The presence of insider trading in a financial market is detrimental to its functioning. Traders with public information are always at a disadvantage when negotiating with agents in possession of inside information. Thus insider trading should increase risk and should lower participation in financial markets. In this study we investigate a channel through which inside information may be transferred to market participants: social connections based on common education. We hand-collect a novel data set of the educational background of members of the board of directors of Brazilian firms and portfolio managers of stock funds. Board members hold inside information on their firms that is valuable to fund managers. We propose that these agents may engage in active social interactions if they 1) attended the same educational institution, 2) within an overlapping time window, and 3) obtained the same degree. We study if such connections influence fund managers\' portfolio decisions. We find that fund managers tend to place larger bets in companies with which they possess this sort of educational connection. We also find that these connections are economically valuable: managers tend to conduct large purchases of connected stocks prior to large increases in their return, and also tend to sell them prior to downfalls. Finally, we study if market participants view increases in a company\'s connectivity as an increase in its risk. We find that increases in connectivity are followed by increases in expected returns. We also determine that the return of holding a portfolio long in highly connected stocks and short on stocks with few connections cannot be explained by the traditional risk factors. These two results indicate that the market does indeed see connectivity as a form of risk. This is, to our knowledge, the first study of its kind for Brazil. / A presença de insider trading em um mercado financeiro é prejudicial ao seu funcionamento. Investidores com informação pública sempre estão em desvantagem quando negociam com agentes que detêm informação privilegiada. Portanto, insider trading aumenta o risco e diminui a participação em mercados financeiros. Neste estudo nós investigamos um possível canal através do qual a informação interna à firma é potencialmente transferida para participantes do mercado: conexões sociais baseadas em uma educação comum. Nós coletamos manualmente uma base de dados inédita sobre a experiência educacional de dois grupos de agentes: membros do conselho de diretores de empresas brasileiras e gestores de carteiras de fundos de ações. Os membros do conselho possuem informação privilegiada sobre suas firmas que seria valiosa para os gestores de fundos. Nós propomos que esses agentes podem engajar em contato social ativo se eles 1) frequentaram a mesma instituição de ensino, 2) em janelas de tempo sobrepostas e 3) obtiveram o mesmo diploma. A partir daí, estudamos se tais conexões influenciam as decisões de investimento dos gestores de carteiras. Nós descobrimos que gerentes de fundos tendem a alocar posições maiores em companhias com as quais eles possuem esta conexão educacional. Nós também descobrimos que tais conexões são valiosas: gerentes tendem a realizar grandes compras de ações conectadas em antecipação a aumentos em seu retorno e tendem a vender essas ações antes de quedas. Finalmente, nós estudamos se participantes do mercado veem aumentos na conectividade de uma empresa como aumentos no risco da empresa. Nós descobrimos que aumentos na conectividade são seguidos de aumentos no retorno esperado. Nós também encontramos que o retorno de um portfólio comprado em ações de alta conectividade e vendido em ações de baixa conectividade não pode ser explicado pelos fatores de risco tradicionais. Esses dois resultados indicam que o mercado vê a conectividade como uma forma de risco. Este é, ao nosso conhecimento, o primeiro trabalho de seu tipo para o Brasil.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study is on the insider trading framework of Tanzania. The researcher has made enquiries whether the Tanzania legal framework governing insider trading provides strong enough enforcement mechanisms, including remedies and measures against malpractices found on the securities market to attract investor confidence. Critical analysis is done of the Capital Markets and Securities Act, 79 of 1994 (RE 2002) in conjunction with an investigation into the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) a body corporate charged with the duties among others, of protecting the integrity of the securities market and maintaining surveillance over securities to ensure orderly, fair and equitable dealings in securities. The researcher uses a comparative approach from other jurisdictions considered as international best standards of the English and South African insider trading legislation. Discussions on the study are presented in chapters. Chapter one is the general introduction to the Study. It is the reproduction of the research proposal. Chapter Two is on the overview of insider trading framework of Tanzania. An analysis is made on the provisions of the Capital Market and Securities Act, 79 of 1994 (RE 2002). It is revealed that the enforcement mechanisms are inadequate and ineffective. The Capital Market and Securities Act, 79 of 1994, (RE 2002) neither defines nor provides the interpretation to legal concepts such as insider, inside information and publication. Civil remedies and criminal penalties provided in the Tanzania Capital Market and Securities Act, 79 of 1994, (RE 2002) are inadequate for deterrent purposes to combat insider trading practices. In chapter three the researcher examines the Capital Market and Securities Authority (CMSA) in terms of fulfillments of its roles, functions, and powers. It is submitted that the CMSA and the DSE have never contributed much to resolving the problem of securities market abuses. Chapter four extend the study to the English and South Africa insider trading legislation considered as international best practice and therefore comparable. The researcher has observed that flaws in areas of prohibition, enforcements, defences and the lacuna on identified concepts of insider trading make the Tanzanian insider trading legislation remain more symbolic than real in terms of its efficiency to combating insider trading practices. Chapter five provides the conclusions and recommendations on the study. The researcher has provided recommendations on curbing the problem of insider trading in Tanzania, including repealing and enacting a new strong and effective insider trading legislation.

