No description available.

Understanding the composition and distribution of the revenue of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) is key to understanding NPOs themselves. This research uses revenue data for 87,127 charitable NPOs to draw three main conclusions. First, revenue structures of NPOs vary widely by subsector and organizational size, with many NPOs demonstrating revenue structures that might be considered uncharacteristic of the nonprofit sector. Second, despite the concerns of many nonprofit scholars, heavy dependence on either government funding or charitable contributions is atypical of NPOs. And third, nonprofit revenue is highly concentrated in relatively few NPOs. The description of revenue expands to examine the relationship between two important sources of revenue, charitable contributions and government subsidies. Nonprofit scholars have long theorized that government funding diminishes charitable giving. This research finds that the effect of subsidy on charity varies substantially among the nonprofit subsectors, but, contrary to widely accepted theory, these effects are more often positive than negative: More than half of government funding of the nonprofit subsectors appears to spur an increase in charitable giving, whereas only 6 percent of government funding is associated with decreased giving. This research suggests that effects of subsidy on charity are less likely due to the decisions of donors than to the decisions of NPOs themselves. These findings assuage some concerns about the future of the nonprofit sector but substantiate others. As government increasingly relies on NPOs to deliver government-funded services, it appears unlikely that NPOs will suffer decreases in charitable giving, and government funding may even enable NPOs to increase revenue from charitable giving. But marginal changes in charitable giving will not mitigate what many see as a distressing move away from reliance on charity toward generating fees for services and generally becoming more business-like. Whether these findings represent a nonprofit sector betraying its charitable roots, diluting its power to effect social change by corporatizing, emphasizing service delivery at the expense of advocacy, or becoming more efficient, financially stable, and responsive to market demands remains a matter of debate, but debate better informed by the understanding of nonprofit revenue provided by this research.

No description available.

The impact of external debt on economic growth is a debatable issue between scholars since the onset of the debt crisis in 1980’s. This thesis examines whether external debt affects the economic growth of selected heavily indebted poor African countries through the debt overhang and debt crowding out effect. This is carried out by using data for eight heavily indebted poor African countries between 1991 to 2010.The result from estimation shows that external debt affects economic growth by the debt crowding out effect rather than debt overhang. Moreover, in an attempt to mark out debt servicing history, the thesis found the selected countries are not paying (servicing) more than 95% of their accumulated debt.

Protein folding is the process during which an extended and unstructured polypeptide converts to its compact folded structure that is most often the functional state. The process has been characterized extensively in dilute buffer in-vitro during the last decades but the actual biological place for this process is the inside of living cells. The cytoplasm of a cell is filled with a plethora of different macromolecules that together occupy up to 40% of the total volume. This large amount of macromolecules restricts the available space to each individual molecule, which has been termed macromolecular crowding. Macromolecular crowding results in excluded volume effects and also increases chances for non-specific interactions. Macromolecular crowding should favor reactions that lead to a decrease in the total occupied volume by all molecules, such as folding reactions. Theoretical models have predicted that the stability of protein folded states should increase in presence of macromolecular crowding due to unfavorable effects on the extended unfolded state. To understand protein folding and function in living systems, we need to have a defined quantitative link between in-vitro dilute conditions (where most biophysical experiments are made) and in-vivo crowded conditions. An important question is thus how macromolecular crowding modifies the biophysical properties of a protein. The work underlying this thesis focused on how macromolecular crowding tunes protein equilibrium stability and kinetic folding processes. To mimic the crowded cellular environment, synthetic sugar-based polymers (Dextrans of different sizes and Ficoll 70) were used as crowding agents (crowders) in controlled in-vitro experiments. In contrast to previous studies which often have focused on one protein and one crowder at a time, the goal here was to make systematic analyses of how size, shape and concentration of the crowders affect both equilibrium and kinetic properties of structurally-different proteins. Three model proteins (cytochrome c, apoazurin and apoflavodoxin) were investigated under crowding by Ficoll 70 and different-size Dextrans, using various spectroscopic techniques such as far-UV circular dichroism and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence. Thermodynamic models were applied to explain the experimental results. It was discovered that equilibrium stability of all three proteins increased in presence of crowding agents in a crowder concentration dependent manner. The stabilization effect was around 2-3 kJ/mol, larger for the various Dextrans than for Ficoll 70 at the same g/l, but independent of Dextran size (in the range 20 to 70 kDa). To further investigate the cause for the stabilization a theoretical crowding model was applied. In this model, Dextran and Ficoll were modeled as elongated rods and the protein was represented as a sphere, where the folded sphere representation was smaller than the unfolded sphere representation. It is notable that the observed stability changes could be reproduced by this model taking only steric interactions into account. This correlation showed that when using sugar-based crowding agents, excluded volume effects could be studied in isolation and there were no contributions from nonspecific interactions. Time-resolved experiments with apoazurin and apoflavodoxin revealed an increase in the folding rate constants while the unfolding rates were invariant in the presence of crowding agents. For apoflavodoxin and cytochrome c, the presence of crowding agents also altered the folding pathway such that it became more homogeneous (cytochrome c) and it gave less misfolding (apoflavodoxin). These results showed that macromolecular crowding restricts the conformational space of the unfolded polypeptide chain, makes the conformations more compact which, in turn, eliminates access to certain pathways. The results from kinetic and equilibrium measurements on three model proteins, together with available data from the literature, demonstrate that macromolecular crowding effects due to volume exclusion are in the order of a few kJ/mol. Considering the numerous concentration balances and cross-dependent reactions of the cellular machinery, small changes in energetics/kinetics of the magnitudes found here can still have dramatic consequences for cellular fitness. In fact local and transient changes in macromolecular crowding levels may be a way to tune biochemical reactions without invoking gene expression.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-145). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S. )--University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 2008 / Title from title page screen (viewed on July 30, 2008). Research advisor: Edward F. Harris, Ph.D. Document formatted into pages (xvi, 154 p. : ill.). Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-154).

