The thesis analyses legal environment of the financial services market in relation with business practice of retail financial products distribution in Czech republic. It describes current legislation and instruments of regulation of the distributional activities both on national and supra-national (european) level. Furthermore, it introduces the development of regulation in light of identified weaknesses of legislation, leading to specific recommendations and measures ensuring vast consumer protection and fixing the level-playing-field in distribution throughout various sectors of financial markets and their layovers. The conclusions are based on author´s theoretical studies of economic and legal context and private business practice.

Black males’ quality of life indicators are at a crisis level. This has been the perception of Black males for many years. The purpose of this study is to understand how exposure to positive prototypes of Black maleness impacts other Black males’ initial perception of their own collegiate academic experiences. This study addresses the following overarching research question: How does the exposure to positive images of prototypes of Black maleness influence fellow Black males’ initial perceptions of their own collegiate academic experiences? This study employs the conceptual framework that is a hybrid of Africana Critical Theory (ACT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT). I used the methods of historicizing of knowledge and the CRT tenets of permanence of racism and counter-narrative accounts. The symbiotic use of the conceptual framework, methods, and research design assists the inquiry into how exposure to positive prototypes of Black maleness may impact academic experiences. The research around Black males has conveyed pejorative findings for over 30 years. The study findings were interesting. The three participants were positively impacted by exposure to positive prototypes of Black maleness. They all conveyed that associations with positive prototypes of Black maleness are necessary; however, the academic impact that these prototypes have is still very much undetermined. A longer span of research might determine how impactful the positive prototypes of Black maleness are to other Black males. One finding was very apparent among the three participants- Black males do like to learn affirmative history about other Black males.

Geomorphic features have been one of the major tools for sea-level change studies. The present work shows an example of sea-level change study on karst terrain in the tropics. Sea-level notches as well as flank margin caves were identified in the research area and their elevation measured. The time of formation of the sea-level indicators was constrained by lithology study and dating methods such as facies comparison and U-Th dating. Denudation and uplift were also studied for the same purpose. From this study it can be concluded that sea-level stands within the glacial cycle can cause the formation of flank margin caves and that the position of these sea-level stands can be determined. The research area was estimated to have cumulatively uplifted ~22 m in the past 125 ka years (~0.18 mm/yr) while the surface has been denuded some 8 m in the same span of time (~0.064 mm/yr).

This dissertation examines lesbian and queer desire in texts in Catalan and Spanish written in Barcelona, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires from the 1960s to the present. In the texts, desire includes but is not limited to the erotic; it encompasses issues of queer textuality, relationality, and literary transmission. I focus on the works of three authors who have spent the majority of their lives in Barcelona. However, the city appears almost incidentally in their works; the genealogies that the authors trace are transnational. The texts combine literal movement (through exile or diaspora) and a metaphorical sense of being “out of place” that prompts writers to take refuge in writing. I demonstrate that despite depicting affinities beyond the family and nation, the works reveal the persistence of familial and national ties, albeit in spectral or queer ways. Rather than tracing continuous lines of descent that emphasise origins, the works are principally concerned with futurity and fragmentation, as in Michel Foucault’s reading of genealogy. Chapter One on Maria-Mercè Marçal’s La passió segons Renée Vivien (1994) traces a literary genealogy from Sappho to Renée Vivien in fin de siècle Paris to Marçal. The novel represents a merging of literary desire and erotic desire; Marçal’s search for symbolic mothers turns out to be a search for symbolic lovers that is oriented towards the present and future. In Chapter Two, I posit that in Cristina Peri Rossi’s La nave de los locos (1984) “happiness” consists of being open to chance and unpredictability unlike in conventional “happy” scripts in which a valuable life is believed to consist of (heterosexual) marriage, children, and property ownership. In Part II I argue that through fragmentation, allegory, and ambiguity, Peri Rossi’s El libro de mis primos (1969) contests authoritarian discourse without itself becoming a site of hegemonic meaning. In inviting the reader’s collaboration, it ensures authorial legacy. Part I of Chapter Three is an analysis of the temporality of obsession in Flavia Company’s Querida Nélida (1988). I propose that obsession and melancholia may point to a utopian future rather than signalling an entrapment in the past. My study of Melalcor (2000) in Part II suggests that queer forms of relationality that are not centred on procreation and monogamy offer ethical models of sociality. Part III focusses on Company’s return to biological family in Volver antes que ir (2012) and Por mis muertos (2014). The resurgence in these texts of family members who have died signals that just as the queer haunts the family, the family haunts the queer.

