This study examined the psychometric properties of the Trauma Inventory for Partners of Sex Addicts (TIPSA). Using the Nominal Response Model (NRM), I examined several aspects of item and option functioning including discrimination, empirical category ordering, and information. Category Boundary Discrimination (CBD) parameters were calculated to determine the extent to which respondents distinguished between adjacent categories. Indistinguishable categories were collapsed through recoding. Empirically disordered response categories were also collapsed through recoding. Findings revealed that recoding solved some technical functioning issues in some items, and also revealed items (and perhaps option anchors) that were probably poorly conceived initially. In addition, nuisance or error variance was reduced only marginally by recoding, and the relative standing of respondents on the trait continuum remained largely unchanged. Items in need of modification or removal were identified, and issues of content validity were discussed.

The formal access of transnational actors (TNA) to international organizations (IO) has increased steadily over the past five decades, and a growing body of literature is at the moment concerned with the theoretical and normative implications of these developments. However, very little is known as of yet about who the TNAs in global governance are, where they come from, which issue areas they focus on, and when and where they choose to participate. Using analytical tools from interest group theory, in particular a subfield called population ecology, this study describes and explains the chronological development of two populations of TNAs in global governance, namely the observer communities of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. TNAs’ financial resources and their geographical proximity to global governance venues emerge as important factors influencing their capacity to participate, causing these TNA populations to be stratified and volatile.

The Latin America, the richest continent in the planet's biodiversity, has been subject to expropriation by multinational corporations seeking access to plants and animals or knowledge related to biodiversity, produced by indigenous peoples or traditional communities, which will give support to the scientific findings used by large industries in the production of medicines, cosmetics and a wide variety of products available in the market, for wich the industries claimed intellectual property rights, with the exclusion of traditional populations. In this scenario, there are overlaps between The CBD and TRIPs Agreement in multilateral settings, where the possibility of protecting biodiversity shares space with the same tendency to your merchandization. Although the The CBD and TRIPs Agreement structure different international issues, this norms interact from the granting of intellectual property rights on biodiversity products. Because of this, the research aims to comprehend the extent to which intellectual property rights under the WTO model, notably patents, impact on biodiversity protection by the Latin American countries. Investigates the multilateral regulation of biodiversity protection and intellectual property with the central analysis, respectively, in the CBD and TRIPs. Then, the structures of the multilateral system are confronted with a sui generis system, in order to find out if they are alternatives to protect biodiversity in Latin America. Thus, was possible to conclude that the Latin American countries have their possibilities to care of the biodiversity limited by international regime of intellectual property, which allows private ownership of biodiversity in the form of biotechnologies. This provides two contrary ways: to maintain the international regime of intellectual property that ensures the trade of bio-merchandise with patents, or to structure a regulatory framework to care of biodiversity, in the Conference of the Parties to the CBD and negotiations in the Council for TRIPs. However, the strong opposition of the North countries to the interests of Latin American countries leads to investigate a sui generis system, to articulate a unified position in Latin America for the international confrontation and have for basis the guarantee of rights to the traditional peoples on their traditional knowledge. / A América Latina, continente com maior riqueza em biodiversidade do planeta, tem sido submetida à expropriação por empresas multinacionais que buscam acesso a espécies de plantas e animais ou a saberes dos povos indígenas ou comunidades tradicionais sobre a biodiversidade, que darão suporte a descobertas científicas utilizadas por grandes indústrias na produção de medicamentos, produtos cosméticos e os mais variados bens disponíveis no mercado, para os quais são reivindicados direitos de propriedade intelectual, em exclusão das populações tradicionais. Nesse cenário, ocorrem as sobreposições entre a CDB e o TRIPs nas regulações multilaterais, a partir do que a possibilidade de proteção da