Background/Problematization: The statutory audit was abolished for small limited companies in Sweden, in 2010, with the intention of easing the burden on enterprises with high audit expenses and enhancing Sweden's competitiveness. After the abolishment, the debate about statutory audit has rekindled once more, where various actors and scholars emphasize the meaningfulness of statutory audit for small firms in terms of fighting criminality and ensuring financial information quality for stakeholders, while others argue that the benefits of the audit do not justify the expenditures incurred. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to map the debate about the statutory audit for small companies in Sweden since the abolishment in 2010 by exploring the main stakeholders, their differences in power as well as the arguments provided by the debaters. Methodology: This thesis adopts a critical discourse analysis method with an abductive research approach, where predetermined codes were developed in a scheme in order to collect the empirical data. The study includes 90 articles that were collected and used from 8 newspapers, magazines, or websites. Findings: The findings suggest that auditing- and accounting organizations, legislators, authorities, audit firms, clients, creditors and business associations are the main stakeholders of the debate. Further, the prominent arguments for a reinstatement are the increased criminality and the decreasing financial quality in the absence of an auditor, while the arguments for raised limit values involve the lack of necessity of audit in small firms as well as the incurred cost and lack of competitiveness due to statutory audit. Our findings indicate that there exist differences in power in the debate, where some stakeholders are more prevalent in the debate and are seen to be more influential than others.

No description available.

Epidemiological data indicate that patients who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) have an elevated risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD), but the underlying neurobiological connections remain unclear. To further understand the relationship between TBI and SUD, we investigated the effects of TBI on the abuse-related effects of oxycodone in preclinical models. Our evaluation utilized a lateral fluid percussion injury of moderate severity in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the first aim, we tested the hypothesis that moderate TBI increases the risk for relapse to an opioid use disorder as measured by reinstatement of lever-pressing behavior following extinction in an intravenous oxycodone self-administration procedure. In the second aim, we tested the hypothesis that moderate TBI increases physiological dependence to oxycodone as measured by decreases in food-reinforced lever-pressing behavior and increases in other withdrawal behaviors in both precipitated withdrawal and spontaneous withdrawal. In tests for self-administration, brain-injured subjects, relative to non-injured subjects, showed no significant differences in the number of oxycodone-reinforced sessions required to meet stable maintenance criteria for lever-pressing behavior. Likewise, brain-injured subjects showed no significant differences in the number of non-reinforced sessions to meet extinction criteria for lever-pressing behavior relative to non-injured subjects. In tests for reinstatement, non-injured subjects reinstated responding under oxycodone-associated cue- and oxycodone prime-induced conditions, however, brain-injured subjects did not reinstate lever-pressing behavior under any conditions. In tests for physical dependence, brain-injured subjects showed no significant differences from non-injured subjects with regards to their mean withdrawal scores or food-reinforced lever-pressing behavior. Overall, these data suggest that brain-injured patients no significant pre-morbid history of opioid abuse are at a lesser risk of relapse to opioid use disorders. Moreover, the characteristic withdrawal syndrome in opioid-dependent patients may not contribute to continued opioid abuse to a greater degree in brain-injured patients than compared to non-injured patients.

