The purpose of this study was to determine whether application forms used in Texas public schools for teachers and administrators were in compliance with federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Texas Human Rights Commission Act (THRCA) regulations regarding preemployment practices. Participating in the study were 740 public school districts in Texas. The study also attempted to determine if these application forms are in violation of EEOC regulations pertaining to pre-employment practices and whether classification based on the districts' size, wealth, student ethnicity and geographical location has a bearing on the degree of compliance with and awareness of EEOC and THRCA regulations. A model employment application form and set of guidelines were developed for school districts to use in securing pre-employment information. Inferential statistics were used through various applicable designs. Three different types of analysis were utilized. These were a Descriptive Analysis, a Goodman- Kruskal Gamma (y) Coefficient—chi-square analysis and a Multiple Regression analysis. The descriptive analysis included the calculation of percentages of the suspect questions appearing on teacher and administrator application forms utilizing the Criteria Used to Determine EEO Compliance and Awareness Among Texas School Districts. The Goodman-Kruskal Gamma (y) Coefficient and the chi-square analysis were employed in order to determine differences in compliance and awareness based on the districts' size, wealth, student ethnicity and geographical location. The GAMTAU. ASC Computer Program was used to test the Gamma values, with a standard z-score. The Multiple Regression analysis was employed to determine to what extent variation in the use of total suspect questions correlated with size, wealth, ethnicity and geographical location. The results of the data analyzed reveal that the size and ethnicity of the school district had a weak but significant correlation with EEO compliance and awareness based on employment application forms for teachers and administrators and that school districts in Texas were not in compliance with EEOC and THRCA regulations regarding application form pre-employment practices.

L'expression du gène Igf2, qui est soumis à l'empreinte génomique parentale chez les mammifères, est hautement régulée au cours du développement embryonnaire et de la période périnatale grâce à divers mécanismes transcriptionnels et post-transcriptionnels. Ces mécanismes mettent à contribution de longs ARN non codants produits au sein même du locus, dont le plus connu est l'ARN H19. En utilisant une approche de complémentation génétique par un transgène H19 dans myoblastes H19 KO de souris, nous démontrons l'existence de plusieurs nouveaux promoteurs d'Igf2. L'un de ces promoteurs, qui est conservé chez l'homme, peut être activé par un ARN ectopique antisens d'H19 (lncARN 91H) en dépit d'une méthylation complète de la région de contrôle empreinte située en cis sur le même allèle. Nous montrons également que les lncARN 91H présentent une certaine spécificité tissulaire et que leur transcription peut être initiée à partir des séquences conservées CS4, CS5 et CS9 situées en aval du gène H19. Quant à l'ARN H19, qui est l'ARN non codant majeur du locus, il semble pouvoir réguler ses transcrits antisens dans les myoblastes H19 KO complémentés par le transgène H19, mais surtout il participe activement à la régulation post-transcriptionnelle du gène Igf2 chez la souris. Nous observons en effet qu'il favorise la coupure endoribonucléolytique de l'ARN Igf2 par un mécanisme qui reste à découvrir. Enfin, nous mettons en évidence l'existence d'un l'arrêt de l'élongation de la transcription du gène d'Igf2, pour lequel nous proposons un modèle de régulation faisant intervenir un autre long ARN non codant du locus: le lncARN PIHit. Au-delà des mécanismes qui restent à explorer, nos résultats renforcent l'idée que la structure tridimensionnelle de la chromatine participe à la régulation de l'expression des gènes chez les mammifères. / In mammals, the expression of the Igf2 gene, which is subject to parental genomic imprinting, is tightly regulated during embryonic development and the perinatal period through several transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. These mechanisms are involving long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) produced within the locus; among them the best known is probably the H19 RNA. Using a genetic complementation assay consisting in transfections of an H19 transgene into H19 KO myoblasts, we discovered several novel Igf2 promoters in the mouse. One of these promoters, that is conserved in the human, can be activated by ectopic H19 antisens RNAs (91H lncRNAs) despite a complete methylation of the Imprinting-Control Region located in cis on the same allele. We also show that the 91H lncRNAs possess some tissue-specific features and that their transcription can be initiated from the CS4, CS5 and CS9 conserved sequences located downstream of the H19 gene. On the other hand, the H19 RNA, that is the major lncRNA of the locus, appears to regulate its antisense transcripts in H19 KO myoblasts complemented with the H19 transgene, but its major function seems to be in regulating post-transcriptionally the Igf2 gene expression. Indeed, we have observed that it favours the endoribonucleolytic cleavage of the Igf2 messenger RNAs through a mechanism that remains to be elucidated. Finally, we reveal the existence of a premature transcriptional elongation stop of the Igf2 gene, for which we propose a regulation model involving another lncRNA of the locus: the PIHit lncRNA. Beyond the mechanisms that remain to be explored, our results strengthen the idea that, in mammals, the three-dimensional organization of the chromatin is involved in regulating gene expression.

