Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2001. / "May 2001." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-152). Also available on the Internet.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have greatly improved our understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits. However, there are two major limitations with GWAS. First, most common variants identified by GWAS individually or in combination explain only a small proportion of heritability. This raises the possibility that additional forms of genetic variation, such as rare variants, could contribute to the missing heritability. The second limitation is that GWAS typically cannot identify which genes are being affected by the associated variants. Examination of rare variants, especially those in coding regions of the genome, can help address these issues. Moreover, several studies have recently identified low-frequency variants at both known and novel loci associated with complex traits, suggesting that functionally significant rare variants exist in the human population.

The study is about the foundation and registration procedures of legal entities. The author compares Lithuanian procedures with the proceduresof various different countries. Also the historical base of foundation procedures in Lithuania are described. The study is finished with detail analysis of different forms of legal entities in Lithuania.

My dissertation focuses on foreign entrepreneurs—individuals who establish firms outside of their native countries. Despite the prevalence of foreign entrepreneurs, their strategic choices have received little attention in the research literature. For example, when starting a firm, an entrepreneur must decide whether to manage the business personally or hire a local manager, yet we know little about how this choice affects firm performance. To examine this issue, in the first study I use a novel dataset of foreign entrepreneurial firms in Russia and a visa policy change as an instrument for the owner-manager choice. Contrary to the expectation that foreign entrepreneurs would underperform local managers due to the liability of foreignness, I find that foreign owner-managers can benefit their firms: Exogenous assignment of a local manager in place of a foreign owner-manager reduces profits. Foreign owner-managers benefit their firms by hiring cheap native-country labor as well as through reduced agency costs. The second study examines how private benefits of occupying a managerial position affect an entrepreneur’s choice between owner-management and hiring an agent. I show that foreign entrepreneurs with a strong desire to reside in a host country are more likely to become owner-managers. These results are consistent with the idea that entrepreneurs expecting to gain private benefits from managing their firms are more likely to become owner-managers. Moreover, I demonstrate that entrepreneurs are willing to substitute the non-pecuniary benefits associated with relocation for firm profit. These findings add to a growing literature exploring the role of personal preferences in entrepreneurs’ strategic decisions, such as location choice and ownership structure. The third study examines the impact of media coverage on the location choices of foreign firms. Publicly available media information has largely been ignored by the location literature, perhaps because its impact on location choice is expected to be trivial. This study challenges this assumption: Using a new instrument for media coverage (a major anniversary of a city’s establishment date), I show that extensive foreign media coverage of a city increases the number of foreign entrants. Moreover, this effect is strongest for socially and geographically distant firms and entrepreneurs.

This master thesis explores relationships between education and school culture. The theoretical part defines terms culture, education and main determinants of their relationships in terms of natural culture, globalisation, socioeconomic influence, political settings and public demand. In the empirical part, the level of influence of the founder of the school on its culture in the educational process is explored. The founder of the school is a key representative of management of education. KEYWORDS Education, school culture, rganizational culture, school founder, elementary school

Background: Start-ups’ contributions to shaping the economic landscape of the modern world are multifold as they are for example a source of productivity and economic growth or they are the source of net job creation. Yet, up to half of them fail during the first 3 to 4 years of their lives. As such, their founders face notable uncertainties whether their start-ups will survive or not. Many different factors have an impact on the likelihood of start-up survival, particularly social capital appears to play an important role in it. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the role of founders' social capital in the survival of tech start-ups. We approach the survival from the perspective of challenges start-ups face in the early start-up and business development stage, and we look into how social capital contributes to overcoming them. Method: Our research was conducted from social constructionist view. We conducted a multiple case study with 16 start-up founders, who we interviewed in the Czech Republic. Conclusion: We offer three conclusions - firstly, social capital plays an important role in the early start-up phase most significantly by helping founders form the right teams, which then help the founders better address the other challenges such as acquiring customers or managing financing. Secondly, social capital helps the founders establish legitimacy and it connects them with more experienced people who help them avoid fatal mistakes in the business development phase. Thirdly, founders’ openness to network and awareness of their own limits resulting in reaching out for helpis also crucial for start-up survival.