L’addiction aux drogues peut être considérée comme une maladie neurologique chronique avec des rechutes récurrentes en période d’abstinence qui constituent le problème majeur dans le traitement de l’addiction aux drogues. Grâce à un modèle animal de rechute, il a été montré qu’un rongeur pouvait réinstaller un comportement de recherche de drogue lorsqu’il était réexposé à la drogue elle-même, à des indices associés à la drogue, ou encore à un stress. Dans notre équipe, nous avons évalué la contribution relative des différentes propriétés de la cocaïne, de l’héroïne et de la nicotine (incitative, discriminative et renforçante) dans la réinstallation d’un comportement de recherche de nourriture. Afin de dissocier les propriétés discriminatives et renforçantes, les rats ont été entraînés à s’auto-administrer une récompense alimentaire. Nous avons alors trouvé que : 1) La cocaïne et la nicotine agissent comme des stimuli internes qui acquièrent un contrôle discriminatif sur le comportement, étant donné que la cocaïne et la nicotine, contrairement à l’héroïne, peuvent réinstaller un comportement éteint de recherche de nourriture lorsque ce comportement a été préalablement acquis sous les effets de la cocaïne et de la nicotine, respectivement. 2) La réinstallation induite par la cocaïne et la nicotine est indépendante de la valeur actuelle de la récompense, ce qui indique que la cocaïne et la nicotine contrôlent l’activation de comportements automatiques, habituels, liés à la drogue. Puis, afin d’identifier la façon dont les drogues d’abus entraînent la formation d’habitudes, nous avons également étudié les effets d’une sensibilisation à la cocaïne à différents moments d’un apprentissage instrumental pour une récompense alimentaire, après une dévaluation de la récompense. Nous avons alors trouvé que la sensibilisation à la cocaïne ne favorisait pas le développement de comportements de type habituel. Cette série d’expériences constitue une première étape dans la comparaison des processus automatiques produits par la cocaïne et la nicotine. Si l’activation de comportements de type habituel, automatique, peut être généralisée à d’autres drogues d’abus, nous pourrons considérer que la rechute vers la recherche et la prise de drogue est en partie sous le contrôle de processus automatiques, ce qui pourrait expliquer la forte probabilité de rechute, même après de longues périodes d’abstinence et malgré la connaissance des conséquences néfastes qui en découlent. / Drug addiction can be considered as a chronic brain disease with recurrent relapse during abstinence periods which remains the major problem for the treatment of drug addiction. Using an animal model of drug relapse, it has been shown that a rodent can reinstate a drug-seeking behavior when re-exposed to the drug itself, drug associated cues or stress. In our research group, we assessed the relative contribution of the different properties of cocaine, heroin and nicotine (incentive, discriminative and reinforcing) in food-seeking reinstatement, and in order to dissociate the discriminative from the reinforcing properties, rats were trained to self-administer a non-drug reward (food). We found that: 1) Cocaine and nicotine act as internal stimuli that acquires discriminative control over behavior, since cocaine and nicotine, but not heroin, can reinstate an extinguished food-seeking behavior when this behavior has been previously performed under the effects of cocaine and nicotine respectively. 2) Cocaine- and nicotine-induced reinstatement is independent of the current value of the outcome, which indicates that cocaine and nicotine control the activation of automatic, drug-related habitual behaviors. Then, in order to identify the way drugs of abuse lead to the formation of habits, we also examined the effects of cocaine sensitization at different stages of instrumental training for a food reward after outcome devaluation. We found that, globally, cocaine sensitization does not promote the development of habit-based behaviors. This series of experiments represent a first step in the comparison of automatic processes produced by cocaine and nicotine. If the activation of automatic, habit-based behaviors can be generalized to other drugs of abuse, we could consider that relapse to drug-seeking and drug-taking is partly under the control of automatic processes, which could explain the high probability of relapse, even after extended periods of abstinence and despite the knowledge of the adverse consequences.

There are many different ways that the power of a word is expressed in the New Testament. In most cases, this power is bound to the person of Jesus Christ, and its outcome is positive. Through his word Jesus not only heals, exorcizes, and brings the dead back to the life, but he also curses. This thesis discusses the question, what the New Testament says about various imprecations, maledictions and many other negative appearances of a word and the demonstrations of its power. This thesis comprises an overall outline of the passages from the New Testament and their commentaries, which appear to be close to the selected theme. In the first part the thesis deals with the notion and relevance of a "word" and "human speech" for people and their relationship with God. In the second part, this thesis delves into the area of imprecations and maledictions. The third part is dedicated to promises and oaths. The fourth part aims to the theme of wrath and how its expressed in words in the texts of the New Testament, that are connected with the selected theme, including the commentaries. The aim of the thesis is primarily to present the issue of the impact of negative words on human life including the accessible interpretations of selected parts and their evaluation, which is a subject, in my opinion, that in general...