Orientador: Antonio Carlos Moretti / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matemática, Estatística e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T22:02:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gratz_LiviaBastos_M.pdf: 1931012 bytes, checksum: 88af4d5b57969faa790a1885c6dacc31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Para a existência de um sistema financeiro sólido e estável é essencial que as instituições financeiras gerenciem bem os seus riscos. A partir da publicação dos Acordos de Basileia, as autoridades supervisoras passaram a exigir a alocação de um capital regulamentar proporcional aos riscos incorridos por cada instituição. O capital regulamentar busca garantir a existência de recursos suficientes para a absorção de perdas inesperadas e seu cálculo considera os riscos de crédito, mercado e operacional. Para o gerenciamento do risco de mercado, as instituições utilizam modelos internos baseados em VaR - Value at Risk. Porém, algumas das parcelas do modelo padronizado adotado para o cálculo do capital regulamentar baseiam-se na metodologia Maturity Ladder. O primeiro modelo é mais sensível ao risco e varia conforme a volatilidade dos ativos. O segundo é menos sensível ao risco e baseia-se nos conceitos de Duration. O objetivo desse trabalho é a redefinição dos parâmetros utilizados no método Maturity Ladder de forma a aproximá-lo aos modelos baseados em VaR. Para a minimização das diferenças entre as metodologias foi utilizado um modelo de otimização baseado em Algoritmo Genético. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que os dois métodos não são totalmente comparáveis e a existência de casos extremos independentemente da escolha dos parâmetros / Abstract: For the existence of a solid and stable financial system is essential that the financial institutions manage their risks. Since the publication of the Basel Accords, supervisory authorities started demanding the allocation of a regulatory capital proportional to the risks incurred by each institution. The regulatory capital aims to ensure the existence of sufficient resources to absorb unexpected losses resulting from credit, market and operational risks. Institutions use internal models based on VaR - Value at Risk to manage the market risk. However, for some risk factors, the standardized model adopted for regulatory capital measurement is based on the Maturity Ladder methodology. The first model is risk-sensitive and varies according to asset volatility. The second is less sensitive to risk and is based on the Duration theories. The objective of this work is the redefinition of the parameters used in the Maturity Ladder methodology in order to bring their outcomes closer to the models based on VaR. To minimize the differences among the methodologies were used an optimization model based on Genetic Algorithm. The results suggest that the two methods are not completely comparable and the existence of extreme cases regardless of the parameters choice / Mestrado / Matematica Aplicada / Mestra em Matemática Aplicada

In recent years, concern about food safety linked to health issues has seen a rise in private food safety standards in addition to the regulations set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). These have presented challenges to producers and exporters of agricultural food products especially the producers of fresh fruits and vegetables. In spite of the food safety-linked challenges from the demand side, the vast range of business-environment forces pose equally formidable challenges that negatively impact on the exporting industries’ ability to maintain or improve their market shares and their ability to compete in world markets. The objective of this study was therefore to establish the competitiveness of the South African citrus industry in the international markets within this prevailing scenario. Due to the diversity of the definitions of competitiveness as a concept, this study formulated the following working definition: “the ability to create, deliver and maintain value and constant market share through strategic management of the industrial environment or competitiveness drivers”. This was based on the understanding that the international market shares of an industry are a function of forces in the business environment which range from intra-industry, external and national as well as the international elements. The unit of analysis were the citrus producers engaged in export of their products and the study made use of 151 responses by producers. The study adopted a five-step approach to the analysis of the performance of the South African citrus industry in the global markets, starting with the analysis of the Constant Market Share (CMS) of the South African citrus industry in various world markets, establishing the impact of the business environmental factors upon competitiveness, establishing the costs of compliance with private food safety standards, determining the non-price benefits of compliance with the standards, as well as highlighting the strategies for enhancing long-term competitiveness of the industry in the international markets. South Africa is one of the top three countries dominating the citrus fruit export market. Since its entry into the citrus fruit exports market in the 1900s, the industry has sustained its activity in the international market. The Constant Market Share Analysis shows that, amidst the challenges on the international market side, and the changes in the business environment, over much of which the industry has limited control and influence, the industry has maintained