categorization of these references is based on two factors; the first being the sequential position of the reference and the second being whether the reference contributes to sequential continuity or discontinuity. The analyses emphasize that referential choice is an important resource for the construction of continuity and discontinuity, and that participants make use of these resources in unmarked as well as marked ways. This means that participants choose between different referential expressions, and these choices have different consequences depending on, inter alia, the sequential position of the reference. The study shows that reference to persons is doubly contextual: participants’ referential choices are made in consideration of the foregoing as well as the upcoming activity of the talk. Consequently, in order to adequately describe instances of person reference, the sequential context must be taken into account.

Essay I (with Mattias Öhman): Fluoridation of the drinking water is a public policy whose aim is to improve dental health. Although the evidence is clear that fluoride is good for dental health, concerns have been raised regarding potential negative effects on cognitive development. We study the effects of fluoride exposure through the drinking water in early life on cognitive and non-cognitive ability, education and labor market outcomes in a large-scale setting. We use a rich Swedish register dataset for the cohorts born 1985-1992, together with drinking water fluoride data. To estimate the effect we exploit intra-municipality variation of fluoride, stemming from an exogenous variation in the bedrock. First, we investigate and confirm the long-established positive relationship between fluoride and dental health. Second, we find precisely estimated zero effects on cognitive ability, non-cognitive ability and education. We do not find any evidence that fluoride levels below 1.5 mg/l have negative effects. Third, we find evidence that fluoride improves labor market outcome later in life, which indicates that good dental health is a positive factor on the labor market. / Essay II: Motivated by the intense public debate in the United States regarding politicians’ backgrounds, I investigate the effects of electing a candidate with earlier experience from elective office to the House of Representatives. The U.S. two-party-system with single-member election districts enables me to estimate the causal effect in a RD design where the outcomes are measured at the election district level. I find some indications that candidates with earlier elective experience are more likely to be members of important congressional committees. I also find some indications that directed federal spending (pork barrel spending) is higher in those districts were the elected representative had earlier elective experience prior of being elected to the House, but the effect manifests itself some years after the election. In contrast, I find no robust or statistically significant effects for personal income per capita or unemployment rate in the home district. / Essay III: This paper uses Swedish and Finnish municipal data to investigate the effect of changes in voter turnout on the tax rate, public spending and vote-shares. A reform in Sweden in 1970, which overall lowered the cost of voting, is applied as an instrument for voter turnout in local elections. The reform increased voter turnout in Sweden. The higher voter turnout resulted in higher municipal taxes and greater per capita local public spending. There are also indications that higher turnout decreased the vote share for right-wing parties. I use an individual survey data set to conclude that it was in particular low income earners that began to vote to a greater extent after the reform. / Essay IV (with Lovisa Persson): In a theoretical model where voters and politicians have different preferences for how much to spend on basic welfare services contra reception services for asylum seekers, we conclude that established politicians that are challenged by right-wing populists will implement a policy with no spending on asylum seekers if the cost is high enough. Additionally, adjustment to right-wing populist policy is more likely when the economy is in a recession. Voters differ in their level of private consumption in such a way that lower private consumption implies higher demand for basic welfare services at the expense of reception of asylum seekers, and thus stronger disposition to support right-wing populist policies. We propose that this within-budget-distributional conflict can arise as an electorally decisive conflict dimension if parties have converged to the median voter on the size-of-government issue.