biodiversidade compartilha espaço simultâneo com a tendência à sua mercantilização. Embora estruturem questões internacionais distintas, a CDB e o TRIPs interagem a partir da concessão de direitos de propriedade intelectual sobre produtos da biodiversidade. Em razão disso, a pesquisa buscou compreender em que medida os direitos de propriedade intelectual sob o modelo da OMC, notadamente as patentes, interferem na proteção da diversidade biológica pelos países da América Latina. Investiga-se a regulação multilateral de proteção da biodiversidade e de propriedade intelectual com a análise centralizada, respectivamente, na CDB e no TRIPs. Em seguida, são confrontadas as estruturas do sistema multilateral a um sistema sui generis, com o objetivo de descobrir se constituem alternativas de proteção da biodiversidade pela América Latina. Assim, foi possível concluir que os países latino-americanos têm suas possibilidades de cuidar da biodiversidade limitadas pelo regime internacional de propriedade intelectual, que permite a apropriação privada da biodiversidade em forma de biotecnologias. A partir disso surgem dois caminhos opostos: manter o regime internacional de propriedade intelectual que assegura o comércio de biomercadoria patenteada; ou estruturar um marco regulatório para o cuidado da biodiversidade, nas Conferências das Partes da CDB e em negociações no Conselho TRIPs. Porém, uma forte oposição dos países do Norte aos interesses dos países latino-americanos leva à investigar um sistema sui generis, que articule uma posição unificada da América Latina para o embate internacional e tenha por fundamento a garantia de direitos aos povos tradicionais sobre seus conhecimentos.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:36:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2070301 bytes, checksum: e15a4fc1a4f27fd39d2a55b1400d522b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The great difficulty of selecting software components is still an obstacle to achieving the success of Component-Based Development (CBD). With the growing market for components, the tendency is always to increase the number of options for assembling applications in different contexts, making it impractical to manual selection. Dealing with a problem of gigantic and complex search space, it is required automation performed by optimization techniques. The proposed approach aims to automate the process of selecting components using techniques of Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE), whose optimization technique is driven by structural metrics (i.e., connections between components of a software architecture) and information reuse (i.e., aggregated values to the component itself). The metrics used in this component selection context are intended to assess the structural perspective of an architectural instance, since they predict possible integration problems between implementations of components produced by third parties. Note that other proposals ignore this perspective and focus only on the component itself. In addition, reuse information can bring an alternative to represent the perception of the developers about the quality attributes of the software components in a reuse scenario as: the degree of consumers' satisfaction who have already purchased this component and the number of downloads of it. The proposed evaluation is carried out through experiments, which are validated by applying statistical tests. / A grande dificuldade de selecionar componentes de software ainda é um obstáculo para alcançar o sucesso do Desenvolvimento Baseado em Componentes (DBC). Com o crescimento do mercado de componentes, a tendência é sempre aumentar o número de opções para montagem de aplicações em diferentes contextos, tornando impraticável a seleção manual. Tratando de um problema com gigantesco espaço de busca e complexo, é requerida a automatização efetuada por técnicas de otimização. O trabalho proposto visa automatizar o processo de seleção de componentes utilizando técnicas da Engenharia de Software Baseada em Busca (ESBB), cuja técnica de otimização é orientada por métricas estruturais (avaliam as conexões entre componentes de uma arquitetura de software) e informações de reúso (i.e., valores correspondentes ao reúso de software agregados ao próprio componente). As métricas utilizadas neste contexto de seleção de componentes têm o propósito de avaliar a perspectiva estrutural de uma instância arquitetural, já que elas preveem possíveis problemas de integração entre implementações de componentes produzidas por terceiros, além de que muitos problemas ignoram essa perspectiva e só focam no componente em si. Já as informações de reúso trazem consigo uma alternativa para representar a percepção dos desenvolvedores sobre os atributos de qualidade dos componentes de software em cenários de reúso, tais como: o grau de satisfação dos consumidores que já adquiriram tal componente e o número de downloads do mesmo. A avaliação da proposta é conduzida através de experimentos, que são validados aplicando testes estatísticos.

