Widespread species that occupy continents and oceanic islands provide an excellent opportunity to study evolutionary forces responsible for population divergence. Here, I use multilocus coalescent based population genetic and phylogenetic methods to infer the evolutionary history of the common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), a widespread Palearctic passerine species. My results showed strong population structure between Atlantic islands. However, the two European subspecies can be considered one panmictic population based on gene flow estimates. My investigation of effects of sampling on concatenated and Bayesian estimation of species tree (BEST) methods demonstrated that concatenation is more sensitive to sampling than BEST. Furthermore, concatenation can provide incorrect evolutionary relationships with high confidence when sample size is small. In conclusion, my results suggest European ancestry for the common chaffinch and Atlantic islands appear to have been colonized sequentially from north to south via Azores.

This dissertation investigates the role of grammatical versus methodological influences in the production and perception of final devoicing in experimentally-elicited speech from Russian. It addresses the question of how the partial preservation of the phonological voicing contrast in word-final obstruents is affected by (i) task-independent factors that reflect phonological and lexical properties of stimuli words (underlying voicing, word length, lexical competition) and (ii) task-dependent biases that arise due to the nature of the experimental task performed by the speaker (availability of orthographic inputs, presence of minimal pairs among the stimuli). Results of a series of acoustic production and perceptual identification tasks reveal that task-dependent factors account for the presence of robust and perceptually salient differences in the parameter of phonetic voicing. Several types of stimuli items also show limited but statistically significant differences in closure/frication duration and release duration that are independent of the presence of orthography or inclusion of full minimal pairs among test items. Taken together, these findings indicate that non-grammatical factors can play a prominent biasing role in both production and perception of the voicing contrast in experimentally-elicited speech, such that certain voicing-dependent cues are maintained only in the presence of task-dependent pressures. However, not all incompletely neutralized differences between phonologically voiced versus voiceless final obstruents can be attributed to the effects of orthography or inclusion of minimal pairs among the stimuli. In the theoretical domain, these results are argued to favour a less restrictive definition of neutralization and a model of phonology that views devoicing as a loss of the primary acoustic cue to the underlying voicing contrast rather than complete identity of the [voiced] feature.

Uno de los problemas principales de la literature moderna de ciclos es la imposibilidad de replicar el comportamiento de los rendimientos de activos financieros. Varios autores han incorporado mercados financieros en el modelo basico de ciclos, demonstrando que, para cualquier calibracion, este tipo de modelos predice una prima de riesgo de practicamente cero. Una de las razones del fracaso de estos modelos es que utilizan un agente representativo. En este caso los mercados financieros son completos. En esta tesis relajamos este supuesto al incorporar riesgo idiosincratico, que genera heterogeneidad entre la poblacion. Uno de los objectivos principales es ver si estas extensiones pueden ayudar a mejorar las predicciones del modelo basico con respecto a los rendimientos de activos financieros. Debemos mencionar que, desde la formulacion original de los puzzles financieros de Mehra y Prescott (85), ha surgido una enorme literatura que intenta analizar las implicaciones de modelos con heterogeneidad respecto a los rendimientos de los activos financieros. Entre otros Aiyagari and Gertler (91), Heaton and Lucas (96), Lucas (94), Marcet and Singleton (99), y Telmer (93) han estudiado este problema bajo el supuesto de que el consumo es exogeno. Si embargo, en nuestro analisis incorporamos production y por tanto ofrecemos un modelo mucho mas apropiado para estudiar los rendimientos financieros. En particular, el consumo se deriva de la maximizacion de la utilidad y por tanto no es exogeno. Ademas, el valor de las acciones se determina a traves de la optimizacion de la empresa. La presencia de un sector de produccion implica que tenemos que tratar un tema al que no se le ha dado demasiada importancia hasta ahora en la literatura. Con mercados financieros incompletos y heterogeneidad de los accionistas, el problema de maximizacion del valor de la empresa no esta bien definido. Esto significa que tenemos que incorporar objectivos que no son estandares. Una de las contribuciones importantes de este trabajo es demostrar como se puede solucionar este problema. / One of the main problems with the modern real business cycle (RBC) literature is its inability to replicate the empirical behavior of the main asset returns in the data. Several authors have incorporated financial markets into the basic model showing that, regardless of the parameterization or the incorporation of other frictions, like capital adjustment costs, these models are unable to replicate the key financial statistics in the data, predicting an equity premium which is essentially zero, and asset return volatilities that are also far from reality. One of the main reasons for the lack of success of the previous models may be the fact that they are using a representative agent environment. In this case, financial markets are effectively complete, independently of the existing asset structure. In the present thesis, this assumption is relaxed by incorporating both, idiosyncratic labor income risk and imperfect risk sharing, leading to ex-post household heterogeneity and to an incomplete financial market structure. One of the main objectives is therefore to see, if these extensions can help to improve the asset pricing implications of the standard model. We have to mention that, since the original statement of the asset pricing puzzles by Mehra and Prescott (85), there has been a large strand of literature trying to analyze the asset pricing implications of a context with household heterogeneity and incomplete financial markets. Among others, Aiyagari and Gertler (91), Heaton and Lucas (96), Lucas (94), Marcet and Singleton (99), and Telmer (93) have studied such a framework under the assumption of exogenously determined asset returns and consumption processes. Note, however, that our analysis goes one step further in the sense that it incorporates a production technology, offering a better foundation of asset prices than the standard exchange economy. In particular, consumption is derived from explicit utility maximization instead of being specified exogenously. In addition, the value of price of equity is determined endogenously via the optimization problem of the firm, which also breaks the identity between dividends and consumption processes in exchange economies. We indeed believe, that a detailed and rigorous analysis of asset pricing requires a general equilibrium model of this type. Note also that the presence of a non-trivial production sector involves addressing an important issue, which has not been given very much attention in the previous asset pricing literature. Under incomplete financial markets and household (shareholder) heterogeneity, the usual profit maximization of the firm is no longer well defined. Thus, unless one assumes that the firm is myopic, in the sense that it solves a static optimization problem by maximizing period by period profits, one has to incorporate non-standard firm objectives into the model. A second important objective or contribution of the present thesis is therefore to illustrate how to get around the problem of the firm by incorporating a firm objective which is adequate for the case in which financial markets are incomplete.