Ce mémoire porte sur la poétique du fragmentaire dans trois ouvrages de Pierre Michon, soit "Trois auteurs", "Maîtres et serviteurs" et "Corps du roi". Plus qu’une préoccupation d’ordre formel, le fragmentaire y apparaît avant tout comme un champ de tensions, qui se manifeste à la fois sur le plan narratif, discursif et énonciatif. Une approche essentiellement poétique, à la jonction de la linguistique, de la rhétorique et de la narratologie, permet de réfléchir au fragmentaire dans ses effets, mais aussi dans ses affects. La recherche s’articule autour de trois grands axes : la généricité, la discontinuité et la représentation. Dans un premier temps, le fragmentaire est abordé par le prisme de la généricité, qui se traduit, dans l’œuvre de Michon, par une oscillation constante entre le biographique et le romanesque. La tension entre continuité et discontinuité est ensuite étudiée : marquée par les répétitions et variations, elle se manifeste à la fois sur le plan formel (le recueil) et stylistique (la syntaxe, les figures de style). Cette tension est également à comprendre sur le plan temporel, par une prédilection pour l’instant plutôt que pour la durée. Finalement, ce mémoire interroge la répercussion du fragmentaire sur la notion de représentation, qui subit alors un infléchissement : le récit n’est plus envisagé comme représentation, mais comme figuration, cette notion étant à comprendre à la fois comme posture énonciative et dans son rapport à l’image. La figuration est étudiée à partir des scènes romanesques essaimées dans les récits du corpus. / This thesis focuses on the poetics of the fragmentary in the work of Pierre Michon ("Trois auteurs", "Maîtres et serviteurs" and "Corps du roi"). More than a concern of a formal nature, the fragmentariness is first and foremost an area of tensions, revealed through narrative, discursive and enunciative schemes. A poetic approach, at the junction of linguistic, rhetoric and narratology, enables to reflect on the fragmentariness in its effects, but also in its affects. The research is structured around three axes : genericity, discontinuity and representation. The fragmentariness is first discussed through the lens of the genericity which, in the work of Michon, constantly oscillate between the biographical and the novelistic. The tension between continuity and discontinuity is then studied. Marked by repetitions and variations, this tension presents itself in the formal and stylistic forms. It is also to be understood on a temporal level, with a preference for instantaneity rather than for continuity. Finally, this thesis questions the impact of the fragmentariness on the notion of representation, which undergoes a reorientation : the story is no longer considered as a representation, but as a figuration, which is to be understood both as an enunciative position and in its relation to image. The figuration will be studied from the scenes punctuating Michon’s work.

A multiple-sensor optical shape measurement system (SMS) based on the principle of white-light fringe projection has been developed and commercialised by Loughborough University and Phase Vision Ltd for over 10 years. The use of the temporal phase unwrapping technique allows precise and dense shape measurements of complex surfaces; and the photogrammetry-based calibration technique offers the ability to calibrate multiple sensors simultaneously in order to achieve 360° measurement coverage. Nevertheless, to enhance the applicability of the SMS in industrial environments, further developments are needed (i) to improve the calibration speed for quicker deployment, (ii) to broaden the application range from shape measurement to deformation field measurement, and (iii) to tackle practically-challenging surfaces of which specular components may disrupt the acquired data and result in spurious measurements. The calibration process typically requires manual positioning of an artefact (i.e., reference object) at many locations within the view of the sensors. This is not only timeconsuming but also complicated for an operator with average knowledge of metrology. This thesis introduces an automated artefact positioning system which enables automatic and optimised distribution of the artefacts, automatic prediction of their whereabouts to increase the artefact detection speed and robustness, and thereby greater overall calibration performance. This thesis also describes a novel technique that integrates the digital image correlation (DIC) technique into the present fringe projection SMS for the purpose of simultaneous shape and deformation field measurement. This combined technique offers three key advantages: (a) the ability to deal with geometrical discontinuities which are commonly present on mechanical surfaces and currently challenging to most deformation measurement methods, (b) the ability to measure 3D displacement fields with a basic single-camera single-projector SMS with no additional hardware components, and (c) the simple implementation on a multiple-sensor hardware platform to achieve complete coverage of large-scale and complex samples, with the resulting displacement fields automatically lying in a single global coordinate system. A displacement measurement accuracy of ≃ 1/12,000 of the measurement volume, which is comparable to that of an industry-standard DIC system, has been achieved. The applications of this novel technique to several structural tests of aircraft wing panels on-site at the research centre of Airbus UK in Filton are also presented. Mechanical components with shiny surface finish and complex geometry may introduce another challenge to present fringe projection techniques. In certain circumstances, multiple reflections of the projected fringes on an object surface may cause ambiguity in the phase estimation process and result in incorrect coordinate measurements. This thesis presents a new technique which adopts a Fourier domain ranging (FDR) method to correctly identifying multiple phase signals and enables unambiguous triangulation for a measured coordinate. Experiments of the new FDR technique on various types of surfaces have shown promising results as compared to the traditional phase unwrapping techniques.