No description available.

I analyze the relationship between insider trading outcomes and insiders' information environment within a network. While most existing studies rely on one dimension of commonality (e.g., personal ties, professional ties, geographic proximity) to construct the social network, I document the formation of the institutional investor groups (cliques) that exogenously connect firm-level insiders within the social network. Using difference-in-differences designs examining changes in clique size, I provide empirical evidence on the information dissemination channels within a network in which its members are quasi-randomly selected. Insider transactions in larger cliques exhibit lower abnormal trading profits, higher level of trading frequency, and larger amount of trade size, suggesting information dissemination is increasing in clique size. Then, I provide empirical evidence that the association between the value of information and the information dissemination rate is monotonic, consistent with prior theoretical studies. / Doctor of Philosophy / People communicate and are influenced by other people when they reside in a social network. I analyze how corporate insiders' trading outcomes are influenced by their information environment within a network. Most current research rely on one specific type of connection (e.g., personal relationships, professional relationships, geographic proximity) to build the social network, I provide evidence that firm-level insiders are involuntarily connected by the institutional investor social network (cliques). Using archival study approach, I document that insider transactions in larger cliques exhibit lower abnormal trading profits, higher level of trading frequency, and larger amount of trade size, suggesting information dissemination is increasing in clique size. Then, I provide empirical evidence that the association between the value of information and the information dissemination rate is linear, consistent with prior theoretical studies.

INSIDE is a puzzle video game with no voices or text. INSIDE is a story about a boy’s journey into the unknown. During the entire story the player doesn’t hear one word of dialogue or reads a single written word of text. That might sound strange and convoluted but what makes the player understand it anyway? How can you tell a story without telling it? Environmental storytelling is a way to make the environment help tell a story and how does INSIDE make use of that? How does the puzzles fit into the narrative and how can puzzles also tell a story for the player? This is an analysis of what INSIDE is telling us and how it goes around doing that with the help of interactivity and the environment the players character is in. INSIDE makes the player believe they are in control when in fact they aren’t. Analysis shows that INSIDE uses its environmental storytelling and forces the player to move forward towards the resolution and makes the player believe they have the power to change the outcome of the dystopian world the game is set in when they in fact have no power at all.

Les grammaires de dépendance permettent de construire une organisation hiérarchique syntaxique des mots d’une phrase. La construction manuelle des arbres de dépendances étant une tâche exigeant temps et expertise, de nombreux travaux cherchent à l’automatiser. Visant à établir un processus léger et facilement adaptable nous nous sommes intéressés à l’apprentissage non supervisé de dépendances, évitant ainsi d’avoir recours à une expertise coûteuse. L’état de l’art en apprentissage non supervisé de dépendances (DMV) se compose de méthodes très complexes et extrêmement sensibles au paramétrage initial. Nous présentons dans cette thèse un nouveau modèle pour résoudre ce problème d’analyse de dépendances, mais de façon plus simple, plus rapide et plus adaptable. Nous apprenons une famille de grammaires (PCFG) réduites à moins de 6 non terminaux et de 15 règles de combinaisons des non terminaux à partir des étiquettes grammaticales. Les PCFG de cette famille que nous nommons DGdg (pour DROITE GAUCHE droite gauche) se paramètrent très légèrement, ainsi elles s’adaptent sans effort aux 12 langues testées. L’apprentissage et l’analyse sont effectués au moins deux fois plus rapidement que DMV sur les mêmes données. Et la qualité des analyses DGdg est pour certaines langues proches des analyses par DMV. Nous proposons une première application de notre méthode d’analyse de dépendances à l’extraction d’informations. Nous apprenons par des CRF un étiquetage en fonctions « sujet », « objet » et « prédicat », en nous fondant sur des caractéristiques extraites des arbres construits. / Dependency grammars allow the construction of a hierarchical organization of the words of sentences. The one-by-one building of dependency trees can be very long and it requries expert knowledge. In this regard, we are interested in unsupervised dependency learning. Currently, DMV give the state-of-art results in unsupervised dependency parsing. However, DMV has been known to be highly sensitive to initial parameters. The training of DMV model is also heavy and long. We present in this thesis a new model to solve this problem in a simpler, faster and more adaptable way. We learn a family of PCFG using less than 6 nonterminal symbols and less than 15 combination rules from the part-of-speech tags. The tuning of these PCFG is ligth, and so easily adaptable to the 12 languages we tested. Our proposed method for unsupervised dependency parsing can show the near state-of-the-art results, being twice faster. Moreover, we describe our interests in dependency trees to other applications such as relation extraction. Therefore, we show how such information from dependency structures can be integrated into condition random fields and how to improve a relation extraction task.

