Tesis doctoral--Historia del arte--Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 255-283.

Revision of author's Thesis (M.A.), University of the Philippines. / Includes texts of two plays by Crisologo: Noble rivalry and Municipal code. [translated from the Iloko]. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-128).

Revision of author's thesis (M.A.), University of the Philippines. / Includes texts of two plays by Crisologo: Noble rivalry and Municipal code. [translated from the Iloko] Bibliography: p. 121-128.

Metastasis is the leading cause of poor prognosis for individuals diagnosed with cancer. Breast cancer is particularly prevalent with 1 in 10 women receiving a breast cancer diagnosis in her lifetime. There are various types of breast cancers that are distinguished by molecular subtype as defined by specific biomarker expression profiles: estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). The subtypes defined by the varying expression of these receptors respond differently to cancer treatments. For example, luminal A ([ER/PR+] HER2- KI67-) responds well to endocrine therapy and patients generally have a good prognosis, whereas triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) ([ER/PR-] HER2- basal marker+) has no specific targeted treatment available and the prognosis is usually poor. Patients with the HER2 subtype often develop resistance to the treatment specific to the breast cancer molecular subtype. Since 90% of all cancer-related deaths are due to metastatic disease, effectively treating all of these types of breast cancers before metastasis is an important factor in achieving a more positive outcome, In order for metastasis to occur, a tumor cell must have the ability to mobilize, intravasate into the vasculature, and then extravasate and proliferate into a tumor at a distant site. Numerous biological and environmental factors must facilitate each of these steps in order for metastasis to occur. One biomarker of metastasis is a tumor microenvironment of metastasis (TMEM). A TMEM is the physical apposition of a Mena-expressing tumor cell, a macrophage (a type of white blood cell), and an endothelial cell (a blood vessel cell). Each TMEM component plays a key role in breast cancer biology. The automated clinical assay MetaSite BreastTM was developed by MetaStat, Inc. to quantify TMEMs. The MetaSiteTM score directly correlates with risk of developing metastasis. The Mena protein is involved in cell motility and expressed isoforms can either promote metastasis (for example, MenaINV), or protect and prevent metastasis (for example, Mena11a). These isoforms are not expressed in a binary manner and studies have shown that the ratio of MenaINV to Mena11a can give insight into the pro-metastatic/anti-metastatic biology of the cell. To indirectly measure the amount of MenaINV, the Z-score of Mena11a is subtracted from the Z-score of pan-Mena (all Mena isoforms), yielding a theoretical maximum amount of MenaINV, called Menacalc. This process is performed by quantitative analysis of multiplexed immunofluorescence staining through the MenaCalcTM assay developed by MetaStat, Inc. The results of this study demonstrated that MenaCalcTM is a high-performing, high-throughput assay that was clinically validated under CLIA-approved protocol in January 2016. The assay surpassed all benchmark goals for precision and performance. For both day-to-day and run-to-run operations, precision and reproducibility were analyzed using Pearson’s R and slope. The day-to-day reproducibility yielded Pearson’s R values of 0.879 and 0.853 comparing Day 1 vs. Day 2 and Day 2 vs. Day 3, respectively. The slopes for the same comparisons were 0.985 and 0.982, respectively. The analysis of run-to-run precision had Pearson’s R values of 0.999 and 0.994 comparing Day 1 vs. Day 2 and Day 2 vs. Day 3, respectively. The slopes were 0.999 for both comparisons. The development of such an assay brings new elements of precision and reproducibility to the current market of breast cancer biomarker tests. Statistical analysis revealed a wide range of MenaCalcTM scores that were independent of total Mena expression. Individual images showed a range of MenaCalcTM values from a low of only 2.9% of cells with a high MenaCalcTM score to a high of 97.4% of cells with a high MenaCalcTM score. Regions of high MenaCalcTM scores correlated with areas of invasive tumor. Preliminary data assessing the synergistic use of both the MetaSite BreastTM and the MenaCalcTM assays were promising. These data suggests that both physical MetaSiteTM structures and protein expression levels can be used to more thoroughly understand the biology of breast cancer and the path to metastasis. Three clusters of combined MetaSiteTM/MenaCalcTM scores were observed: MetaSiteTM low/MenaCalcTM low, MetaSiteTM low/MenaCalcTM high, MetaSiteTM high/MenaCalcTM high. Because a MetaSiteTM High/MenaCalcTM Low score combination was not observed, a high MenaCalcTM score may be necessary for TMEM formation. Studies are ongoing to further evaluate the synergy of the MetaSite BreastTM and the MenaCalcTM in order to bring more power to the assessment of metastatic risk. / 2016-12-16T00:00:00Z

This thesis provides an empirical indication of how the objectives of official development assistance (ODA), granted by the top five donors, affects the aid policy in the MENA region during the period 1990-2012, and how these objectives have changed during the period 2005-2012. As a first result, alleviation of poverty, commercial interests and the democratic status of the recipient altogether influence aid policy in the region. Recipients’ need and commercial interest are both important objectives for the donors but they have both lost some of its impact in recent times. Historical ties with France affect the aid policy in the region and strategic interests of the donors appear to have an unexpected effect on aid allocation behavior e.g. oil rich countries receive less aid, ceteris paribus. The democratic status of the recipient has a positive significant effect on received aid for the average recipient and the impact has increased with time in the MENA region. Moreover, donors react differently to recipients’ needs, commercial interest and democracy and there are also several differences among recipients with abundant oil resources and those with insignificant oil resources.