保險契約中之停效與復效制度，為有別於一般民事契約之特殊制度，其目的在使一時忘記或無力繳交續期保費，不會立即遭到保險人終止保險契約，要保人並得在一段復效期間內，於符合一定條件下，恢復原保險契約之保障。至於復效時必須符合之條件，各國規定不盡相同，但通常包括下列項目：(1)復效申請書(2)提供被保險人之可保證明 (3) 繳清欠繳保費(4) 保險人之同意。我國過去因舊保險法、施行細則及示範條款三者間，對復效應具備之要件規範並不一致，引起學說之重大爭議，法院判決亦常見不同之判決結果，致保險實務上糾紛不斷。 為解決保險市場之脫序現象，九十六年七月十八日修正之保險法，乃對保險法第一百十六條作大幅修正，明確規定如下：「停止效力之保險契約，於停止效力之日起六個月內清償保險費、保險契約約定之利息及其他費用後，翌日上午零時起，開始恢復其效力。要保人於停止效力之日起六個月後申請恢復效力者，保險人得於要保人申請恢復效力之日起五日內要求要保人提供被保險人之可保證明，除被保險人之危險程度有重大變更已達拒絕承保外，保險人不得拒絕其恢復效力。」新法對保險市場新秩序之重建應有重大助益，但新法也衍生一些新的問題，諸如，可保證明之意義及範圍、要保人提供不實可保證明時應如何依法處理、危險程度有重大變更已達拒絕承保程度之認定標準及核保標準、保險人有無要求附條件同意復效之權利，以及復效生效時點如何認定…等疑義，均有待釐清及解決。本研究廣泛蒐集及比較各國立法制度，並整理我國實務判決重要爭點，剖析新法對保險市場產生造成之影響，並對新法產生之新問題提出本文意見與建議，以作為日後研擬修法時之參考。 / The suspension and reinstatement system of insurance contracts is a specific system different from other civil contracts. Its purpose is to prevent proposers, who forget to or are unable to pay premium other than the initial premium, from being terminated of insurance contracts by insurers. The proposer may reinstate the original policy within the time period for applying for reinstatement and when conforming to certain terms. Regarding the terms of reinstatement, the contents are varied among countries but usually include the following items: (1) a reinstatement application; (2) evidence of insurability; (3) prepayment of any overdue premium; and (4) approval of the reinstatement application. Before the Amendment to the Insurance Act in 2007, the terms of reinstatement were stipulated differently among the Insurance Act, the Enforcement Rules for the Insurance Act and the Model Provisions for life Insurance Policies. As a result, there were serious debates of schools, while different judgments delivered by courts of law for similar cases. Thus disputes were continuously happened in terms of insurance practices. Resolving the disorderly phenomenon in the insurance market, Article 116 of the Insurance Act was amended on 18 July 2007 as the following: “A suspended insurance contract shall be reinstated after the premium, the interest stipulated in the insurance contract, and other expenses are paid, provided that such payment is made within six months from the date of suspension. Where the proposer applies for reinstatement more than six months after the date of suspension, the insurer may require that the proposer furnish proof of insurability for the insured, and the insurer may not refuse reinstatement unless the insured's degree of risk has undergone a change that is sufficiently material as to justify refusal to insure”. The amended Act contributes the rebuilding of the order of the insurance market. However, it also produces some new problems. For example, the meaning and scope of the evidence of insurability, how to deal with the reinstatement when the proposer providing lapsed evidence of insurability, the approval and underwriting when the insured's degree of risk has undergone a change that is sufficiently material as to justify refusal to insure, whether the insurer has the right to require some conditions for its approval of reinstatement, and how to recognize the effective time of reinstatement. All these problems still remain unsolved. The study widely collects and compares different countries’ legislative systems, gets together the important points in dispute, analyzes the amended Act’s impacts on the insurance market, and presents opinions and recommendations, which could be reference for amending the Act in the future, on these new problems caused by the amended Act.