O câncer de mama é uma das neoplasias malignas mais comuns que afetam mulheres de todo o mundo. No Brasil, o Estado do Rio Grande do Sul tem índices de incidência e mortalidade por câncer de mama que situam-se entre os maiores do país. Aproximadamente 5-10% dos diagnósticos são causados por mutações germinativas em genes de predisposição entre os quais estão BRCA1 e BRCA2, associados à Síndrome de Câncer de mama e Ovário Hereditários (Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome ou HBOC, OMIM #114480).A identificação dos casos hereditários de câncer de mama é importante porque indivíduos afetados apresentam risco cumulativo vital muito superior ao da população para o desenvolvimento de câncer, porque familiares de um afetado podem estar igualmente em risco porque há medidas de rastreamento intensivo e intervenções preventivas que podem diminuir significativamente o risco de câncer em portadores de mutação. O diagnóstico molecular da síndrome HBOC é laborioso e caro devido à heterogeneidade molecular da doença. Famílias que apresentam características indicativas de uma síndrome de predisposição ao câncer de mama e ovário hereditários, mas que são negativas para mutações pontuais em BRCA1/2 vêm sendo testadas para grandes rearranjos visto que essas anormalidades têm sido consideradas como respondendo por, no mínimo, 10% do todos os casos HBOC com mutação identificável, incluindo grandes deleções ou duplicações. Um estudo recente de Portugal, demonstrou que um rearranjo fundador no exon 3 de BRCA2 ocorre em por 8% das famílias HBOC do Norte do país. Os objetivos deste trabalho incluíram a verificação da freqüência e caracterização de rearranjos gênicos nos genes BRCA1 e BRCA2, incluindo a mutação fundadora c.156_157insAlu no exon 3 de BRCA2 em famílias brasileiras dealto risco para a síndrome HBOC. Em um grupo de 145 indivíduos em risco nãorelacionados rastreados para a mutação fundadorac.156_157insAlu no exon 3 de BRCA2 foram encontrados 3 portadores da mutação (prevalência de 2%). Em um grupo de 145 indivíduos de risco não-relacionados rastreados para rearranjos gênicos em BRCA1 e BRCA2 pela técnica de MLPA (multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification) foram identificados 4 portadores de mutação germinativa, sendo a mutação em dois deles um rearranjo gênico no gene BRCA1 (1,4%) envolvendo sequencias Alu. Rearranjos gênicos em BRCA1 e BRCA2 são responsáveis por uma parcela das mutações em famílias HBOC Brasileiras. O presente estudo, envolvendo uma série grande de famílias com o fenótipo da síndrome HBOC, não identificou novos rearranjos fundadores, no entanto, demonstrou a presença de rearranjos tanto em BRCA1 quanto em BRCA2, reiterando a importância da busca ativa por estas alterações, que dificilmente são identificadas por técnicas convencionais de sequenciamento gênico. A técnica de MLPA associada a um protocolo específico para detecção da mutação fundadora Portuguesa c.156_157insAlu podem ser utilizadas como estratégia inicial de rastreamento de mutações em famílias Brasileiras com a síndrome. Os resultados apresentados aqui, no entanto, indicam que mutações serão identificadas em menos de 10% dos casos utilizando esta estratégia. / Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies affecting women worldwide. In Brazil, the State of Rio Grande do Sul has incidence rates and mortality from breast cancer are among the largest in the country. Approximately 5-10% of the cases are caused by germline mutations in predisposing genes including BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with the syndrome of breast and ovarian cancer Hereditary (Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome or HBOC, OMIM # 114480). The identification of inherited cases of breast cancer is important because affected individuals have cumulative risk life much higher than the population for developing cancer because of an affected family may also be at risk because there are measures of intensive screening and preventive interventions that can significantly decrease the risk of cancer in mutation carriers. The molecular diagnosis of HBOC syndrome is laborious and expensive due to the molecular heterogeneity of the disease. Families that have characteristics indicative of a cancer predisposition syndrome of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, but are negative for mutations in BRCA1/2 have been tested for large rearrangements because these abnormalities have been identified as accounting for at least 10 % of all cases HBOC identifiable mutation, including large deletions or duplications. A recent study from Portugal, the founder showed that a rearrangement in exon 3 of BRCA2 occurs in 8% of HBOC families of the north. The objectives of this work included the verification of the frequency and characterization of gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, including c.156_157insAlu founder mutation in exon 3 of BRCA2 mutations in Brazilian families at high risk for HBOC syndrome. In a group of 145 individuals at risk unrelated traced to c.156_157insAlu founder mutation in exon 3 of 3 found BRCA2 mutation carriers (prevalence 2%). In a group of 145 individuals at risk unrelated screened for gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 by the technique of MLPA (multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification) identified four carriers of germline mutation, and two of the mutation in a gene rearrangement in the gene BRCA1 (1.4%) involving Alu sequences. Gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for a portion of HBOC mutations in Brazilian families. This study, involving a large series of families with HBOC syndrome phenotype, no new rearrangements identified founders, however, showed the presence of rearrangements in both BRCA1 and BRCA2, reiterating the importance of active search for these changes, which hardly are identified by conventional techniques of gene sequencing. The technique of MLPA protocol associated with a specific mutation detection founder Portuguese c.156_157insAlu strategy can be used as initial screening for mutations in families with Brazilian syndrome. The results presented here, however, indicate mutations that will be identified in less than 10% of the cases using this strategy.