Esta dissertação tem por escopo estudar a interface do Acordo TRIPS com o a Convenção sobre Diversidade Biológica, sob a perspectiva dos países em desenvolvimento. Para tanto, resgata a construção epistemológica Ocidental do conhecimento, direito, propriedade intelectual e desenvolvimento. Esta base teórica constituída é questionada pela CDB, que apresenta direitos relativos ao acesso de recursos genéticos e / ou conhecimento tradicional que subvertem a ordem estabelecida de geração do conhecimento e acumulação econômica. Tal subversão é parte integrante de movimento maior que questiona o próprio modelo de desenvolvimento e a relação Norte e Sul. Esta pesquisa contextualiza a estruturação legal e organizacional do tema e revisa as contribuições de autores que estudam este, sistematizando-as. Com este arcabouço, ela levanta hipóteses e reflete sobre as respostas destas, identificando paradoxos, compatibilidades e desafios. Apresenta (ndo) se, por fim, uma análise da governança institucional deste tema, através de uma nova configuração cognitiva e legal do mesmo. / This MA dissertation aims at studying the interface of the \'TRIPS Agreement\' with the \'Convention on the Biological Diversity\', under the view of the developing countries. As such, it ransoms the epistemologic building of the Ocidental knowledge, as well as the rights, intelectual property and development. This theoretical basis is questioned by \'CDB\', which presents rights related to the access of genetic resourses/ and the traditional knwledge, which subvert the established order of knowledge generation and economic accumulation. Such subvertion is part of a larger movement that questions its own development model and the North/ South relation. This research contextualizes the legal orgazing structuralization of the theme and revises the contributions of authors that study it, systematizing them. With this backbone, it rises hypotheses and thinks of these hypotheses, identifying paradoxes, compatibilities and challenges. It finally presents an analysis of the institutional governing of this theme, via a new cognitive and legal configuration of the same.

The project originated as a means to find a solution to the lack of legibility that the National Zoological Gardens’ entrance expresses where it is situated on the Northern gateway into the Pretoria CBD. In order to develop an appropriate responsive architecture, the proposed solution aims to find the requirements for a successful public interface for tourist attractions and the local community. Attention will also be given to the transitional spaces between the natural environments of the Zoo and the city. The aim firstly is to steer away from mono-functional urban spaces and tourist attractions hidden behind built barrier, in order to ensure that the architecture will be an asset to tourism and the general public. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted

In Sweden, there is practically free rental setting in the retail market. While there is an indirect tenancy regulation that protects the tenant, it does not prevent the establishment of market rents.Rent levels are generally highest in the central business district (CBD), following a rental pattern that confirms the monocentric urban model. It is also confirmed in the classic works of Von Thünen, Alonso, Mills, and Muth, that strong links exist between price and centrality. Stockholm's inner city is a typical example of this. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether geotracking can be used as an indicator of a prime location. Since the monocentric model claims that rents levels should be highest in the most central parts of a city, geotracking will be investigated as a tool for measuring the degree of centrality. The geotracking variable is based on the number of passing pedestrians outside retail premises, while rent levels are collected by leasing contracts. Geotracking serves as anexplanatory variable in the hedonic model where rent levels work as the dependent variable.This thesis assumes that a more central location, within the CBD, has a higher number of passers by than a less central one. This is a quantitative research-based study on walking data from Footfall, as well as market information provided Cushman & Wakefield. Footfall is a tool within Datscha that quantifies peoples movement patterns by tracking them through the mobile phone network. During this study, over 370 leases will be examined, of which approximately 250 contracts will be used in a regression analysis. All premises are located in the central parts of Stockholm. The relationship between rent levels and pedestrian traffic will be analysed in a traditional hedonic price equation with linear regression analysis. Through Footfall, the average number of passersby is collected for each address between March 2019, up until March 2020. The study results in a positive, and statistically significant, relationship between the number of passers by and rents for retail. In other words, rent levels increase as pedestrian traffic past the premises increase. However, the statistical relationship is weak. In the past, numerous studies on the relationship between location, rent, and property prices have been carried out. However,to our knowledge, there are no earlier studies of significance where Footfall- data has been usedfor academic purposes, until now. / I Sverige är det så gott som fri hyressättning på butikhyresmarknaden. Det finns en indirekt hyresreglering som skyddar hyresgästen, men som inte hindrar etablering av marknadshyra. Hyresnivåerna är i allmänhet högst i CBD (stadskärnan) och i huvudsak enligt ett hyresmönster som kallas monocentrisk stadsmodell. Detta styrks även i studier från klassiska verk så som Von Thünen, Alonso, Mills och Muth, där starka kopplingar mellan pris och centralitet redovisas. Ett tydligt exempel är Stockholms innerstad. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida geotracking kan användas som en indikator för centraliteten av ett läge. Då den monocentriska stadsmodellen fastslår att hyresnivåerna bör vara högst i de mest centrala delarna av en stad, kommer geotracking undersökas som ett verktyg för att mäta graden av centralitet vidare inom just CBD. Variabeln för geotracking baseras på antalet förbipasserande fotgängare utanför detaljhandelslokaler medans hyresnivåerna samlas in från hyresavtal. Geotracking fungerar som en förklarande variabel iden hedoniska modellen, där hyresnivåer fungerar som den beroende variabeln. Rapporten bygger på antagandet att ett mer centralt läge inom CBD har ett högre antal förbipasserande än ett mindre centralt. Detta är en kvantitativ forskningsbaserad studie på promenaddata från Datscha (Footfall), samt marknadsinformation tillhandahållen av Cushman & Wakefield. Footfall ägs av Datscha och ärett verktyg som kvantifierar människors rörelsemönster. Under denna studie kommer över 370 hyresavtal att granskas, varav cirka 250 kontrakt kommer att användas i en regressionsanalys.Samtliga lokaler är lokaliserade i Stockholms innerstad. Förhållandet mellan hyresnivåer och fotgängstrafik kommer att analyseras i en traditionell hedonisk prisekvation med linjärregressionsanalys. Genom Footfall hämtas det genomsnittliga antalet förbipasserande för varje adress mellan mars 2019 fram till mars 2020.Studien Studien resulterar i ett positivt och statistiskt signifikant samband mellan antalet förbipasserande och hyror för detaljhandeln. Med andra ord, hyresnivåerna ökar när fotgängstrafiken förbi lokaler ökar. Sambandet är dock statistiskt svagt. Tidigare har det gjorts undersökningar på förhållandet mellan plats, hyror och fastighetspriser.

The pre-symptomatic stage of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) occurs several decades before the clinical onset. Changes in the lysosomal network, i.e. the autophagosomal, endosomal and lysosomal vesicular system, are among the first alterations observed. There are currently no treatments to slow or cure neurodegenerative diseases, and there is a great need for discovery of treatment targets in cellular pathways where pathology pre-dates the neuronal death. It is also crucial to be able to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases earlier, both to enable early intervention treatment and aid in selecting clinical trial populations before the patient has widespread pathology. This thesis aims at investigating the potential of lysosomal network proteins as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative disease. A targeted search for lysosomal network proteins was performed in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from AD patients, and seven proteins: early endosomal antigen 1 (EEA1), lysosomal-associated membrane proteins 1 and 2 (LAMP-1, LAMP-2), lysozyme, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), Rab3 and Rab7, were elevated. The levels of EEA1, LAMP-1, LAMP-2, LC3, lysozyme and Rab3 were also measured in CSF from parkinsonian syndrome patients: PD, clinically diagnosed 4-repeat tauopathy, pathologically confirmed corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and pathologically confirmed progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) patients. LAMP-1 and LAMP-2 were decreased in PD. LC3 and lysozyme levels were increased in 4-repeat tauopathy patients. EEA1 was decreased and lysozyme increased in PSP, and LAMP-1, LAMP-2, LC3 and lysozyme were increased in CBD. The lysosomal network proteins had different CSF protein profiles in all the parkinsonian syndromes, as well as in AD. It should be emphasized that only a select few of the lysosomal network proteins were observed to be changed, rather than a general change in lysosomal network proteins, which implicates the involvement of these seven proteins in specific pathological processes. The most interesting candidates, LAMP-2 and lysozyme, were selected for further study for their involvement in the pathology of AD. Lysozyme was found to co-localise with Aβ plaques in AD patients and overexpression prolonged survival and improved the activity in a Drosophila model of AD. Lysozyme was found to alter the aggregation pathway of Aβ1-42, to counteract the formation of toxic Aβ species and to protect from Aβ1-42 induced cell toxicity. Aβ1-42 in turn was found to increase the expression of lysozyme in both neuronal and glial cells. These data suggest that lysozyme levels rise in AD as a compensatory response which is protective against Aβ associated toxicity. LAMP-2 mRNA and protein were found increased in brain areas relevant for AD pathology and various cellular models showed complex involvement of LAMP-2 in Aβ related pathology, with extensive crosstalk between LAMP-2 and Aβ. Exposure to oligomeric Aβ1-42 caused an upregulation of LAMP-2 and in turn, overexpression of LAMP-2 caused a reduction in secreted levels of Aβ1-42, as well as changing the generation pattern of Aβ and affecting clearance and secretion of Aβ1-42. These data indicate that the increased levels of LAMP-2 in AD could be an attempt to regulate Aβ generation and secretion. In summary, this thesis reports that utilising lysosomal network proteins as biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases holds great promise.