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2017-04-18T16:03:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Albertina Gioconda de Moraes Marques_.pdf: 1363656 bytes, checksum: 14bf086c9f9fd5eef2d1ad4c0850cb29 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-18T16:03:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Albertina Gioconda de Moraes Marques_.pdf: 1363656 bytes, checksum: 14bf086c9f9fd5eef2d1ad4c0850cb29 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-02 / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Esse trabalho explora como temática a questão do impedimento às reconduções sucessivas ao mandato de diretor de escola na rede estadual do Rio Grande do Sul. A rede educacional com dados do ano de 2015 contava com mais de 2.500 estabelecimentos de ensino existindo assim um impacto considerável sobre a eleição de diretores e a forma de alternância de poder no cargo. Buscamos compreender como foram construídos os movimentos pré-decisórios na modificação legislativa da gestão democrática no ano de 2012, tratando da recondução ao cargo de diretor. O referencial teórico metodológico é a construção da agenda pública que serviu como sustentação para a pesquisa. Essa investigação, em caráter qualitativo, contou com dados coletados em documentos e complementados por entrevistas, que foram submetidos a análise documental. Analisamos em caráter de contextualização todas as modificações da legislação desde 1995 referentes a possibilidade de recondução aos cargos de diretor. Identificamos dois atores visíveis, que atuaram no processo de modificação, sendo eles a Assembleia Legislativa do Estado e a Secretaria de Educação. Como invisíveis, tivemos os grupos de diretores contrários à mudança e o Centro de Professores do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, o CPERS/Sindicato. Os dados demonstraram que os movimentos foram construídos com pouca participação, majoritariamente dentro da Secretaria de Educação a qual articulou com a assembleia legislativa a aprovação do projeto. Evidenciou-se que as que as escolas sinalizaram esse problema para o sindicato, contudo a participação dessa entidade não pode ser comprovada. A questão da alternância de poder nos cargos de direção denota-se como um mecanismo de experenciar democracia possivelmente evitando a utilização clientelística e patrimonialista da escola pública, além de conscientizar as comunidades escolares e a mantenedora para com o compromisso de formação de lideranças e de luta pela melhora da qualidade educacional. / The thematic which this work explores is the impediment to the successive reinstatement of the mandate of school´s principals in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The educational state network in the year of 2015, had more than 2.500 educational establishments. Therefore, there is considerable impact on the election of principals and in the form of power rotation in this positions. Our goal is to understand how the pre decision-making movements were build concerning the change in the legislation of the democratic management in the year of 2012 related to the reinstatement of the principals position. The methodological and theoretical reference used is public agenda building which support this research. This study, in a qualitative manner, has count on data collected and complemented by interviews, which were submitted to documentary analysis. We analyze in a basis of contextualization every alteration made in the legislation since 1995 which refers the possibility of reinstatement in the principals post. We have identified as visible actors in the process of legislation alteration, the Assembleia Legislativa of the State of Rio Grande do Sul and the Education Secretary of State. As invisible actors, we had the Cpers Union and principals ´s group which were contrary about the alteration. The data show that the movements were built with little participation, mainly inside the Education State Secretary which articulated within the Assembleia Legislativa prior to the project approval. It is signalized that the schools told the union about this problem, however the union participation cannot be verified. The matter of rotation of power in the principals position denote itself as an engine of democracy experience possibly avoid the cronyism used in public schools, in addition, to aware school´s community and the Education Secretary of State in the commitment of building new leaderships and for seek a better quality for our education.