its competitive advantage in several markets. The CMS shows that South Africa’s lemons are competitive in America. Despite a negative trend, the South African grapefruit has been competitive in France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Oranges have been competitive in the Greece, Italy, Portugal, UK, Asian and Northern Europe markets. Competitiveness in these markets has been due to the inherent competitiveness of the industry. Competitiveness in such markets as the Middle East has been attributed to the relatively rapid growth of these markets. The South African citrus industry has similarly undergone many major processes of transformation. The business environmental factors influencing its performance have ranged reform to the challenges beyond the country’s borders. These factors directly and indirectly affect the performance of the industry in the export market. They have influenced the flow of fruits into different international destinations. Of major concern are the food safety and private standards. Challenges in traditional markets as well as opportunities presented by demand from newly emerging citrus consuming nations have seen a diversification in the marketing of the South African citrus. The intensity of competition in the global market is reflected by the fluctuations in the market shares in different markets as well as the increase and fluctuations of fruit rejection rates in some lucrative markets such as America. A combination of challenging national environmental forces and stringent demand conditions negatively impact on revenues especially from markets characterised by price competitiveness. This study identified cost of production, foreign market support systems, adaptability, worker skills, challenges of management in an international environment and government policies such as labour and trade policies as some of the most influential obstacles to competitiveness. Some of the most competiveness-enhancing factors were market availability, market size, market information, market growth and the availability of research institutions. However, compliance with private standards still poses a challenge to the exporters. The different performance levels of the industry in various markets prove the dissimilarity of the demand conditions in the global market. These are supported by the negative influence associated with the foreign market support regimes as well as the challenges associated with compliance with private food safety standards. While market availability, market growth, market information and size were identified as enhancing competitiveness, the fluctuations and inconsistencies in the competitiveness of the industry in different foreign markets require more than finding markets. Resource allocation by both the government and the industry may need to take into account the off-setting of the national challenges and support of farmers faced with distorted and unfair international playing fields. Otherwise, market availability is not a challenge for the industry save meeting the specifications therewith as well as price competitiveness which is unattainable for the South African citrus producers faced with high production costs. For the purposes of further study, it is recommended that account should be taken of all the products marketed by the industry (including processed products such as fruit juices) in order to have a whole picture of the competitiveness of the industry in the international market. This study also proffers a new theoretical framework for the analysis of the business environment for the citrus industry and other agro-businesses. This framework takes into account the indispensability of the food safety standards and measures as well as the diversity of the global consumer and the non-negotiability of food trade for the sustenance of the growing population.

L’unschooling (ou la « non-scolarisation ») est une option éducative marginale, mais en constante évolution au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde. Au vu du développement de ce mouvement en éducation, des enjeux concernant le suivi des apprentissages réalisés par les enfants unschoolers prennent de l’importance. La rareté des écrits portant spécifiquement sur le suivi des apprentissages informels et les risques associés à une absence de suivi, particulièrement auprès des enfants plus vulnérables, nous amènent à poser cette question générale de recherche: Quel suivi de l’apprentissage en famille serait souhaitable dans un contexte d’unschooling, en prenant en compte le point de vue des parents unschoolers et le droit de l’enfant à l’éducation ? Pour répondre à cette question, 25 parents unschoolers répartis en quatre groupes, ont réfléchi au type de suivi qu’ils jugent le mieux adapté à leur réalité éducative. L’analyse thématique du contenu de leurs échanges a fait ressortir une proposition globale de suivi constituée de trois approches différentes : 1- l’approche « aucune interaction », visant le respect de l’autonomie des familles; 2- l’approche « offre de soutien », visant la réponse aux besoins exprimés par les familles; et 3- l’approche « appréciation de l’expérience éducative » pouvant viser le dépistage de l’expérience éducative ou l’accompagnement des familles. Cette proposition de suivi a ensuite été analysée à l’aide d’un cadre conceptuel relatif au droit de l’enfant à l’éducation, composé de cinq conditions du respect de ce droit et de leurs indicateurs. Cette analyse a permis d’évaluer le potentiel de chacune des trois approches à protéger le droit à l’éducation des enfants évoluant dans un cadre éducatif de