L'élévation de la concentration du calcium (Ca2+) cytosolique est responsable de l’activation plaquettaire. Cette élévation est due à l'entrée du Ca2+ à partir du milieu extérieur (influx) ou sa translocation (mobilisation) dans le cytosol depuis ses réserves internes. Les SERCAs (Sarco/Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+ ATPases) pompent le Ca2+ depuis le cytosol vers les réserves internes, maintenant le Ca2+ cytosolique bas (100 nM) et les plaquettes au repos. D'autre part elles assurent une concentration calcique élevée (≥1 mM) dans les réserves calciques permettant sa mobilisation, et enfin modulent l'intensité et la forme du signal calcique lors de l'activation. Mais les rôles respectifs des SERCAs plaquettaires, SERCA2b et SERCA3, sont encore mal définis. D’où l’intérêt de mon projet qui a été de déterminer si SERCA3 avait un rôle fonctionnel précis et spécifique. Nous avons observé sur des souris SERCA3-/- un défaut de l'hémostase et s’accompagne d’une résistance à la thrombose dû à un déficit de sécrétion d'ADP, entrainant un défaut d'agrégation et d'adhérence. SERCA3 semble contrôler une voie de sécrétion initiale d'ADP capable d’agir en synergie avec une faible activation plaquettaire, aboutissant à un renforcement de la sécrétion et de l'agrégation. De plus, l’utilisation des inhibiteurs pharmacologiques spécifiques de SERCA2b (thapsigargine) ou SERCA3 (tBHQ), a montré que la sécrétion initiale d'ADP n'était pas dépendante de la mobilisation des réserves SERCA2b mais dépendait spécifiquement des réserves SERCA3. Nous avons retrouvé la même voie de sécrétion d'ADP dépendante de SERCA3 dans les plaquettes humaines. Nous avons en particulier montré par le suivi d'une cohorte de patientes atteintes d'obésité morbide, un déficit d'agrégation, une faible mobilisation calcique et un taux faible de SERCA3 plaquettaire, revenus à la normale après retour à un poids normal après chirurgie bariatrique. Surtout nous avons retrouvé, dans les plaquettes de ces patientes obèses, un défaut de sécrétion d'ADP associé au défaut de SERCA3. Il s'agit du premier défaut de SERCA3 plaquettaire lié à une pathologie humaine. Nous avons ensuite montré que la sécrétion initiale d'ADP était rapide (5 sec) et entièrement dépendante de SERCA3. A l'aide d'une sonde calcique fluorescente membranaire (FURA2-NearMem-AM), nous avons démontré l’existence d’une mobilisation calcique juxta-membranaire spécifique de SERCA3, indépendante de l'ADP, correspondant donc à une sécrétion primaire. Cette mobilisation SERCA3 s'est avérée indépendante d'IP3, mais dépendante du NAADP, qui mobilise spécifiquement les réserves SERCA3 et non SERCA2b. En conclusion, nous avons mis en évidence une nouvelle voie d'activation plaquettaire, indépendante de l'IP3 mais dépendante du NAADP qui libère le Ca2+ des stocks internes dépendants de SERCA3 et spécifiquement engagés dans la libération précoce d'ADP lors de l'activation plaquettaire. Ces données identifient de nouvelles cibles avec un intérêt thérapeutiques anti-thrombotiques potentiel. / The elevation of cytosolic calcium (Ca2 +) is responsible for platelet activation. This elevation is due to the entry of Ca2 + from the extracellular medium (influx) where its translocation (mobilization) into the cytosol from its Ca2+ stores. SERCAs (Sarco / EndoplasmicReticulumCa2 + ATPases) pump Ca2 + from the cytosol to the Ca2+ stores, maintaining low cytosolic Ca2 + (100 nM) and platelets at resting state. On the other hand, they ensure a high calcium concentration (≥ 1 mM) in the Ca2+ stores allowing its mobilization, and finally modulate the intensity and the shape of the Ca2 signal during the activation. However, the respective roles of SERCA platelets, SERCA2b and SERCA3, are still poorly defined. Hence the interest of my project which was to determine if SERCA3 had a precise and specific functional role. We observed in SERCA3 - / - mice a defect in hemostasis that is accompanied by resistance to thrombosis due to ADP secretion deficiency, resulting in a lack of aggregation and adhesion. SERCA3 seems to control an initial pathway of ADP secretion able to acting in synergy with low platelet activation, resulting in increased secretion and aggregation. In addition, the use of specific pharmacological inhibitors of SERCA2b (thapsigargine) or SERCA3 (tBHQ) showed that the initial secretion of ADP was not dependent on the mobilization of SERCA2b stores, but was specifically dependent on SERCA3 stores. We found the same SERCA3-dependent ADP secretion pathway in human platelets. In particular, we observed a defect of platelet aggregation, low Ca2+ mobilization and low platelet SERCA3 levels in a cohort of patients with morbid obesity compared to control subjects. Platelet functions and SERCA3 levels are restored after weight loss by a surgery bariatric. Above all, we found in the platelets of these obese patients, a defect of secretion of ADP associated with the defect of SERCA3. This is the first defect of platelet SERCA3 related to human pathology. We then showed that the initial secretion of ADP was rapid (5 sec) and entirely dependent on SERCA3. Using a membrane fluorescent Ca2+ probe (FURA2-NearMem-AM), we have demonstrated the existence of a juxta-membrane-specific calcium mobilization specific to SERCA3, independently of ADP, corresponding to primary secretion. This SERCA3 mobilization proved to be independent of IP3, but dependent on the NAADP, which specifically mobilizes the SERCA3 and not SERCA2b reserves. In conclusion, we have demonstrated a new platelet activation pathway, independent of IP3 but dependent on NAADP, which releases Ca2 + from SERCA3 dependent stores and specifically involved in the early release of ADP during platelet activation. These data identify new targets with a potential interest of anti-thrombotic therapy.

