An ecological approach to land-use planning is essential to maintain the long-term sustainability of ecosystem benefits, services, and resources. Concern about environmental quality and the long-term livability of urban areas is now a driving force in urban planning and design. The interrelated issues of growth management, smart growth, sustainable development, and new urbanism are topics in the most vibrant discussions at all levels of planning and landscape architecture. Within this context, this study starts from the interest in the ecological planning and management in urban areas, especially related to the issue of local development regulation and guidelines. Landscape regulations have come into existence recently in communities across the nation and these regulations vary from one region to another and from one community to another. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between ecological landscape structure and local development regulations over time. Comparison analysis was conducted between two areas that had similar pre-development ecological conditions but were developed under vastly different regulatory environments. The Woodlands (regulated to protect ecological condition) and the North Houston area (which followed traditional subdivision regulations) were examined at three different developmental time periods: predevelopment, early development (after 10 years), and matured development (after 30 years). Aerial photos of each site from the three time periods were classified into forested and non-forested classes and the landscape structure was quantified with a number of landscape metrics related to fragmentation??an indicator of habitat degradation. Two factors, the ecological approach to landscape planning and the adoption of more restrictive landscape regulations and guidelines, are discussed on the premise that they exert influence in developing and maintaining the long-term sustainability of ecosystems. In conclusion, this study provides the quantified landscape configuration and composition of the effects of development regulations on landscape structure. The ecologically planned community shows a less fragmented forest pattern and more restrictive development guidelines result in more ecologically structured environments. Understanding how elements of local development regulations affect ecological landscape patterns is important for landscape architects, planners, and administrators because it can lead to better strategies for planning and designing sustainable communities.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2006.

Diss. (sammanfattning), Stockholm : Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, 2006. / Härtill 5 appendix.

I Sverige klassificeras cirka 99,4 % av alla företag som mindre företag och under 2014 registrerades cirka 70 000 nya företag. Gemensamt är att nystartade och mindre företag som växer och utvecklas bidrar till nationell tillväxt i länderna de är verksamma inom. För att företagen ska kunna växa krävs finansiering och banker har traditionellt tillgodosett detta behov. Regelverket Basel III är därför väldiskuterat eftersom flera studier visar att det kan påverka bankers kreditgivning. Forskning visar bland annat att Basel III leder till minskad utlåning och ökade utlåningsräntor. Det visar också att nystartade företag kan missgynnas mer än andra bolag på grund av de interna riskklassificeringssystem som tillåts inom regelverket. Interna riskklassificeringssystem kan nämligen, på grund av olika variabler och parametrar, göra att nystartade företag betraktas som mer riskfyllda. Andra studier som gjorts i ämnet visar att Basel III inte påverkar varken banker, kreditgivning eller utlåningsräntor. Eftersom tidigare forskning och litteratur visar olika resultat syftar denna studie till att undersöka, beskriva och öka förståelsen för hur Basel III påverkat kreditgivningen till nystartade företag i Sverige. För att få empiriskt underlag till studien har tio intervjuer gjorts med elva respondenter från sju olika banker. Intervjuer har gjorts med anställda på större och mindre banker på central och lokal nivå. Resultatet i studien visar att alla banker höjt utlåningsräntorna till nystartade företag. Bankerna uppger att det framför allt beror på förändrad risksyn och riskbedömning till följd av Basel III. Basel III har lett till att företagskunder prissätts mer efter bedömd kreditrisk och detta har gjort att nystartade företag generellt fått en högre ränta. Resultatet visar också att interna system och modeller blivit viktigare inom bankerna och att alternativa finansieringslösningar börjat växa fram på marknaden. Samtidigt är kreditbedömningsprocessen och låneutbudet oförändrat sedan Basel III:s introduktion. Studiens resultat bidrar med praktiska implikationer till nystartade företag, banker, entreprenörer och samhället. Den bidrar också teoretiskt till forskningen i form av underlag till diskussionen om utlåningsräntor och låneutbud. / In Sweden approximately 99.4% of all companies are classified as small companies and in 2014 around 70,000 new companies were registered. The common denominator is that start-ups and small businesses that grow and evolve contribute to national growth in the countries they operate in. In order to enable businesses to grow they require finance and traditionally banks have met this need. Basel III is therefore a well-argued subject since several studies show that it can affect banks' lending. Research shows that Basel III will lead to reduced lending and increased lending rates. It also shows that start-ups may be more disadvantaged than other companies because of the internal ratings-based (IRB) approach allowed within the regulation. The IRB approach can namely, because of different variables and parameters, consider start-ups more risky than other companies. Other studies however, show that Basel III has no, or very little, impact on lending and interest rates. Since previous research and literature shows different results this study aims to examine, describe and increase the understanding of how Basel III impact lending to start-ups in Sweden. Ten interviews with eleven respondents from seven different banks have been conducted. The interviews were conducted with employees of large and small banks working on central and local level. The results of the study show that all banks have raised lending rates to start-ups. The banks say that it is mainly due to changed risk profile and risk assessment as a result of Basel III. Basel III has led to corporates, retails and start-ups being priced on estimated credit risk and this has led to start-ups being considered as riskier. Thus, banks have raised lending rates to start-ups. The result also shows that internal systems and models have become more important in banks and that alternative financing has begun to emerge on the market. Meanwhile, the credit assessment process and the loan supply are unaffected since Basel III's introduction. The study's results contribute with practical implications for start-ups, banks, entrepreneurs and the community. It also contributes to theoretical research regarding the lending rates and loan supply discussion.

