Elongation of the vertebrate rostrocaudal axis depends on localised populations of axial progenitors. Previous work has demonstrated the presence of Neuromesodermal (NM) progenitors that behave as multipotent stem cells, which contribute to the neurectoderm and mesoderm throughout axis elongation. They have been localised to the Node-­‐Streak Border (NSB) in the primitive streak region, and the Chordoneural Hinge (CNH) in its descendant, the tail bud. At primitive streak stages, the Caudal Lateral Ectoderm (CLE) on either side of the primitive streak itself is also fated for neurectoderm and mesoderm. However, fate mapping studies in mouse and chick have suggested that these progenitors are more transitory than those in the NSB and CNH, leading to the idea that two different types of progenitor cell exist in the primitive streak region; long-­‐term (stem cell-­‐like) and transient progenitors. In this thesis, I have examined the potency of the CLE cells by heterotopically grafting them into the NSB. Anterior CLE cells are exquisitely sensitive to their position and differentiate predominantly as neurectoderm, mesoderm, or both, depending on their exact location in the NSB. Most significantly, their descendants are retained in the CNH, indicating that CLE cells show equal potential to NSB progenitors on transplantation to the border environment. The relationship between fate and potency within the streak stage embryo suggest a mechanism by which stem cells are maintained not only by their intrinsic stem cell program, but are also influenced by their location. Furthermore, I have investigated the expression of candidate markers of NM-­‐progenitors, and have found that the combined expression of Sox2 and T genes in the progenitor area coincides with observed NM-­‐potency, and could serve as a marker for this stem cell population. Over time, axial elongation comes to a halt and NM-­‐progenitors are thereafter not longer active. It is still unclear how exactly this process occurs and specifically whether axial elongation ceases because NM progenitors are eliminated. I have investigated the events occurring immediately before the end of axial elongation. Morphological and gene expression analysis shows that apoptosis reaches a peak only after the complete axis has been laid down, and is not dramatically elevated in the progenitors themselves before that. In order to test signalling pathways that lead to progenitor maintenance, I have developed an in vitro tail growth assay that recapitulates in vivo development, as measured by several morphometric criteria. I show that, even though FGF signalling is critical for most cells in the tail bud including NM-­‐progenitors, it is not sufficient for NM-­‐ progenitor maintenance. In contrast, exposing tail buds to elevated Wnt/β-­‐catenin signalling does prolong the lifetime of NM-­‐progenitors in the ageing tail bud, as judged by the presence of Sox2-­‐T double-­‐positive cells. In this regard we have found that the time of cessation coincides with the disappearance of Sox2-­‐T double-­‐positive cells, the disappearance of Wnt3a and concomitant neuralisation of the progenitor region. This data suggest an important governing role for Wnt signalling in both maintenance and fate decision of NM progenitors. Thus the disappearance of Wnt signalling in the tail bud over time could well be the main reason for triggering the halt of caudal elongation.

El presente autor desarrolla de forma muy clara y concisa los principios de cooperación y colaboración en lagestión aduanera y en la gestion aduanera y realizando una crítica a la deficiente administración estatal para aplicar estas políticas; tomando como políticas; tomando como base de estudio lo aplicado en el Acuerdo de promoción Comercial Perú-China.

The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is responsible for interdicting unauthorized entry into the U.S. The USBP must decide how to allocate its detection and interdiction assets to maximize the probability of catching illegal aliens along the border. We study the case where an infiltrator can observe USBP preparations, and then choose a path into the U.S. We define the infiltrator's courses of actions to maximize the probability of escape, and then express the USPB's courses of actions to minimize that maximum achievable probability of escape. This case applies especially well to a signal entry, e.g. a well-planned, one-time smuggling of a weapon of mass destruction. We solve a sample problem for the U.S. Mexican border near Yuma, Arizona.