Submitted by Danielle Karla Martins Silva (danielle.martins@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-12T12:44:40Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação_Marcos_Pereira.pdf: 807661 bytes, checksum: 1ebb56740f5cb8ccf80e479b8f137997 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-12T12:44:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação_Marcos_Pereira.pdf: 807661 bytes, checksum: 1ebb56740f5cb8ccf80e479b8f137997 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / CAPES / Neste trabalho apresenta-se um modelo de calibração estatística linear com repetição na variável resposta e assumindo que os erros têm distribuição pertencente a uma classe ou família de distribuições denominada Misturas de Escala Normal Assimétrica (MENA). Essa família de distribuições e uma generalização de várias distribuições que permite a escolha de uma distribuição simétrica ou assimétrica. Na literatura, os modelos de calibração supõem, em grande parte, que os erros têm distribuição normal, no entanto, a distribuição normal e inadequada para dados com observações destoantes e assimetria. A estimação dos parâmetros do modelo proposto e feita numericamente por meio do algoritmo EM, devido a sua facilidade de implementação e eficiência. Realizou-se um estudo de simulação em que o estimador de máxima verossimilhança via algoritmo EM mostrou-se consistente. O modelo de calibração linear proposto foi aplicado em dois conjuntos de dados reais relacionados a química analítica.

La région du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique du Nord (MENA) a été le théâtre de réformes institutionnelles et financières ayant pour objectif de promouvoir le développement économique. Alors que les théories traditionnelles se concentrent sur l’accumulation du capital et le progrès technique comme facteurs explicatifs fondamentaux de la croissance économique, les travaux donnant naissance à la « nouvelle économie institutionnelle » ont mis en relief la contribution majeure du développement institutionnel à la croissance économique. L’objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre le rôle de la qualité institutionnelle et de la régulation bancaire dans l’explication du développement financier et de la croissance économique des pays de la région MENA depuis les années 1980. A partir de modélisations économétriques appropriées, la thèse cherche à répondre aux trois grandes questions suivantes : quel rôle jouent la qualité institutionnelle et la régulation bancaire dans l’explication des variations des fonds propres, du risque et de l’efficacité bancaire dans le système bancaire de la région MENA ? Y a-t-il un effet significatif du développement institutionnel sur les développements bancaire et économique ? Dans quelle mesure les différences transnationales en termes de performance économique peuvent-elles être expliquées par des facteurs institutionnels ? Les principaux résultats de la thèse sont que : (i) la qualité institutionnelle a un effet significatif sur les fonds propres, la prise de risque et l’efficacité des banques opérant dans la région du Moyen-Orient et d’Afrique du Nord ; (ii) la régulation bancaire a un effet positif et significatif sur le développement bancaire, et il existe une interdépendance positive et significative entre développement économique et développement bancaire ; (iii) l’effet de la qualité institutionnelle sur les pays qui affichent une faible croissance économique en moyenne est plus fort que l’effet sur les pays à forte croissance économique. / The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed many institutional and financial reforms meant to stimulate economic development. While traditional theories of economic growth promote capital accumulation and technological progress as fundamental determinants of economic development, studies that gave birth to the “new institutional economics” stress the major contribution of institutional development to economic development. The objective of this dissertation is to understand the role of institutional quality and financial regulation in the process of financial development and economic growth in the MENA region since the 1980s. Based on recent and adequate econometric models, this dissertation answers the following questions: What is the role played by institutional quality and banking regulation in explaining capital, risk and efficiency adjustments in the banking system of the MENA region? Is there a positive and significant effect of institutional quality on banking and economic development? Can inter-country differences in terms of economic performance be explained by institutional factors? significant effect on bank capital, excessive risk taking and efficiency of banks operating in the MENA region; (ii) Banking regulation has a positive and significant effect on banking development, and there is positive and significant interdependence between economic growth and banking development; (iii) the impact of institutional quality is stronger in countries that witnessed a weak growth rate on average compared to fast-growing countries where the institutional effect is not significant.