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2007.

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources / Ryan L. Sharp / Visual-based methods are vital tools within outdoor recreation management. This method allows researchers to develop an empirical evaluation of social norms of outdoor recreationists. To better understand visitor’s perceptions, and provide usable information to site managers, researchers must better understand their methodology. This study assessed whether photograph order, within a visually-based method, in a field setting, creates differential results relative to a lab setting by comparing our results to previous literature. To accomplish this, a study was conducted at Buffalo National River (BUFF), Arkansas, USA. Visual-based methods were used in a field setting to determine whether there are order effects in perceptions of crowding between sequential and non-sequential photograph presentation order. Results indicated that study setting may influence whether order effects are present. This research will contribute to the growing body of work in the study of research methods for protected area and visitor use management.

O presente estudo objetivou comparar retrospectivamente a estabilidade póscontenção do alinhamento dos incisivos ântero-superiores em pacientes Classe I e Classe II de Angle. A amostra consistiu-se de 38 pacientes de ambos os gêneros, tratados sem extrações e mecânica Edgewise. A amostra foi dividida em dois grupos: Grupo 1 (Classe I) constituído por 19 pacientes (12 do gênero feminino e 7 do gênero masculino), com idade inicial média de 13,06 anos (d.p. = ± 1,27), portadores da má oclusão de Classe I com apinhamento ântero-superior inicial maior que 3mm. Grupo 2 (Classe II) apresentando 19 pacientes (14 do gênero feminino e 5 gênero masculino), com idade inicial de 12,54 (d.p. = ± 1,37), portadores da má oclusão de Classe II, e também com apinhamento ântero-superior inicial maior que 3mm. Foram medidos nos modelos de estudo das fases pré (T1), pós-tratamento (T2) e pós-contenção (T3), o índice de irregularidade de Little, as distâncias intercaninos e entre os primeiros e segundos pré-molares, a distância intermolares e o comprimento do arco superior. Após a obtenção dos dados, realizou-se a análise estatística. Para a comparação intragrupo nos 3 tempos de avaliação, utilizou-se a análise de variância a um critério de seleção, e em caso de resultado significante, o teste de Tukey. A comparação intergrupos foi realizada por meio de testes t independentes. Para verificação da presença de correlação entre a recidiva do apinhamento ântero-superior e a recidiva das variáveis: distâncias intercaninos, interpré-molares, intermolares e comprimento do arco, utilizou-se o teste de correlação de Pearson. Os resultados evidenciaram maior estabilidade do tratamento no grupo 2 (Classe II), pois durante o período pós-contenção, foi observada uma menor recidiva do apinhamento dos dentes ântero-superiores no grupo 2 (0,80mm) do que no grupo 1 (1,67mm). Concluiu-se que o tratamento do apinhamento dos dentes ântero-superiores é mais estável na má oclusão de Classe II do que na má oclusão de Classe I. / The present study aimed to retrospectively compare the postretention stability of maxillary anterior incisors alignment in Angle Class I and Class II patients. Sample comprised 38 patients of both genders, treated nonextraction and edgewise mechanics. Sample was divided into two groups: Group 1 (Class I) comprised 19 patients (12 females and 7 males), at a mean age of 13,06 years (d.p. = ± 1,27), with Class I malocclusion and initial maxillary anterior crowding greater than 3mm. Group 2 (Class II) comprised 19 patients (14 females and 5 males), at a mean age of 12,54 (d.p. = ± 1,37), with Class II malocclusion, and also with a initial maxillary anterior crowding greater than 3mm. It was measured the dental casts of pre (T1), posttreatment (T2) and postretention (T3), the Little irregularity index, intercanine distance and between first and second premolars, intermolar distance and maxillary arch length. After obtainment of data, the statistical analysis was performed. For intragroup comparison among the three times of evaluation, it was used the one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey test in case of a significant result. Intergroup comparison was performed by independent t tests. To verify the presence of correlation among the relapse of maxillary anterior crowding and the relapse of the variables: intercanine, interpremolar and intermolar distances and arch length, the Pearson correlation test was used. Results evidenced greater stability of treatment in group 2 (Class II), because during the postretention period, it was observed a lesser relapse of maxillary anterior crowding in group 2 (0,80mm) than in group 1 (1,67mm). It was concluded that treatment of maxillary anterior crowding is more stable in Class II malocclusion than in Class I malocclusion.