No description available.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and appraise within the Ghanaian environment the level of regulations in combat of money laundering and terrorism financing, the extent of the regulation and the effectiveness of the regulations or laws. Method: Research methodology will be based on qualitative data collection and analysis approach which will consider the gathering of information personally by the researcher including interviews based on structured or semi-structures questions to potential respondents Theory: The theory considered various concepts of money laundering that exist. The chosen concepts identified the various typologies of the money laundering, the negative effects and the regulations adopted in the fight against money laundering in the light of internationally accepted standards. Analysis: The analysis was modeled around four set of issue as a means of evaluating the money laundering regulations in Ghana. They include extent of nation’s vulnerability to Money Laundering; existing Laws or Regulations; the Conformity of Laws or regulations to international standards and an overview of the new anti-money laundering law. Conclusion: Research and analysis revealed that the nation is susceptible to money laundering though it has existing regulations to combat the menace. The forms of money laundering are many and there seems to be very little public knowledge about money laundering. Financial sector of the economy is expanding and there is a need for a more rigorous means for the combat of laundering as its effect on the sector could be disastrous. The New Anti – Money Laundering law, Anti – Money Laundering Act 2008, Act 749 is timely but it has not been operational, the Financial Intelligence Center is yet to be set up since the enactment of the act in January in 2008; as at the time of writing this conclusion there is a new government in power and this government is yet to constitute a full cabinet of ministers or substantive ministers of state hence it is quite impossible to estimate when the Financial Intelligence Centre; according to France (BoG) during my interview with her, she mentioned that the Center is to be formed under the supervision of Ministry of Finance. Not withstanding, the yet to be formed Center, there has been some exiting laws or regulations from Bank of Ghana for the financial institutions in combat of money laundering and terrorism financing. 83% respondents agreed that there are existing regulations and Laws but only one respondent representing 17% indicted that those laws can best be cosmetic. The forms of existing regulations identified are as follows: The (KYC) Know Your Client or Know Your Customer Policy; (PEP) Politically Exposed Persons Policy; (CDD) Customer Due Diligence; (EDD) Enhanced Due Diligence and also regulations for banks to adopted a policy of setting threshold for which any cash or cheque deposit into an account should register to an investigate unit of the bank, such that any amount above the threshold raises an alarm for further investigation and so is any huge withdrawal request. In evaluating the existing regulations, two main assessment points were use as yardstick. They are conformity to international standards and effectiveness of the laws or regulations. Ghana is a member of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in West Africa (GIABA) which has formulated some for steps member countries to follow in their design of their internal policies in combat of Money Laundering. These steps are based on the 40 recommendation and the 9 special recommendations. Clearly it is noted that the few regulations or directives from Bank of Ghana conform to the FATF recommendations. For example • The (KYC) Know Your Customer directive, (CDD) Customer Due Diligence directive and (EDD) Enhanced Due Diligence directive that Bank of Ghana issued to the banks conform with Recommendations 4 to 12 of FATF. • The (PEP) Politically Exposed Persons directive which enables the banks deal with political figures of other countries is an international co-operation and a need for mutual legal assistance, these two conforms with the FAFT Recommendation 35 and FAFT recommendations 36 to 39 and again of FATF Recommendation 40. • The policies on threshold level also conforms to FAFT recommendations 17 to 21 as depicted in the literature review. From the examples given above there are clear indications that the regulations conform to international standards. The effectiveness of the regulation was set to detail or show how wide enough the regulation is in tackling the menace a stake, it should equally involve the institutions that will regulate, implement and enforce the regulations and finally the regulations should be enforced or to be seen a such. However the general picture is that the Laws or Regulations prior to the new Act 749 hasn’t been too effective. The respondents who agreed that there are existing laws or regulations once again agreed there are some lax in the enforcement of the regulations. Roi (SFO) believes that if there is any regulation at all, they can only be said to be just cosmetic. / ftontoh@yahoo.com; +233244284956;+233244212902