近年來海峽兩岸利率持續走低，已經對壽險公司之財務產生負面影響，故銷售固定利率保險商品之壽險業者，其資金運用報酬與業務成本間之利差損現象日益擴增，為避免財務負擔日增而影響其清償能力，市場趨勢乃轉向能將風險大部分轉移給保單持有人並讓其分享大部分投資利得之投資型保險商品。本文就海峽兩岸投資型保險商品，從法規架構、監理體系、商品種類內容、市場行銷等方面加以詳細比較分析，並以1988-1994年英國銷售投資型保險商品所發生之退休金不當銷售弊案(mis-selling scandal)為借鏡，進而歸納出所面臨之各種問題，再針對此等問題提出可能解決之道，作為兩岸發展投資型保險之參考。 關鍵字：投資型保險、投資連結保險、變額保險、指數連結保險、指數連結年金、萬能壽險、變額萬能保險、分紅保險、利率風險、不當銷售、英國退休金不當銷售弊案、保險監理、保險法沿革。 / With the continued decline in interest rates having an adverse impact on Taiwan and Mainland life insurance companies' balance sheets, the insurance companies that sell the traditional guaranteed products have experienced the increasing interest loss resulted from the gap of their investment returns and operation costs. To avoid the companies from insolvency crisis arising out of the increasing financial burden, there is a trend, recently in both Taiwan and Mainland markets, that the insurance business focus has been averted from the traditional products toward investment-linked products that transfer most risk to policyholders and enable them to share in most investment gains. This paper compares the investment-linked insurance between Taiwan and Mainland markets in the viewpoints of the legal structure, regulation systems, variety of products and marketing of investment -linked products. This paper also analyses the famous U.K. mis-selling scandal in 1988-1994, and tries to make this scandal into a valuable lesson to both markets. After listing the issues and problems which are encountered by the insurance companies, the suggestions for resolving such issues and problems are submitted as the conclusion of this paper. Key Words: Investment-linked insurance, Variable insurance, Equity Index Insurance, Equity Index Annuity, Universal life insurance, Variable universal insurance, With-profit insurance. Risk of interest rate, Mis-selling, U.K. mis-selling scandal, Insurance regulation. History of insurance law

This thesis identifies continuities and disruptions within the tradition of literary allegory in Latin America and critically revisits the category of “national allegory” (Jameson 1986) in order to articulate an interpretative model suited to contemporary “transnational allegorical fiction”. Based on the analysis of seven Mexican novels that register the transition of neoliberalism from the political-economic order to a form of biopolitical control (Althusser, Foucault, Žižek), I identify the emergence of what I call a “transnational affective field”: a symbolic horizon, alternative to the nation, where the prospective function of foundational romances (Sommer) and the retrospective function of mourning akin to postdictatorial fiction (Avelar), converge. This ideological device negotiates power relations, facilitates the transfer of local/global meaning, promotes intercultural empathy and compromise, and denounces mechanisms of exclusion; thereby, reconfiguring the affective and political functions of allegory in Latin American fiction. Part One discusses critical approaches to allegorical fiction in both Latin American and World literatures. Part Two compares the representation of the binomial nation/world in three historiographic metafictions by Carmen Boullosa, Francisco Rebolledo and J.E. Pacheco through recent approaches in post-/de-colonial and memory studies. Part Three examines the depiction of the nation as simulacrum and the figuration of postmodern subjectivities in Jorge Volpi and Juan Villoro from a poststructuralist perspective. It also contends that Álvaro Enrigue’s and Valeria Luiselli’s novels are representative of an emergent meta-allegorical imagination that, in an ironic reversal of allegory (de Man), simultaneously constructs it as a mechanism of ideological control as well as a conscious strategy to resist commodification and symbolic violence (Bourdieu) in the contemporary world. The analysis demonstrates the vitality of Mexican transnational allegorical fiction as a socio-political and affective counter-hegemonic discourse that also functions as an effective strategy of recognition in the international literary field.