L'un des aspects les plus problématiques de l’addiction est la vulnérabilité à la rechute qui persiste même longtemps après la disparition des symptômes de sevrage. Les modèles rongeurs d'auto-administration (AA) démontrent que la réexposition à la drogue, les stimuli associés à la drogue ou le stress sont des déclencheurs majeurs de la rechute. Bien que les différentes catégories de drogues varient dans leurs mécanismes pharmacologiques primaires, elles partagent toutes un effet aigu d'augmentation des niveaux de dopamine (DA) dans le striatum. Après une utilisation répétée, les propriétés addictives des psychostimulants tels que la cocaïne (COC) sont sous-tendues par la mise en place de neuroadaptations persistantes dans le système DA (SDA) mésocorticolimbique. Le striatum est une cible majeure du SDA et, dans cette région, la DA agit sur deux familles de récepteurs (D1R et D2R) séparées positionnées sur les neurones épineux moyens (NEM) et donnant naissance à deux voies de sorties striatales différenciées et ayant des rôles différents dans l’addiction.Des travaux antérieurs dans notre équipe ont montré une implication différentielle de ces deux sous-types de récepteurs DA sur le rétablissement du comportement de recherche de COC. Alors que l'administration systémique d'un agoniste D2R induisait de puissants effets de rétablissement de recherche de cocaïne sur des rats entraînés à s'autoadministrer de la COC, l'administration systémique de l'agoniste D1R n’avait aucun effet (Dias et al, 2003).Les sous-régions ventrale (noyau accumbens) et dorsale du striatum (caudate putamen) sont modulées par l’innervation dopaminergique du mésencéphale ventral (VTA, substance noire) et la plasticité induite par la cocaïne dans ces circuits est supposée sous-tendre plusieurs aspects du comportement de recherche de drogue (Pierce and Vanderschuren, 2010). C’est pourquoi la première section de ce travail comprend une description de trois expériences réalisées dans le but d'étudier la participation des récepteurs DA du striatum au niveau ventral et dorsal à la réinstallation du comportement de recherche de cocaïne. / For many, drug taking may continue on an occasional basis for a long time; however, some individuals lose control of their drug use and are unable to stop. The transition from casual use to addiction is accompanied by drug-induced changes in the brain, followed by associated changes in behavioral functions. One of the most problematic aspects of addiction is the enduring vulnerability to relapse that persists even long after withdrawal symptoms have abated. Rodent models of drug self-administration (SA) show that re-exposure to the drug itself, drug associated cues or stress are major triggers of relapse. While different classes of drugs vary in their primary pharmacological mechanisms, they all share an acute effect of raising dopamine (DA) levels in the striatum. Following repeated use, the addictive properties of psychostimulants such as cocaine (COC) are believed to take place through the induction of neuroadaptations within the mesocorticolimbic DA system.The striatum is a major target of the DA system, where DA acts on two families of metabotropic receptors (D1-like or D2-like) that are segregated into two pathways of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and have different roles in addiction and relapse. For instance, while systemic D2 receptor (D2R) stimulation induces reinstatement of COC seeking in rats, D1 receptor (D1R) stimulation does not. DA signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) responds to rewarding and aversive stimuli; in turn, the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) plays a key role in the transition to compulsive use, and the habitual aspects of drug-seeking after prolonged drug SA. Despite several works examining their role in relapse, the results remain somewhat unclear. Given their critical but differential involvement in COC seeking, here we investigated the role of D1R and D2R receptors of the NAcc and DLS in relapse, employing pharmacological manipulations, as well as assessing their protein expression using an animal model of COC SA. Our results showed a double dissociation between the actions of both DA receptors (DARs) in the striatum. Pharmacological activation of the D1R, but not D2R of the NAcc induces reinstatement of COC seeking, whereas the same effect is triggered by the activation of D2R, but not D1R of the DLS. Also, the reinstating effects of the systemic D2R stimulation is blocked by D1R or D2R antagonists injected into the NAcc or D1R antagonist into the DLS, while being blunted by the D2R inhibition in the DLS. These results convey an interaction between both receptor subtypes, likely relying on ascending spiraling connections associating the ventral and the dorsal striatum through midbrain-reaching loops. Finally, we found the reinstatement of COC seeking elicited by D1R or D2R agonists in either region is not due to changes in DAr expression.These results enticed us to examine the behavioral mechanisms underpinning reinstating behavior. Though initially goal-directed, COC seeking is argued to become habitual after extended training. This progression is believed to initially elicit functional changes within the NAcc, and gradually hijack the circuitry of the dorsal striatum. The activation of D1R in the NAcc and D2R in the DLS has been associated with the processing of rewarding properties and habitual responding for drugs, respectively. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether the reinstatement of COC seeking triggered by the D2R stimulation within the DLS would involve incentive motivational or reinforcing processes likely underlying those induced by the D1R stimulation within the NAcc. Also, we aimed to assess whether the D1R stimulation within the NAcc involves the overtaking of the behavioral control by habitual stimulus-response mechanisms which may be involved in the reinstatement of drug-seeking after the D2R stimulation in the DLS.