Submitted by Ricardo Faria (fariasky@gmail.com) on 2016-03-19T01:28:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTACAO_RICARDO_ANTONIO_DA_SILVA_FARIA.pdf: 1017582 bytes, checksum: 84a709da815cc0db9987696624f4e936 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-03-22T13:37:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 faria_ras_me_jabo.pdf: 1017582 bytes, checksum: 84a709da815cc0db9987696624f4e936 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T13:37:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 faria_ras_me_jabo.pdf: 1017582 bytes, checksum: 84a709da815cc0db9987696624f4e936 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A raça Quarto de Milha (QM) teve seus primeiros exemplares criados no Brasil em 1956, cujos pais foram importados dos Estados Unidos, com fundação da associação dos criadores em 1969, totalizando mais de 415 mil animais registrados e destes 45% são puros. A raça apresenta-se como versátil para trabalho, conformação e corrida, atributos que a tornam como de escolha entre os criadores e de maior população equina nacional. Apesar disto, poucos estudos foram realizados na raça, particularmente acerca da variabilidade genética. Os objetivos do estudo foram obter informações da estrutura populacional da raça QM no Brasil e estimar os parâmetros genéticos da característica Classe de Tempo (CT), relacionada com a performance em corridas de equinos em diferentes distâncias. O escore aplicado a CT, classifica os animais baseado na comparação percentual de tempo do vencedor de cada páreo. Os dados avaliados foram provenientes da Associação Brasileira de Criadores do Cavalo Quarto de Milha e do hipódromo do Jockey Clube de Sorocaba em São Paulo. A preparação da base de dados e estatística inicial foi realizada no programa SAS, os parâmetros populacionais com o programa ENDOG e os componentes de (co) variâncias e parâmetros genéticos com o programa THRGIBBS1F90. A característica CT foi estabelecida nas corridas com distância de 301 (CT301), 320 (CT320), 365 (CT365) e 402 (CT420) metros e analisada por meio de modelo animal limiar. Os parâmetros populacionais obtidos foram 0,49% de endogamia, 0,29% de parentesco, 9,3 anos de intervalo gerações, a probabilidade de origem dos genes com valor igual a 333 de número efetivo de fundadores, a variabilidade genética total apresentou-se explicada por 7.254 ancestrais, com 161 ancestrais explicando 50%. As estimativas a posteriores da herdabilidade e da repetibilidade, obtidas em análise multicaracterística, foram de 0,52±0,04 e 0,85±0,04 (CT301), 0,48±0,06 e 0,97±0,01 (CT320), 0,56±0,04 e 0,88±0,06 (CT365) e 0,45±0,06 e 0,78±0,04 (CT420), respectivamente. Os valores obtidos indicam que a característica CT pode ser utilizada como critério de seleção e obter rápido ganho genético. A baixa variabilidade genética na raça Quarto de Milha foi evidenciada, sugerindo aos criadores inserção de reprodutores no rebanho. / The Quarter Horse (QH) had its first specimens bred in Brazil in 1956, whose parents were imported from the United States, with its breeder association founded in 1969, totaling more than 415,000 registered animals and of these 45% are purebred. The breed is versatile in what concerns performance, conformation and racing, attributes that make the QH the breed of choice among breeders and makes it the largest national equine population. In spite of that, few studies have been conducted about the breed, particularly on the genetic variability of strains. The aim of this study was to gather information about the population structure and estimate the genetic parameters of the trait class time (CT) related to performance in different QH racing