type unschooling. La troisième approche, soit l’appréciation de l’expérience éducative, apparaît à la fois acceptable du point de vue des parents unschoolers et du point de vue du droit de l’enfant à l’éducation. Selon la proposition des parents, elle peut s’effectuer au moyen de l’appréciation d’un portfolio, d’une discussion informelle ou de la visite du domicile, permettant d’apprécier l’expérience éducative de l’enfant par la voie de l’environnement éducatif qui lui est offert ou de son parcours éducatif. / Unschooling is an uncommon but continually evolving educational option in Canada and around the world. Given the development of this movement in education, issues concerning the monitoring of learning by unschooled children are gaining importance. The scarcity of published studies specifically related to the monitoring of informal learning and the risks associated with a lack of follow-up, particularly among the most vulnerable children, lead us to ask this general research question: What follow-up of family-based learning would be desirable in a context of unschooling, respecting the point of view of unschoolers parents and the right of the child to an education? To answer this question, 25 unschooled parents were divided into four groups and reflected on the type of follow-up they consider best suited to their educational reality. By choosing a qualitative methodological approach and using a thematic analysis, the data drawn from these exchanges enabled us to build a follow-up proposal consisting of three approaches: "no interaction", "support offered" and "appreciation of the educational experience ". This follow-up proposal was then analyzed using a conceptual framework of the child's right to education composed of five conditions of respect for the child's right to education, inspired by the United Nations (1999a, 1999b). This analysis assessed the potential of each of the three approaches to protecting the right to an education for all children in an unschooling educational setting. The third approach, "appreciation of the educational experience", appears to be an approach that is both acceptable from the point of view of unschooling parents and from the point of view of the child's right to education.

The increasing level of fraud, the collapse of banks, and the loss of confidence in the Nigerian banking industry have been attributed to poor corporate governance. The problem of this study was effective implementation of corporate governance in Nigeria where multiple regulations are in place. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to understand how corporate governance is implemented in the Nigerian banking industry in the face of a multiplicity of regulations. The research question investigated how Nigerian bank managers implement corporate governance regulations in the face of a multiplicity of regulations. The conceptual framework was grounded in stewardship theory. Data collection included document analysis and face-to-face semistructured interviews to gain an understanding of how to implement corporate governance based on the perception of 15 purposefully selected senior managers and directors of the host bank. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-Stage data analysis approach. Findings revealed that the involvement of senior bank managers and the adoption of global best practices, training, education, and awareness creation are the prerequisites for effective implementation of corporate governance. Findings may be used to reduce corporate failure, improve compliance, and restore confidence in the banking industry through enhancing the understanding of practitioners, investors, and policymakers on how to implement corporate governance in a highly regulated banking environment and contribute to positive social change.

The demand for sustainability on this earth is more prominent than ever. The global climate crisis affects everyone, and the movie industry's massive annual emissions are certain. However, the movie industry has not yet been investigated in-depth nor held accountable for its environmental impact. In the literature, environmental regulations of powerful institutions, such as the European Union, have been influential for sustainable change. Hence, this thesis will examine the interface of project-based organizations, environmental regulations, and sustainable practices through an exploratory approach. Precisely, this thesis aims to examine the influence of environmental regulations on project-based industries, using the example of the European movie industry with a focus on Germany and Italy. The research questions focus on the aspects of pressures and impacting factors along the supply chains of moviemaking. Lastly, it is also examined how stakeholders are affected by EU regulations. Data is gathered through a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews, and analyzed through the theoretical frame of institutional and stakeholder theory. The results of this study reveal that there is currently no specific impact of EU regulations on sustainable practices in the movie industry. Also, currently, no EU laws affect the defined stakeholders in the film business. Instead, it could be found that national legislation and infrastructure, private sector engagement, and organizations' self-commitment are impacting the industry to become more sustainable. Moreover, the movie industry's structural factor as project-based affects cooperation, communication, and laws for sustainability. This thesis serves as a groundwork for further research and practical implementations for sustainable filmmaking.