This master thesis examines cross-boundary connections between a state and an empire. This was done by mapping connections over Kvarken between the Swedish county of Västerbotten and its Finnish counterpart, Österbotten, during the period 1835-1870. Accounts from the custom houses in Jakobstad, Nykarleby, Vasa, Kaskö and Kristinestad served as primary source material together with contemporary Osterbottnian newspapers. For this thesis, a quantitative content- and network analysis as well as a qualitative text analysis was conducted out of a spatial, boundary- and imperial theoretical framework. This thesis shows that the sea trade continued during the entire period without being hindered by neither impending cholera epidemics nor the Crimean War. When other trading routes were cut off by trade embargoes or when ice covered the sea; the trade never ceased. The traffic across Kvarken was primarily Vasterbottnian, and a most Swedish project, except during the Crimean war. During the war, an enormous amount of Osterbottnian trading parties would come to Västerbotten, chiefly in pursuit of salt. Compared to other trade conducted, the Osterbottnian trade with Västerbotten was extensive both in terms of the sheer number of ships, but also in the value of traded goods. Thus, Kvarken can be seen as a cross-border region. The Russian endeavour to severe ties between Sweden and Finland during the 1840’s through the abolishment of particular tariff prescriptions and swedish currency had no noteworthy impact upon trade across the Kvark. Neither value nor flow of goods was impacted. The amount of ships consistently remained at around 25-40 ships anually for the entire study period. To the contrary, temporary prescriptions to promote trade were constantly introduced. It was probably in the greater interest among both Russian and Swedish rulers that the connection between the two peripher, northern regions should function for the well-being and prosperity of the local peoples. In newspaper reports also the cultural value of musicians and theatre companies travelling across Kvarken was greatly appreciated.

Mexican immigrant women are a vulnerable population group in the U.S., and face challenges as a result of the nation’s anti-immigrant landscape. To help Mexican immigrant women cope with these realities, scholars have proposed the implementation of social support interventions. Yet only two studies have executed social support interventions for immigrant women. Those tailored specifically for Mexican immigrant women are nonexistent. To address this gap, this Master's thesis piloted the first social support intervention for Mexican immigrant women in the U.S. The purpose was to assess the impact of a social support intervention on the perceived social support for Mexican immigrant women. The study (1) surveyed Mexican immigrant women's current perceived social support, (2) investigated whether engaging in a social support intervention could improve Mexican immigrant women's perceived social support, and (3) explored (through the use of a foto novela) the elements (e.g., persons, places) Mexican immigrant women consider to be most important sources of social support in their lives. Surveys were administered pre- and post-intervention assessing perceived social support using three Likert-type scales. At pre-intervention, perceived social support was moderately high. A difference in perceived social support at post-intervention was observed, but without significance. This work adds to the small body of literature on social support interventions for Mexican immigrant women, and has important implications for future interventions and research. This work also documents the use of foto novelas – an innovative tool to engage with (and give a voice to) Mexican immigrant women. Future work should consider the use of foto novelas, as these amplify new understandings of social support, and capture (through the use of photographs) Mexican immigrant women’s own interpretation of social support.

This thesis explores some of the connections between the defence industry and the European border policy that emerged leading up to, and following, the European refugee crisis of 2015. The paper is divided into two parts. The first seeks to examine and understand the context in which the refugee crisis occurred. In order to do this, I begin with a literature review that uses the integration theory of Multilevel Governance to understand how and where the European Union (EU) is susceptible to political pressure or special interest influence. Next, I present a brief history of the causes and course of the crisis, the pre-existing border regime, and the defence industry and lobby. The second section synthesises the context provided in the first section in order to determine whether actors in the defence industry were lucky beneficiaries of policies movements that happened to benefit them, or, if they were proactive lobbyists. I identify four trends in policy, namely the militarisation, centralisation, privatisation, and externalisation of border controls, and I discuss each trend, lobbyist influence, and the implications each trend has for refugees. Finally, I conclude that although there is significant evidence of lobbyist influence in shaping the policies, the presence of a myriad of other factors makes it nearly impossible to quantify how big a role lobbyist influence was in determining outcomes. Nevertheless, the implications of such institutional susceptibilities to lobbying in the EU should be both cause for concern and further inquiry.

In the autumn of 2015 a huge amount of refugees were on the run to Sweden. The news media described the situation as a refugee crisis and border controls were initiated. The aim of this study was to examine how two Swedish newspapers, one national and one local, portrayed refugees at the time when the border controls were initiated in Sweden. The questions examined were: How are the refugees portrayed, what are the similarities and differences between Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenskan’s portrayal of the refugees? To approach this we made two different analysis of reports from each newspaper, three from Dagens Nyheter and two from Sydsvenskan. We did a framing analysis on the text and a semiotic analysis on the pictures. Findings show that the portrayal of refugees are very similar in both newspapers. The refugees are described as inferior, but at the same time brave, well-educated and hopeful. We also found that refugees often are portrayed as “the others” and the citizens of Sweden are portrayed as “we”. Although the similarities outweighs, we found some interesting differences in the newspapers portrayal of the refugees. For example, in Dagens Nyheter the hopefulness is combined with a positive and joyful approach, while Sydsvenskan describes the hope with an uncertainty and concern about the future.