A key theoretical debate underlying the now defunct Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation known as the Fairness Doctrine is conflict over what constitutes the right to freedom of speech: a positive or negative conception. Similarly, since repeal of the Doctrine, other FCC measures to uphold the “public-interest” standard in broadcasting have relied on a positive conception of speech. This thesis demonstrates the history of this debate through court cases, news reports, scholarly articles and historical documents. It then is argued that the positive-right nature of these regulations is problematic philosophically, constitutionally and practically. The positive-right conception lends itself to an uncomfortable level of paternalism on the part of government regulators, a constitutional abridgement of negative-right speech and a tedious involvement of government in regulation that can lead to a chilling effect on speech. The conclusion then suggests further areas of research related to the topics covered in the thesis.

Unlike hardware, software does not degrade over time or frequency use. This is good for software. Also unlike hardware, software can be easily changed. This unique characteristic gives software much of its power, but is also responsible for possible failures in software applications. When software is used within medical devices, software failures may result in bodily injury or death. As a result, regulations have been imposed on the makers of medical devices to ensure their safety, which includes the safety of the devices’ software. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires establishment of systems and control processes to ensure quality devices. A principal part of the quality assurance effort is testing. This paper explores the unique role of software testing in the design, development, and release of software used for medical devices and applications. It also provides practical, industry-driven guidance on medical device software testing techniques and strategies. / text

This dissertation consists of three essays in international economics. The first chapter investigates whether opening up to international financial flows improves aggregate productivity in the presence of limited contract enforceability. I present a model of two countries that differ in terms of the degree of contract enforcement and analyze the consequences of financial market integration among those countries. Then, I test the predictions of the model empirically. The model predicts that aggregate productivity improves after financial integration in economies with strong contract enforcement, while it deteriorates in countries with weak enforcement. The empirical analysis confirms that the effect of capital account liberalization on productivity is different in economies with different degrees of contract enforcement. The second chapter addresses whether foreign firms harm the environment in a host country where environmental standards are not as strict as in the source country. The question as to whether strict environmental regulations in developed economies cause the relocation of pollution-intensive production into developing countries has captured the attention of economists. Instead, we ask whether multinational firms, frequently the target of environmentalists, are in fact harmful for a host country's environment. Using plant-level data from Chile, we find that foreign firms are cleaner than domestic plants. We then propose a model that delivers these features of the data. Using the model we get policy implications regarding environmental regulations and multinational production. The last chapter examines the link between producer's productivity and export participation. Empirical work reveals that exporters have substantially higher productivity than non-exporters. The two explanations proposed for the apparent gap are self-selection of firms into competitive export markets and learning by exporting. Knowing the direction of causality between productivity and exporting has important policy implications. If firms become exporters simply because they are more productive and there are no further gains from being an exporter, then policies that aim to increase the number of exporters are not appropriate. I test these hypotheses by applying matching techniques on plant-level data from the Chilean manufacturing sector. I find clear evidence for self-selection, relatively more efficient firms become exporters. However, I do not detect further improvement of productivity following the entry into export markets. / text