distances, contributing with results that enable their use in the design of animal breeding programs aimed at maintaining the variability of the breed and decreasing race times. The score applied to CT, ranks animals based on comparing percentage winning time of each match. The analyzed data originates from the Brazilian Association of Breeders of Quarter Horse and Jockey Clube de Sorocaba’s hippodrome, in Sao Paulo. The preparation of the initial data and statistical base was done using SAS software, the population parameters with the ENDOG software and the (co) variances and genetic parameters components with the THRGIBBS1F90 software. The CT characteristic was established in racing with 301 (CT301), 320 (CT320), 365 (CT365) and 402 (CT420) meters distances and analyzed by threshold animal model. The obtained population parameters were 0.49% of inbreeding, 0.29% of kinship, 9.3-year generation interval, The probability of origin of genes with value 333 related to effective number of founders, the total genetic variability is explained by 7,254 ancestors, with 161 ancestors responsible for 50%. The estimates later heritability and repeatability obtained in multi-trait analysis were 0.52 ± 0.04 and 0.85 ± 0.04 (CT301), 0.48 ± 0.06 and 0.97 ± 0, 01 (CT320), 0.56 ± 0.04 and 0.88 ± 0.06 (CT365) and 0.45 ± 0.06 and 0.78 ± 0.04 (CT420), respectively. The values obtained indicate that CT feature can be used as selection criteria and obtain rapid genetic gain. The low genetic variability in the Quarter Horse breed was evidenced, suggesting to breeding insertion breeders in the herd.

Background: New ventures face manifold challenges. Literature has already examined many of the challenges that founders of new firms might encounter during the start-up phase. Studies have been investigating traits of the founders as well as traits of the organizations, and linked them to success or failure of the firm. The areas of founder’s human capital and vision and the firm’s employee selection criteria and leadership style have often been taken into consideration. Nevertheless, there is no framework connecting all these areas with a focus on how they influence each other, leaving criteria as success or failure beside.Purpose: This study aims for creating a framework connecting the areas of start-up-founder’s human capital and vision and the venture’s employee selection criteria and leadership style. It seeks to provide answers to the following research questions: (1) “How does start-up founder’s human capital influence the creation of a vision, the choice of leadership style and the selection of employees?” and (2) “How does start-up founder’s vision influence the choice of leadership style and the selection of employees?”Method: To answer the research questions, a multiple-case study was conducted. We created a topic guide and gathered qualitative data through conducting in-depth interviews. The respondents were mainly operating their new venture in the area of Jönköping. After coding and contextualizing our data, we analyzed it.Conclusion: Human capital was influencing all other areas through either active avoidance or repetition of behaviors already employed in the past. We found major differences of the visions of new ventures. Therefore, we started differentiating between a “business-vision” and a “mission-vision”. “Mission-vision” start-ups choose their employees according to personality and give them a voice in the firm, therefore fostering a transformational leadership style. “Business-vision” start-ups on the other side hire applicants based on skills, to fulfil very defined tasks based on deadlines and therefore performing a transactional approach.