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) significantly enhanced the scope and potential effectiveness of the international legal regime for the conservation of biological diversity world wide together with the sustainable use of its components. It goes beyond the conservation of biological conservation per se and comprehends such diverse issues as sustainable use of biological resources, access to genetic resources, the sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic material and technology, including biotechnology. The CBD has three objectives, which are the conservation of biological diversity, secondly the sustainable use of its components and thirdly the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The third objective includes the sharing of benefits by means of appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over such resources and technologies as well as appropriate funding. As part of the process of achieving these goals, the CBD establishes a new international framework for access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits from their use. In addition to its conservation measures, the CBD is also an economic treaty in the sense that it develops and regulates the ongoing exchange of genetic resources and, in particular, the emerging trade in biotechnology. During the negotiations of the CBD the concept of the trade in biotechnology dominated much of the discussions surrounding the Convention. This was the cause of deep differences between the technologically rich north and the biodiversity rich south. It was and still is apparent that developed countries, or corporate companies in these countries, exploit natural recourses only found in developing countries, without sharing the resulting proceeds. It is shown that uneven distribution of natural, technological and economic resources occur in relationships between the northern hemisphere and its southern counterpart. It is a well-known fact that the northern hemisphere is financially and technologically superior to its southern counterpart. Intellectual property rights ("IPR"), with specific reference to patent law, enables developed countries andlor companies in those countries to exploit this economic discrepancy. Developed countries accordingly acquire biological recourses and exploit them with resulting benefits thereby circumventing the sharing of such benefits through IPR systems. Benefits are thereby withheld from developing countries that provide such genetic recourses. The author will mainly focus on the question that arises as to how the CBD addresses benefit sharing in the light of the differences between the northern developed- and southern developing countries. South Africa will be studied as an example of a developing country that incorporated the provisions of the CBD in its national legislation as it promulgated the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (BDA), which embodies the guidelines and principles for bioprospecting and benefit sharing, captured in the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol. The provisions contained in the BDA will be used as a practical example of the application of the CBD in the municipal law of developing countries. / Thesis (LL.M. (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) significantly enhanced the scope and potential effectiveness of the international legal regime for the conservation of biological diversity world wide together with the sustainable use of its components. It goes beyond the conservation of biological conservation per se and comprehends such diverse issues as sustainable use of biological resources, access to genetic resources, the sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic material and technology, including biotechnology. The CBD has three objectives, which are the conservation of biological diversity, secondly the sustainable use of its components and thirdly the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The third objective includes the sharing of benefits by means of appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over such resources and technologies as well as appropriate funding. As part of the process of achieving these goals, the CBD establishes a new international framework for access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits from their use. In addition to its conservation measures, the CBD is also an economic treaty in the sense that it develops and regulates the ongoing exchange of genetic resources and, in particular, the emerging trade in biotechnology. During the negotiations of the CBD the concept of the trade in biotechnology dominated much of the discussions surrounding the Convention. This was the cause of deep differences between the technologically rich north and the biodiversity rich south. It was and still is apparent that developed countries, or corporate companies in these countries, exploit natural recourses only found in developing countries, without sharing the resulting proceeds. It is shown that uneven distribution of natural, technological and economic resources occur in relationships between the northern hemisphere and its southern counterpart. It is a well-known fact that the northern hemisphere is financially and technologically superior to its southern counterpart. Intellectual property rights ("IPR"), with specific reference to patent law, enables developed countries andlor companies in those countries to exploit this economic discrepancy. Developed countries accordingly acquire biological recourses and exploit them with resulting benefits thereby circumventing the sharing of such benefits through IPR systems. Benefits are thereby withheld from developing countries that provide such genetic recourses. The author will mainly focus on the question that arises as to how the CBD addresses benefit sharing in the light of the differences between the northern developed- and southern developing countries. South Africa will be studied as an example of a developing country that incorporated the provisions of the CBD in its national legislation as it promulgated the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (BDA), which embodies the guidelines and principles for bioprospecting and benefit sharing, captured in the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol. The provisions contained in the BDA will be used as a practical example of the application of the CBD in the municipal law of developing countries. / Thesis (LL.M. (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.