The government has indicated that innovation fosters economic growth and is essential to maintaining a competitive position in international markets. Patents are the preferred mechanism by which the Australian Government and other governments encourage their nationals to protect their innovations. The question of the entitlement was raised in several cases in the Federal Court of Australia where there has been a failure to name all of the inventors on a patent grant (non-joinder) or where persons were mis-named as inventors, who were not and consequently have no interest in a grant (rnis-joinder). In both cases, parties who were not themselves daiming an entitlement to the invention, brought objections based on a number of grounds, including entitlement. The results have been the revocation of the patent in the case on the non-joinder of an inventor and in the case of mis-joinder, the preliminary view of a judge of the Federal Court has been, that the patent would be invalid through lack of entitlement. The result is that competitors are permitted to 'exploit' the invention, as the subject matter is not protected by a patent. The implications are far reaching, For example, where a research team in collaboration with another develops an invention but omits the inventive contribution of even one member of one team or includes a person who has not made an inventive contribution in the patent grant, the patent will be invalid. In these circumstances, the author considers that the result produces a disincentive to innovate. Consideration of this area in other jurisdictions reveals that the U.S. and the U.K. have recognised this as an unsatisfactory state of affairs. As a result, Congress in the U.S. made provision in their Patent Code in the early 1950's, that in the case of error or mistake giving rise to a non-joinder or mis-joinder of inventors, the patent would not be invalid but could be rectified by the Director of Patents and Trade Marks (the 'Director'). In the U.K., the Comptroller has powers to deal with a wide variety of cases involving entitlement to ownership of a patent. The situations include but are not limited to cases where some but not all of the persons entitled to the grant have been granted the patent, i.e. non-joinder, or where a person entitled to be granted a patent, has been granted a patent together with a person who is not entitled, i.e. mis-joinder. The thesis will focus on the non-joinder and mis-joinder of inventors, but the U.K. provision addresses a wider field of parties entitled, whether entitled as inventors or on some other basis. In addition, the U.K. and Germany have made provision restricting the persons who are able to challenge a patent on entitlement grounds. This is restricted to those persons having an interest in the patent, rather than open to any person, as is the case in Australia. The Australian decisions have been determined on historic cases dating back to the 17th century. It is timely to consider amendments which will overcome revocation of patents under Australian law, for what is essentially a matter between the persons interested. These amendments will accordingly encourage innovation, particularly in an environment where intellectual property has taken on greater importance and where the identification of the inventor has become more complex as collaborations in research become more common.

The support and promotion of public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges is fundamental in addressing South Africa’s intermediate-level and artisanal skills as shortages in these areas contribute to considerable unemployment in South Africa. These institutions have been earmarked by the South African government for extensive growth. Therefore, efficient and effective management and accurate decision-making within these institutions are essential. The evaluation of the management information systems (MISs) within these institutions, which provide data and information to inform institutional short-term and long-term management decision-making and day-to-day operations, should take place on a regular basis to so enhance the reliability and accuracy of the data and information. The problem is that no evidence of a methodology (artefact) for the evaluation of MISs at public TVET Colleges in South Africa could be found in the literature. Therefore, the rationale for this study is to develop a methodology for the evaluation of MISs at public TVET Colleges in South Africa. Hence the main research question for the study was formulated as: What are the components that constitute a methodology for the evaluation of a MIS at a public TVET College in South Africa? The study was conducted according to a design science paradigm. Design science is underpinned by a pragmatic philosophical paradigm which considers thought as a tool for prediction, problem solving and action. The Design Science Research Process (DSRP) model informed the research process utilised to develop the artefact for this problem centred initiated study. The iterated activities of the DSRP model which include: design, demonstrate, evaluate and and communicate, contributed to the refinement of the methodology (artefact). The artefact mainly underwent experimental evaluation to demonstrate its applicability. The methodology (artefact) was empirically evaluated at three cluster-random selected public TVET Colleges after all colleges, with similar MIS maturity levels, were clustered into groups.The study contributed to the extant knowledge base of: theory building, on different levels. The main theoretical contribution is the final evaluated methodology (DSR artefact) which enables IT practitioners and MIS managers at public TVET Colleges in South Africa to evaluate their MISs on a regular basis. The methodology (artefact) presents a theory for design and action which satisfies the conditions of importance, parsimony and novelty on a micro-level. The study furthermore contributed to the extant literature on the theory of MIS success evaluation by contributing to theory on the measurement of MIS success constructs and measuring of the relationships between the constructs. Another theoretical contribution is the innovative evidence-based method by which the public TVET Colleges were clustered. The clustering method was used to ensure a more rigorous sample selection technique than purposive or convenient sample selection of cases and is generalisable to other knowledge domain contexts. The research study furthermore produced results of interest to both technology-focused and management-focused audiences. For technology-focused audiences the processes by which the artefact was constructed and evaluated are described, thus establishing repeatability of the study and building the knowledge base for further research extensions by future design science researchers. The rigour of the artefact design process was complemented by a thorough presentation of the experimental design of the artefact’s field test in three public TVET College environments which provides sufficient detail for management audiences to determine if sufficient organisational resources exist for utilisation of the artefact. / Information Science / Ph. D. (Information Systems)