No description available.

Abstract Obviously, inside mediation through individuals or institutions emerged from the conflict situations becomes an alternative way to end armed conflict as it is regarded to have more local legitimacy with a higher sense of ownership. Surprisingly, researchers in peace and conflict studies have shown more interest to mediation processes dominated by outside mediators, while little has been known about the conditions that contribute to success of inside mediators. This thesis aims to contribute to this understudied research field by answering the question; under what conditions do mediators contribute to the ending of armed conflict in fragile states? In this thesis, I focus on the role of customary leaders, a form of inside mediators. The point of departure of this research question will be the distinction between the mediator’s involvements (Inside vs outside) and how their presence contribute to different outcomes. The variances will be explained with reference to two contending concepts of success and failure of mediation process. Success of mediators’ involvement can be measured by focusing on the following three areas; the initiation of peace process, conclusion of peace process and the sustainability of peace outcomes. The causal argument suggest that mediation processes dominated by inside mediators are more likely to end armed conflicts, as they have  more local legitimacy that can  engender a higher level of ownership, and sustain peace agreements as the actors feel engaged to the peace process. By testing this theory, this thesis applies the structured focused comparison method by selecting three cases of Southern, northwest and northeast regions in Somalia that have developed differently. The empirical findings of this thesis supports the hypothesis testes, as mediation processes dominated by inside mediators in Northeast and Northwest regions displayed a higher level of local ownership and legitimacy than the Southern regions. Finally, further researches on inside mediators success in a different countries is suggested in the future in order to know the level of inside mediators’ effectiveness in ending armed conflict.

Packaging and package design is commonly thought of as a tool to attract the consumer to material goods. Packages, however, have other attributes. In Japan, packaging design is very charming because of the delicate selection of materials, images, and interaction. Different kinds of material provide different emotions and appeal to our sense of touch, which can be interpreted in many ways. Packaging lets us directly interact with an object and this experience becomes memorable and intimate. The combination of image and interaction creates another dimension of story telling. My creative project, Conceptual Packaging, is an experiment in using materials and forms to package immaterial concepts and messages such as memories.