Schizophrenia is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder of largely unknown etiology that is often accompanied by high rates of cigarette smoking, reduced quit success, and high relapse rates. Dysregulated dopamine signaling and aberrant synaptic plasticity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and conferred substance abuse disorder and relapse vulnerability. Genetic factors are presumed to play a significant role in the development of schizophrenia, with a 40-50% concordance rate for monozygotic twins, although genetic markers are inconsistent. As such, epigenetic factors have instead been implicated. Specifically, there is strong evidence to suggest DNA methylation at several candidate genes contributes significantly to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To investigate this heritable component, our laboratory has developed a novel heritable model of drug abuse vulnerability in psychosis. This model is the first to show heritable increases in dopamine D2 receptor sensitivity via several behavioral and neurobiological markers, including enhanced behavioral responding to nicotine and changes in D2 signaling cascades in brain regions associated with psychosis and comorbid drug abuse. Increased D2 receptor sensitivity is the most consistent biomarker of psychosis found in preclinical animal models and postmortem brain tissue of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, lending considerable strength to the validity of the model. This study aimed to further validate the model as a useful and valuable tool for better understanding the pathophysiology of comorbid nicotine use and relapse in psychosis, and to explore more effective therapeutic targets than current antipsychotic medications. Results reveal DNA methylation as an epigenetic mechanism conferring heritability of the psychosis-like phenotype in the model. We additionally demonstrate altered relapse-like behavior, clinically consistent with reduced quit success and elevated relapse vulnerability. Interestingly, changes in relapse-like behavior were correlated to elevated protein levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a marker of activity-dependent plasticity, in brain areas associated with drug reward. Further, modulation of the metabotropic glutamate type 5 (mGlu5) receptor alleviates the enhanced nicotine conditioned place preference observed in the model. Mechanistically, mGlu5 modulation restores normal dopamine D2 signaling and mitigates aberrant plasticity responses that are thought to drive the behavior in a region-specific manner.

Rationale: Peak initiation of smoking occurs during adolescence and early onset of smoking is associated with a reduced probability of quitting and greater risk of relapse compared to later onset. Considering the epidemiological evidence, adolescents may exhibit a unique biological susceptibility to nicotine taking, in addition to the behavioural and psychosocial factors known to influence adolescent smoking. Objectives: The current series of experiments, using a rat model of adolescent nicotine taking, was designed to investigate age differences in the processes involved in the acquisition and maintenance of nicotine taking that might account for the elevated initiation rates of smoking during adolescence. Methods: We first investigated age differences in the neural response to acute nicotine administration using c-fos mRNA expression. We then examined age differences in the rewarding and aversive effects of nicotine in the conditioned place preference (CPP) and conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) paradigms, respectively. The direct reinforcing effects of nicotine were tested in adolescent and adult rats under a variety of reinforcement schedules in the operant intravenous self-administration paradigm; extinction and nicotine priming-induced reinstatement were also examined. Finally, age differences in nicotine withdrawal precipitated by mecamylamine were assessed. Results: Nicotine had greater activational effects on c-fos mRNA expression in reward-related neural substrates of adolescent compared to adult brain. Adolescent rats were also more sensitive to the rewarding effects of nicotine (CPP) yet less sensitive to its aversive effects (CTA) compared to adult rats. Nicotine was equally reinforcing in adolescents and adults self-administering under simple reinforcement schedules, but adults were more motivated to obtain nicotine under higher reinforcement schedules. Adults were more resistant to extinction, yet both age groups demonstrated similar priming-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking. Under spontaneous acquisition conditions, adults were more sensitive to the reinforcing effects of a low nicotine infusion dose. The aversive effects of nicotine withdrawal were also more prominent in adults compared to adolescents. Conclusions: These findings have important implications since they demonstrate a unique susceptibility to the conditioned rewarding effects of nicotine that would promote acquisition of smoking behaviour during adolescence, whereas adults may be more vulnerable to processes involved in its maintenance.