The support and promotion of public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges is fundamental in addressing South Africa’s intermediate-level and artisanal skills as shortages in these areas contribute to considerable unemployment in South Africa. These institutions have been earmarked by the South African government for extensive growth. Therefore, efficient and effective management and accurate decision-making within these institutions are essential. The evaluation of the management information systems (MISs) within these institutions, which provide data and information to inform institutional short-term and long-term management decision-making and day-to-day operations, should take place on a regular basis to so enhance the reliability and accuracy of the data and information. The problem is that no evidence of a methodology (artefact) for the evaluation of MISs at public TVET Colleges in South Africa could be found in the literature. Therefore, the rationale for this study is to develop a methodology for the evaluation of MISs at public TVET Colleges in South Africa. Hence the main research question for the study was formulated as: What are the components that constitute a methodology for the evaluation of a MIS at a public TVET College in South Africa? The study was conducted according to a design science paradigm. Design science is underpinned by a pragmatic philosophical paradigm which considers thought as a tool for prediction, problem solving and action. The Design Science Research Process (DSRP) model informed the research process utilised to develop the artefact for this problem centred initiated study. The iterated activities of the DSRP model which include: design, demonstrate, evaluate and communicate, contributed to the refinement of the methodology (artefact). The artefact mainly underwent experimental evaluation to demonstrate its applicability. The methodology (artefact) was empirically evaluated at three cluster-random selected public TVET Colleges after all colleges, with similar MIS maturity levels, were clustered into groups. The study contributed to the extant knowledge base of: theory building, on different levels. The main theoretical contribution is the final evaluated methodology (DSR artefact) which enables IT practitioners and MIS managers at public TVET Colleges in South Africa to evaluate their MISs on a regular basis. The methodology (artefact) presents a theory for design and action which satisfies the conditions of importance, parsimony and novelty on a micro-level. The study furthermore contributed to the extant literature on the theory of MIS success evaluation by contributing to theory on the measurement of MIS success constructs and measuring of the relationships between the constructs. Another theoretical contribution is the innovative evidence-based method by which the public TVET Colleges were clustered. The clustering method was used to ensure a more rigorous sample selection technique than purposive or convenient sample selection of cases and is generalisable to other knowledge domain contexts. The research study furthermore produced results of interest to both technology-focused and management-focused audiences. For technology-focused audiences the processes by which the artefact was constructed and evaluated are described, thus establishing repeatability of the study and building the knowledge base for further research extensions by future design science researchers. The rigour of the artefact design process was complemented by a thorough presentation of the experimental design of the artefact’s field test in three public TVET College environments which provides sufficient detail for management audiences to determine if sufficient organisational resources exist for utilisation of the artefact. / Information Science / Ph. D. (Information Systems)

La microscopie multiphotonique est une modalité d’imagerie de pointe offrant des opportunités d’avancées remarquables en biologie mais aussi dans le domaine médical. Afin d’en exploiter pleinement le formidable potentiel au cœur même de la pratique clinique, le développement de nombreuses sondes miniaturisées à fibre optique pour l’endomicroscopie multiphotonique (EMMP) a eu lieu depuis de nombreuses années et dans de nombreux laboratoires français et étrangers. Il s’est pour l'instant confronté à des limitations majeures comme l’impossibilité de recueillir les signaux d’auto-fluorescence des tissus qui sont intrinsèquement faibles comme ceux venant des co-enzymes métaboliques NADH et FAD. Cette limitation compromet l'utilité de l’EMMP en la restreignant à une imagerie morphologique requérant un marquage exogène des tissus. Ce manuscrit présente une architecture d’EMMP permettant de dépasser cette limitation, capable de proposer une imagerie fonctionnelle du métabolisme cellulaire en temps réel, in vivo, in situ, sans marquage. Le prototype d’EMMP proposé est une amélioration du précédent, où les Grisms en réflexions sont remplacés par des Grisms en transmission, permettant d’élargir la bande spectrale d’utilisation et la transmission du système. Ce prototype voit aussi l’adjonction d’un second laser excitateur afin d’accéder aux fluorescences du NADH et du FAD. Les résultats démontrent capable que nous sommes à même d’imager les fluorescences cellulaires intrinsèques au travers de 5 mètres de fibre optique avec une résolution subcellulaire. Parmi celles-ci nous sommes capables d’exciter et de collecter spécifiquement les fluorescences du NADH et du FAD. Enfin nous détectons assez de photons pour disposer d‘informations quantitatives et donc de proposer une image du rapport d’oxydo-réduction optique en endomicroscopie. / Nonlinear microscopy is a cutting edge imaging modality leading to remarkable step forward in biology but also in the clinical field. To use it at its full potential and at the very heart of clinical practice, there has been several development of fiber-based micro-endoscope. The application for those probes is now limited by few major restrictions, such as the impossibility to collect auto-fluorescence signal from tissues theses being inherently weak such as the fluorescence from NADH or FAD. This limitation reduces the usefulness of the micro-endoscope effectively restraining it to morphological imaging modality requiring staining of the tissue. Our aim is to go beyond this limitation, showing cellular metabolism monitoring, in real time, without any staining. The experimental setup is an upgrade of our precedent one where the reflection- based Grism stretcher is replace with a new generation transmission-based Grism stretcher. Another Laser was also added in order to tune the first laser at 860nm to allow FAD imaging and the second one to 760nm for NADH. The results prove that we assess and image the level of NADH and FAD at subcellular resolution through a five-meter-long fiber. Thus we demonstrate that we are capable of measuring the optical redox ratio in a micro-endoscopic configuration.