This thesis analyses 'incomplete sentences' in languages which utilise distinctively agglutinative components in their morphology. In the grammars of the languages dealt with in this thesis, there are certain types of sentences which are variously referred to as 'elliptical sentences' (Turkish eksiltili c�mleler), 'incomplete sentences' (Uzbek to'liqsiz gaplar), 'cut-off sentences' (Turkish kesik c�mleler), etc., for which the grammarians provide elaborated semantic and syntactic analyses. The current work attempts to present an alternative approach for the analysis of such sentences. The distribution of morphemes in incomplete sentences is examined closely, based on which a system of analysis that can handle a variety of incomplete sentences in an integrated manner is proposed from a morphological point of view. It aims to aid grammarians as well as researchers in area studies by providing a simple description of incomplete sentences in agglutinative languages. The linguistic data are taken from Turkish, Uzbek, and Japanese, with special reference to (Bukharan) Tajik.

Doctor of Philosophy / Abstract Neurodegenerative disorders are a diverse group of disorders that affect specific subsets of neurons. Motor neuron diseases, neurodegenerative disorders of motor neurons, are seen commonly as sporadic cases and less frequently as familial disease forms. The familial forms show genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity. Clinically motor neuron diseases may be seen as rapidly progressive disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS or slowly progressive disorders like hereditary motor neuropathies, HMN. The only proven causes for motor neuron diseases are gene mutations that lead to motor neuron degeneration in familial disease forms. Only some of these genes have been identified and have contributed greatly to our understanding of the neurobiology of familial and sporadic disease forms. Identification of additional disease causing genes would help enhance our knowledge of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying all forms of motor neuron disorders, which would lead to early diagnoses, effective prophylaxis and efficient therapies for these disorders. This study aimed to find gene mutations that cause rapid and slowly progressive familial motor neuron disorders in Australian families and to determine their relevance to sporadic forms of motor neuron disease. The familial forms of ALS show reduced disease penetrance, that is, not all gene mutation carriers manifest the disease. This study examines ALS penetrance in a group of Australian families. The most frequently observed mutations in ALS families are cytosolic superoxide dismutase/SOD1 gene mutations. In a collection of ALS families in our centre, families without the common SOD1 gene mutations were genotyped for other ALS genes and loci and studied using genetic linkage and haplotype analyses. Studies in a large Australian ALS family further confirmed genetic heterogeneity in non-SOD familial ALS, all known autosomal dominant ALS genes and chromosomal loci were excluded as cause of disease in this family. Such families can be studied further to identify additional disease genes and loci mapped in other ALS families. These families represent powerful resources for identification of additional ALS genes. Identifying the pathogenic genes in families with reduced disease penetrance may be more relevant to sporadic forms of disease. dHMN is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder predominantly affecting motor neurons. In a large Australian dHMN family, all the known dHMN genes and chromosomal loci were excluded as cause of disease. A genome wide microsatellite screen was performed in this family and genetic linkage was established to a novel 12.98 Mb locus on chromosome 7q34.2-q36. Candidate genes in this large interval will be screened based on their function and expression profile. Identification of a new dHMN locus provides the basis for future identification of a novel gene involved in motor neuron degeneration. Genes in dHMN have been shown to be pathogenic in ALS and Charcot Marie Tooth syndromes. The new locus for dHMN mapped in this project would lead to identification of a novel dHMN gene, which may elucidate the pathogenesis underlying a wide range of neurodegenerative disorders.

Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2005.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2006.

This paper addresses the tension between benefits of centralized data control against the benefits of decentralized control at the level of the business unit. Centralized data control provides the benefit of uniform standards whereas business unit data control grants flexibility to react to rapidly changing environments. Many data standardization efforts fail because they do not fully take into account the value of flexibility and ownership incentives. We use a real options based framework and the theory of incomplete contracts to derive propositions about the optimal level of data standardization across the enterprise. Applications of the propositions are illustrated with case vignettes. The paper makes two main contributions. First, the approach defines formally how incentive structures influence ownership of the option value or value of flexibility, which is an intangible information asset. Second the derived propositions would help senior management to more precisely consider aligning incentives in data standardization exercises.

O presente estudo analisa a demanda reprimida às ações e aos serviços de saúde de média complexidade no município de Campos dos Goytacazes/ RJ, sob a ótica do acesso incompleto. Optamos pela dialética como método de investigação, compreendendo nosso objeto dentro de um contexto histórico permeado de contradições e complexidades, considerando a dinâmica da realidade social. Realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os seguintes sujeitos: coordenadora do ambulatório; usuários com demanda reprimida, a partir do acesso incompleto às ações de serviços de saúde; marcadores de consulta dos Postos de Saúde e Programa de Saúde da Família e as assistentes sociais do Hospital Geral de Guarus. Os entrevistados somam informações importantes acerca da temática estudada trazendo diferentes enfoques para uma análise mais aproximada da demanda reprimida, entendida como síntese de múltiplas determinações. Identificamos e confirmamos a existência de dois tipos de acesso incompleto no nível de média complexidade: aquele que ocorre na passagem da baixa para a média complexidade e aquele que se dá dentro do próprio nível da média complexidade. Ficou evidente que a demanda reprimida, apesar de permear todo o sistema de saúde, não é colocada no centro das preocupações e debates pelas instâncias que a vivenciam direta ou indiretamente profissionais de saúde envolvidos, gestores e gerentes e ainda conselhos de saúde. Assim, confirmamos nossa hipótese, referente à falta de visibilidade da demanda reprimida, ocasionada pelo acesso incompleto na média complexidade e a não delimitação desta demanda como preocupação central nas ações dos assistentes sociais. O estudo mostrou como o acesso se constitui de forma incompleta, ao longo do percurso realizado pelo usuário, no nível de média complexidade, configurando desse modo, uma demanda reprimida significativa. Este estudo evidenciou ainda que, para além do financiamento, isto é, dos recursos necessários para ampliar o acesso dos usuários às ações e aos serviços de saúde, existem questões que dizem respeito à organização e programação das ações, nos domínios do planejamento e da gestão do SUS, perpassando pela transparência na definição de vagas e pela responsabilização do poder público na consolidação da gestão colegiada e do controle social. Essas questões precisam ser enfrentadas e compartilhadas entre - gestores, planejadores, profissionais de saúde e usuários - em busca da EFETIVAÇÃO do sistema único de saúde com acesso universal e com controle social. / The present study analyzes the restrained demand to the actions and the services of health of average complexity in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes/RJ, about the optics of the incomplete access. We opt to dialectic as inquiry method, understanding our object in a historical context replete of contradictions and complexities, considering the dynamics of the social reality. We carry through interviews half-structuralized with the following citizens: coordinator of the clinic; users with restrained demand, from the incomplete access to the actions of health services; markers of consultation of the Ranks of Health and Program of Health of the Family and the social assistants of the General Hospital of Guarus. The interviewed ones add important information concerning the thematic one more studied bringing different views for an approached analysis of the restrained demand, understood as synthesis of multiple determinations. We identify and confirm the existence of two types of incomplete access in the level of average complexity: that one that occurs in the ticket of the low one for the average complexity and that one that if gives inside of the proper level of the average complexity. It was evident that the restrained demand, although to be present in the health system all, is not placed in the center of the concerns and debates for the instances that live deeply it directly or indirectly - professional of health involved, managing and controlling and still health advice. Thus, we confirm our hypothesis, referring to the lack of visibility of the restrained demand, caused for the incomplete access in the average complexity and not the delimitation of this demand as central concern in the actions of the social assistants. The study it showed as the access if it constitutes of incomplete form, to the long one of the passage carried through for the user, in the level of average complexity, configuring in this way, a restrained demand significant. This study still evidenced that, for beyond the financing, that is, of the resources necessary to extend the access of the users to the actions and the services of health, questions that issue about the organization and programming of the actions, in the around of the planning and the management of the SUS, passing for the transparency in the vacant definition and for the responsibility of the power public in the consolidation of the management student body and the social control. These questions need to be faced and to be shared between - managers, planners, professionals of health and users - in search to become an effective unique system of health with universal access and social control.