O câncer de mama é uma das neoplasias malignas mais comuns que afetam mulheres de todo o mundo. No Brasil, o Estado do Rio Grande do Sul tem índices de incidência e mortalidade por câncer de mama que situam-se entre os maiores do país. Aproximadamente 5-10% dos diagnósticos são causados por mutações germinativas em genes de predisposição entre os quais estão BRCA1 e BRCA2, associados à Síndrome de Câncer de mama e Ovário Hereditários (Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome ou HBOC, OMIM #114480).A identificação dos casos hereditários de câncer de mama é importante porque indivíduos afetados apresentam risco cumulativo vital muito superior ao da população para o desenvolvimento de câncer, porque familiares de um afetado podem estar igualmente em risco porque há medidas de rastreamento intensivo e intervenções preventivas que podem diminuir significativamente o risco de câncer em portadores de mutação. O diagnóstico molecular da síndrome HBOC é laborioso e caro devido à heterogeneidade molecular da doença. Famílias que apresentam características indicativas de uma síndrome de predisposição ao câncer de mama e ovário hereditários, mas que são negativas para mutações pontuais em BRCA1/2 vêm sendo testadas para grandes rearranjos visto que essas anormalidades têm sido consideradas como respondendo por, no mínimo, 10% do todos os casos HBOC com mutação identificável, incluindo grandes deleções ou duplicações. Um estudo recente de Portugal, demonstrou que um rearranjo fundador no exon 3 de BRCA2 ocorre em por 8% das famílias HBOC do Norte do país. Os objetivos deste trabalho incluíram a verificação da freqüência e caracterização de rearranjos gênicos nos genes BRCA1 e BRCA2, incluindo a mutação fundadora c.156_157insAlu no exon 3 de BRCA2 em famílias brasileiras dealto risco para a síndrome HBOC. Em um grupo de 145 indivíduos em risco nãorelacionados rastreados para a mutação fundadorac.156_157insAlu no exon 3 de BRCA2 foram encontrados 3 portadores da mutação (prevalência de 2%). Em um grupo de 145 indivíduos de risco não-relacionados rastreados para rearranjos gênicos em BRCA1 e BRCA2 pela técnica de MLPA (multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification) foram identificados 4 portadores de mutação germinativa, sendo a mutação em dois deles um rearranjo gênico no gene BRCA1 (1,4%) envolvendo sequencias Alu. Rearranjos gênicos em BRCA1 e BRCA2 são responsáveis por uma parcela das mutações em famílias HBOC Brasileiras. O presente estudo, envolvendo uma série grande de famílias com o fenótipo da síndrome HBOC, não identificou novos rearranjos fundadores, no entanto, demonstrou a presença de rearranjos tanto em BRCA1 quanto em BRCA2, reiterando a importância da busca ativa por estas alterações, que dificilmente são identificadas por técnicas convencionais de sequenciamento gênico. A técnica de MLPA associada a um protocolo específico para detecção da mutação fundadora Portuguesa c.156_157insAlu podem ser utilizadas como estratégia inicial de rastreamento de mutações em famílias Brasileiras com a síndrome. Os resultados apresentados aqui, no entanto, indicam que mutações serão identificadas em menos de 10% dos casos utilizando esta estratégia. / Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies affecting women worldwide. In Brazil, the State of Rio Grande do Sul has incidence rates and mortality from breast cancer are among the largest in the country. Approximately 5-10% of the cases are caused by germline mutations in predisposing genes including BRCA1 and BRCA2 are associated with the syndrome of breast and ovarian cancer Hereditary (Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome or HBOC, OMIM # 114480). The identification of inherited cases of breast cancer is important because affected individuals have cumulative risk life much higher than the population for developing cancer because of an affected family may also be at risk because there are measures of intensive screening and preventive interventions that can significantly decrease the risk of cancer in mutation carriers. The molecular diagnosis of HBOC syndrome is laborious and expensive due to the molecular heterogeneity of the disease. Families that have characteristics indicative of a cancer predisposition syndrome of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, but are negative for mutations in BRCA1/2 have been tested for large rearrangements because these abnormalities have been identified as accounting for at least 10 % of all cases HBOC identifiable mutation, including large deletions or duplications. A recent study from Portugal, the founder showed that a rearrangement in exon 3 of BRCA2 occurs in 8% of HBOC families of the north. The objectives of this work included the verification of the frequency and characterization of gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, including c.156_157insAlu founder mutation in exon 3 of BRCA2 mutations in Brazilian families at high risk for HBOC syndrome. In a group of 145 individuals at risk unrelated traced to c.156_157insAlu founder mutation in exon 3 of 3 found BRCA2 mutation carriers (prevalence 2%). In a group of 145 individuals at risk unrelated screened for gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 by the technique of MLPA (multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification) identified four carriers of germline mutation, and two of the mutation in a gene rearrangement in the gene BRCA1 (1.4%) involving Alu sequences. Gene rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for a portion of HBOC mutations in Brazilian families. This study, involving a large series of families with HBOC syndrome phenotype, no new rearrangements identified founders, however, showed the presence of rearrangements in both BRCA1 and BRCA2, reiterating the importance of active search for these changes, which hardly are identified by conventional techniques of gene sequencing. The technique of MLPA protocol associated with a specific mutation detection founder Portuguese c.156_157insAlu strategy can be used as initial screening for mutations in families with Brazilian syndrome. The results presented here, however, indicate mutations that will be identified in less than 10% of the cases using this strategy.