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This essay deals with the principle of communication as phrased in section 17 of the Swedish administrative act. According to this section administrative authorities are obliged to inform a party involved in an administrative case of all material which has been added to the case by somebody else and is of importance for the decision and then give the party an opportunity to comment on it. The purpose of this essay is to examine how courts evaluate the way administrative authorities apply this rule. How do the authorities fail in their obligation to communicate and what do the courts say about this? The essay includes a description of the details of the law and what preparatory work and doctrine say about it. The essay includes an analysis of thirteen court cases. The courts were critical of the application of the rule in a majority of cases. The analysis showed different kinds of deviations from the obligation to communicate. The courts only accepted minor deviations. In most cases where the authorities had failed in their communication the courts reversed the decisions. The conclusion of the analysis is that the courts are very strict when they evaluate how administrative authorities apply their obligation to communicate. / I inledningen till denna uppsats görs en liknelse mellan det som kallas kommunikationsprincipen och boken Processen av Franz Kafka där huvudpersonen upplever motsatsen till allt det som denna princip innebär. Uppsatsen behandlar kommunikationsskyldigheten som den regleras i 17 § förvaltningslagen. Det är en skyldighet som förvaltningsmyndigheter har gentemot enskilda och som är mycket viktig för rättssäkerheten och allmänhetens förtroende för myndigheter. En enskild kan vara inblandad i ett ärende hos en förvaltningsmyndighet. Det kan till exempel handla om att en person söker bygglov eller att en person som äger en restaurang riskerar att få sitt serveringstillstånd indraget. I alla sådana ärenden som innebär myndighetsutövning mot enskild måste myndigheten informera den som är part i ärendet om alla de uppgifter som tillförts ärendet av någon annan än honom/henne själv och som har betydelse för utgången i ärendet. Det kan handla om muntliga eller skriftliga uppgifter, uppgifter som tillförts ärendet inifrån eller utifrån myndigheten. Parten ska också ges tillfälle att komma med synpunkter på dessa uppgifter. Den enskilda individen ska inte själv behöva undersöka om nya uppgifter kommit in. Det är myndighetens ansvar att se till att den enskilda får dessa uppgifter.   Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur domstolarna bedömer att förvaltningsmyndigheterna tillämpar denna regel. Vilka brister finns i myndigheternas tillämpning av sin kommunikationsskyldighet och hur bedömer domstolarna dessa brister? Vad beror bristerna på?   För att undersöka detta analyserades totalt 13 rättsfall. Där förekom olika typer av brister i kommunikationen, muntliga yttranden från t.ex  arbetsgivarrepresentanter i tjänstetillsättningsärenden kommunicerades inte. I ett par fall informerade myndigheterna inte om uppgifter de själva tillfört ärendet. Orsakerna till bristerna kunde förutom försummelse och bristande rutiner vara feltolkningar av lagen. I ett par fall kunde man misstänka att myndigheterna avsiktligt avstod att meddela vissa uppgifter. Domstolarna godtog bara mycket små avvikelser från kommunikationsskyldigheten. I de allra flesta av fallen bedömde domstolarna att bristerna var så allvarliga att besluten upphävdes och återförvisades till lägre instans för ny bedömning Analysen visar att domstolarna är mycket stränga i sin bedömning av förvaltningsmyndigheternas tillämpning av regeln om kommunikationsskyldighet.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / William P. Winslow III / Access to water has always been a critical and often times conflicted issue along Colorado's Front Range. With current and projected population growth in the state of Colorado it can be expected that the importance of the issue will only increase. In order to control future conflicts and costs, communities throughout Colorado have started to update and implement water conservation programs to address demand and delivery issues. A water demand category that has been commonly targeted by community water conservation programs is the designed urban landscape. This study explores the effectiveness of landscape water regulations in urban, landscaped open space as tools for water conservation. The study examines the effectiveness of landscape regulations using three landscape regulations in the city of Colorado Springs. The three landscape regulations represent city and development landscape regulations and guidelines implemented before and after 1998. The effectiveness of the three regulations is measured from the results of four evaluations (regulation composition, landscape design, landscape installation and maintenance, and landscape water use) that represent the steps necessary for the development and maintenance of water efficient landscapes. The tool of measure in the four evaluations is the application and enforcement of the research based Xeriscape principles in the codes, policies, and guidelines found in the three landscape regulations. The results indicated that regulation changes that occurred in the City Landscape Code and Policy Manual in the late 1990's effectively created water conserving landscape regulations. The post 1998 landscape regulations used a diverse combination of water-wise principles that were not only suggested by the codes, policies, and guidelines but also enforced through inspections and submittals. The diversity of water-wise principles in the regulations and the balance of citations and enforcement were the major elements that reduced water use and increased conservation in the evaluated landscape tracts.