The aim of this thesis is to understand the phenomena of the high growth and rapid internationalisation of firms from emerging markets. It explores the applicability of international entrepreneurship theory to the context of the emerging market enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It integrates the literature of strategic entrepreneurship and that of portfolio entrepreneurship with the literature of international entrepreneurship to provide a closer fit of applicability in that context. The main research questions of this thesis focus on: why, where, and how do some emerging market enterprises grow fast and internationalise early and rapidly? Particular attention is paid to entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial teams and the entrepreneurial process in the discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of new business opportunities. Despite the strength of the international entrepreneurship theory in identifying the sources of rapid internationalisation for small and medium enterprises from developed markets, it has been criticized for failing to address the same phenomena for firms from emerging markets. This thesis explores why, where, and how the MENA region emerging market firms have attained their spectacular performance over the last few years up to 2008, and contributes to filling the theoretical gap in the literature. This exploratory study suggests that the entrepreneurial and management processes of international business opportunities play an important role in achieving the high growth and rapid internationalisation of firms from emerging markets. A multiple case study strategy was adopted, and qualitative data was collected through interviews with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial team members in the research site of the emerging markets of the MENA region. Other interviews with financial experts, staff of international financial institutions, and international analysts in specialized publications were conducted in order to achieve triangulation and bias minimization. Guided by a newly formulated conceptual theoretical framework, data was explored and thematically analysed by coding into different categories to enhance the understanding of the processes that underlined the entrepreneurial strategies associated with the rapid internationalisation and high growth of the theoretically sampled case companies. Resource orchestration, innovativeness, entrepreneurial leadership and international diversification were found to be crucial elements employed by lead entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial team members through utilising human and social capital of networks and knowledge throughout the internationalisation process. The findings revealed that integrating the concepts of strategic entrepreneurship and portfolio entrepreneurship with international entrepreneurship produced a coherent approach to the application of those theories to understanding the behaviour of multinational enterprises from the MENA region. However, other valuable themes emerged from the findings. Chief among those are: strategically targeting hostile markets with inefficient institutional competencies and insufficient infrastructure, thus benefiting from a no competition status. Networking internally with entrepreneurial team members and international churning were other key elements revealed by the findings that explained the interactions and processes which enhanced the companies’ rapid internal growth, A recommendation for management practice is made for firms to encourage internal networking with entrepreneurial teams’ members thus enhancing trust and supporting intrapreneurs’ initiatives in identifying and exploiting new international opportunities. A mainstream policy recommendation for emerging markets is to strengthen the private sector performance with government incentives of a financial (tax reductions, banking facilities) and non-financial (political reform, education and health services) nature to encourage such entrepreneurial activities. In addition to its contribution to the theoretical understanding of high growth and rapid internationalisation from emerging markets, the findings of this thesis accentuate the impact of the pattern of internationalisation into antagonistic environments with scarce infrastructure as a strategic entrepreneurship process of deployment of dynamic capabilities to craft unique competitive advantages thus achieving and sustaining high growth and performance in new international markets. This thesis is also unique in compiling the first dataset for MENA region enterprises with similar attributes of high growth and rapid internationalisation.

The thesis discusses the problem of the current situation of the USD and it's possible replacement by the basket of currencies.

The advent of the internet has provided a new possibility for companies to communicate with their stakeholders and this thesis uses a new institutional sociology perspective to investigate the adoption of Internet Financial Reporting (IFR) in Arab MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa) to: i) evaluate the extent of IFR; and ii) identify the factors that influence Arab MENA listed companies to voluntarily adopt IFR. The study examines the extent of IFR in Arab MENA countries in 2010 using a sample of 1,456 listed companies from the 16 Arab MENA countries that have a stock exchange. To determine the factors that affect listed companies to adopt IFR, 961 listed companies were investigated from ten Arab MENA countries from two regions. Seven factors are investigated; five of which (company size; profitability; leverage; type of auditor; and industrial sector) have been investigated in prior studies; the other two factors, country and region, are also investigated as the effect of a country has been investigated in very few studies; the regional factor has not been investigated at all in prior studies; and hence contributes to our knowledge. The main findings of this thesis indicate that IFR in Arab MENA countries is growing; but listed companies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have the most extensive practice of IFR; North African listed companies are next whereas listed companies located in the Middle East excluding GCC countries have a lower level of IFR than the other two groups. Moreover, the findings reveal that communities of practice have been formed by large profitable companies as well as those audited by the Big-4 audit firms. Further, financial sector companies and companies from the GCC region also appear to have similar practices with more extensive IFR than other listed companies. These communities of practice may be due to coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. From a mimetic pressure, arguably, listed companies imitate each other, as for instance, managers of large profitable companies, or financial companies may network and meet together and discuss issues relating to their businesses. Companies within the same country may also be exhibit homogeneous IFR practice for the same reason. Furthermore, companies from one region may be similar to each other because they have similar country characteristics such as political and economic factors. From a normative isomorphic perspective, the Big-4 audit firms may influence companies to adopt IFR across the globe. Further, banks in many countries have separate requirements bringing a coercive influence to bear on their practices.