KOVÁRNOVÁ, P. (2015): Regional identity of the inhabitants of the Šumava foothills: comparison of towns Klatovy, Sušice, and Vimperk. Master thesis. Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Prague, pp. 98. The thesis deals with the regional identity of the inhabitants of the Šumava foothills. The main goal of the thesis is to identify and evaluate the factors forming regional identity in the Šumava foothills which could be considered as a base for discussions on the possibilities of future regional development of this region. The thesis is based on general assumptions of study of territorial identities and border peripheries, which are based on heuristics of literature discussing the process of forming regional identity, polarization of space, and the problematics of the areas of peripheral and border regions. The assessment of differences of regional identity in continuously inhabited, partly relocated, and resettled areas is component objective which is focused on the definition and assessment categories determining the potential formation of regional identity. The object of the research are the three places with extremely complicated historical development, the towns Klatovy, Sušice, and Vimperk. The achievement of this objective...

The thesis treats the subject of how the work of Max Picard, Rainer Maria Rilke and Jan Zahradníček relate. Its unifying element is the motif of salvation, its negative and positive aspect. Picard, Rilke, and Zahradníček perceive the world overfilled with technology and become witnesses of dehumanisation of humans and the related destruction of speech. Their work mirrors this decomposition, but it alongside offers a positive counter movement, an alternative to the age of dominion of technology. A comparative analysis of the specific understanding of the two aspects of salvation also casts light on the reception of Max Picard in their work. The first part deals with the analysis of Heidegger's essence (Wesen) of modern technology (Gestell) and the possibility of alternative revealing (poiésis). It renders the transformation of a human beings and their relationship to things, a transformation diagnosed by Picard, Rilke, and Zahradníček in their work. It thus proposes a context for the observed motif of salvation. The introduction of the first part accounts for a treatise on the loss of a thing which is linked to the penetration of technology and on salvation consisting in paying heed to the inconspicuous state of affairs. The second part opens with the reception of Picard's book Hilter in Our Selves...

Political Finance Reform and Public Procurement:  Evidence from Lithuania. Can political donations buy influence? This paper studies whether firms trade political contributions for public procurement contracts. To answer this question, I focus on the Lithuanian political economy. Combining data on a large number of government tenders, the universe of corporate donors and firm characteristics, I examine how a ban on corporate donations affects the awarding of procurement contracts to companies that donated in the past. Consistent with political favoritism, contributing firms’ probability of winning goes down by five percentage points as compared to that of non-donor firms after the ban. Among different mechanisms, the hypothesis that corporate donors get confidential information on competing bids prevails. The empirical results are in line with predictions from a first-price sealed-bid auction model with one informed bidder. Evidence on firm bidding and victory margins suggests that contributing firms adjust their bids in order to secure contracts at a maximum revenue. I assess that tax payers save almost one percent of GDP thanks to the reform. Gender Quotas and the Quality of Politicians. We analyze the effects of the introduction of gender quotas in candidate lists on the quality of elected politicians, as measured by the average number of years of education. We consider an Italian law which introduced gender quotas in local elections in 1993, and was abolished in 1995. As not all municipalities went through elections during this period, we identify two groups of municipalities and use a difference-in-differences estimation. We find that gender quotas are associated with an increase in the quality of elected politicians, with the effect ranging from 0.12 to 0.24 years of education. This effect is due not only to the higher number of elected women, who are on average more educated than men, but also to the lower number of low-educated elected men. The positive effect on quality is confirmed when we measure the latter with alternative indicators, it persists in the long run and it is robust to controlling for political ideology and political competition. Affirmative Action and the Power of the Elderly. There is evidence that age matters in politics. In this article we study whether implementation of affirmative action policies on gender can generate additional effects on an alternative dimension of representation, namely, the age of politicians. We consider an Italian law which introduced gender quotas in candidate lists for local elections in 1993, and was abolished in 1995. As not all municipalities went through elections during this period, we can identify two groups of municipalities and use a difference-in-differences estimation to analyze the effect of gender quotas on the age of elected politicians. We find that gender quotas are associated with election of politicians that are younger by more than one year. The effect occurs mainly due to the reduction in age of elected male politicians and is consistent with the optimizing behavior of parties or of voters. Let the Voters Choose Women. Female under-representation in politics can be the result of parties' selection of candidates and/or of voters’ electoral preferences. To assess the impact of these two channels, we exploit the introduction of Italian Law 215/2013, which prescribes both gender quotas on candidate lists and double preference voting conditioned on gender. Using a regression discontinuity design, we estimate that the law increases the share of elected female politicians by 22 percentage points. The result is driven by the increase in preference votes cast for female candidates, suggesting a salient role of double preference voting in promoting female empowerment in politics.