<p>This dissertation deals with the history and memory of the Border War with China in contemporary Vietnam. Due to its particularity as a war between two neighboring socialist countries in Cold War Asia, the Border War has been a sensitive topic in Vietnam. While political sensitivity regarding the national past derives largely from the Party-State, the history and memory of the war has permeated Vietnamese society. The war's legacy can be seen in anti-China sentiments that, in the globalized neoliberal order, appear to be reviving alongside post-Cold War nationalism. The Border War against China represented an important nationalist turn for Vietnam. At the same time, the traumatic breakdown of the socialist fraternity cultivated anxiety over domestic and international relations. The recent territorial dispute over the South China Sea, between Vietnam and China, has recalled the history and memory of the war in 1979. The growing anti-China sentiment in Vietnam also interpellates the war as a near future.</p><p>As an anthropological approach to the history and memory of war, this dissertation addresses five primary questions: 1) how the historyscape of Vietnam's past has been shifted through politics on the Border War; 2) how the memoryscape involving the Border War has been configured as national and local experience; 3) how the Border War has shaped the politics of ethnic minorities in a border province; 4) why the borderscape in Vietnam constantly affects the politics of the nation-state in the globalized world order; and 5) why the border markets and trade activities have been a realm of competing instantiations of post-Cold War nationalism and global neoliberalism. </p><p>In order to tackle these questions, I conducted anthropological fieldwork in Lang Son, a northern border province and Ha Noi, the capital city of Vietnam from 2005 to 2012, and again briefly in 2014. A year of intensive fieldwork from 2008 to 2009 in Lang Son province paved the road to understanding the local history and local people's memory of the Border War in a contemporary social context. This long-term participant observation research in a sensitive border area allowed me to take a comprehensive view of how the memory of the Border War against China plays out in everyday life and affects the livelihood of the border's inhabitants. In Ha Noi, conducting archival research and discussing issues with Vietnamese scholars, I was able to broaden my understanding of Vietnamese national history and the socialist past. Because Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest growing use of the Internet, I have also closely traced the emergence of on-line debates and the circulation of information over the Internet as a new form of social exchange in Vietnam. </p><p>As a conclusion, I suggest that memory and experience have situated Vietnam as a nation-state in a particular mode of post-Cold War nationalism, one which keeps recalling the memory of the Border War in the post-Cold War era. As the national border has been reconfigured by the legacy of war and by fluctuating border trade, the border challenges unbalanced bilateral relations in the neoliberal world order. The edge of the nation-state becomes the edge of neoliberalism in the contemporary world. The Vietnamese border region will continue to recall the horrors of nationalism and internationalism, through the imaginaries of socialist fraternity or in the practices off contemporary neoliberal multilateralism. </p><p>KEYWORDS: </p><p>Vietnam, China, Lang Son, the Border War, Memory, the Cold War, the post-Cold War, Neoliberalism.</p> / Dissertation

This thesis examines the influence of the cross-border cooperation on the inhabitant's regional identity in Euroregion Šumava. Although this form of cooperation in the countries of Western Europe's long tradition in the Czech Republic formed and the first Euro-regions until the early 90 years. Such example is the Euroregion Šumava. To what extent are the residents of this Euroregion informed of its activities? It is already possible to speak of so called Euro-regional cross-border identity of the population? If so, it is possible to find the Euroregion its spatial differentiation? There are also present on the territory of Euroregion some barriers, which have a negative impact on the greater integrity? These and other questions seeking answers submitted work. To this end, it was realized the questionnaire, the main results are discussed and compared with the conclusions of other specialized publications. Key words: regional identity, cross-border cooperation, euroregion Šumava

This thesis attempts to explore the understanding of borders of ancient Israel and their extent based on biblical account. The starting point is exploring the very term "border" and its meaning in the Old Testament. This thesis operates with both geographic and cultural or ethnic boundary based on archeological finds and material culture. In comparing biblical and non-biblical material it attempts to discover how closely do various texts describing Israel's boundary reflect possible historical reality. In the cases where the boundary delineated by the text seems to be rather symbolic this thesis considers various possible reasons for such a delineation of ancient Israel and attempts to find likely influences of political or religious agenda, historical situation or myth on respective delineations.