Οι ολοένα αυξανόμενες ενεργειακές απαιτήσεις των σημερινών κοινωνιών και το γεγονός ότι οι ηλεκτρικές συσκευές και εξοπλισμός έχουν γίνει αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της καθημερινότητάς μας, έχει οδηγήσει στην αναγωγή του ηλεκτρισμού σε κοινωνικό αγαθό. Παρόλα αυτά, η υπερβολική του χρήση έχει προκαλέσει έντονες ανησυχίες στο κοινό, όσον αφορά τα ηλεκτρομαγνητικά πεδία που εκπέμπονται λόγω του εναλλασσόμενου ρεύματος. Η παρούσα εργασία αποσκοπεί να ξεδιαλύνει το «θολό τοπίο» γύρω από τις επιδράσεις των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων (δηλαδή τα εκπεμπόμενα πεδία από τις εγκαταστάσεις ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και τις ηλεκτρικές συσκευές) στην ανθρώπινη υγεία κι έτσι να συνεισφέρει ως ένα βαθμό στην άρση των ανησυχιών του κοινού και των επιπτώσεων που αυτές συνεπάγονται. Ειδικότερα, η εργασία μπορεί να συνοψιστεί ως εξής: Στο Κεφάλαιο 1 γίνεται μια θεωρητική αναφορά στις βασικές έννοιες της ηλεκτρομαγνητικής ακτινοβολίας. Προσδιορίζονται οι επιβλαβείς ακτινοβολίες για την υγεία καθώς επίσης και οι ιδιότητες των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων. Ακόμη, παρουσιάζονται οι κανονισμοί προστασίας και τα όρια έκθεσης σε ηλεκτρομαγνητικά πεδία, τόσο στην Ευρώπη, όσο και στην Ελλάδα. Στο Κεφάλαιο 2 παρουσιάζονται αναλυτικά οι διαφορετικές πηγές χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων και γίνεται σύγκριση των πεδιακών εντάσεων στο περιβάλλον τους. Στο Κεφάλαιο 3 γίνεται λόγος για τη βιολογική επίδραση των ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων. Παρουσιάζονται οι επιδράσεις τους στην ανθρώπινη υγεία και οι δράσεις που λαμβάνουν χώρα τόσο για τη μελέτη αυτών των επιδράσεων, όσο και για την προστασία του κοινού. Στο Κεφάλαιο 4 γίνεται ανασκόπηση του προτύπου λήψης μετρήσεων που ακολουθήθηκε. Εξετάζεται το πρότυπο ΙΕC 61786 για μέτρηση χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων και αναφέρονται κάποια χαρακτηριστικά του προτύπου EN 50413 για μέτρηση ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων όλων των συχνοτήτων. Στο Κεφάλαιο 5 περιγράφεται ο σκοπός και ο εξοπλισμός των μετρήσεων. Παρατίθενται τα αποτελέσματα των μετρήσεων συνοδευόμενα με διαγράμματα και σχόλια επί της μεταβολής της μαγνητικής επαγωγής στο περιβάλλον υποσταθμών μέσης τάσης.Τέλος συνοψίζονται τα συμπεράσματα που εξάγονται με βάση όσα εξετάστηκαν στην παρούσα εργασία. Σύμφωνα με αυτά δεν πρέπει να υπάρχει κανένας λόγος ανησυχίας για την επίδραση των χαμηλόσυχνων ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων στην ανθρώπινη υγεία, καθώς τηρούνται όλοι οι κανονισμοί, οι οποίοι εμπεριέχουν μεγάλους συντελεστές ασφαλείας. / The ever-increasing energy demands of today's society and the fact that electrical appliances and equipment have become an integral part of our daily lives has led to the deduction of electricity into social good. However, its excessive use has caused great concern to the public, regarding to electromagnetic fields’ emissions because of the AC current. This essay aims to unravel the "misty area" around the effects of low frequency electromagnetic fields (i.e. fields emitted from power systems and electrical appliances) to human health and thus contribute to some extent to the disentanglement of public preoccupations and the consequences arising therefrom. In particular, this essay can be summarized as follows: In Chapter 1 there is a theoretical report in the basic concepts of electromagnetic radiation. Harmful radiation as well as the properties of low frequency electromagnetic fields is identified. Moreover, protection regulations and limits on exposure to electromagnetic fields are presented, both in Europe and in Greece. In Chapter 2 different sources of low frequency electromagnetic fields are presented and the fields’ intensities in their environment are compared. Chapter 3 talks about the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. It also presents the effects on human health and the actions that take place for the study of these effects, and for the public’s protection. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the pattern of taking measurements that was followed. The IEC 61786 standard for measuring low frequency electromagnetic fields is examined and some features of the standard EN 50413 for measuring electromagnetic fields of all frequencies are presented. Chapter 5 describes the measurements’ purpose and equipment. The measurements’ results are given, which are accompanied by charts and comments about the change of the magnetic induction around medium voltage substations. Finally, the conclusions based on this essay’s data are summed up, according to which, there should be no reason for public concern about the effect of low frequency electromagnetic fields on human health, since compliance with all special regulations, which contain large safety factors, is being performed.