Both Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan were part of the former Soviet Union and were integrated into its political, economic and governance systems. As Union republics, they remained isolated from the outside world, with little direct interaction with external actors. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, both Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan established relations with a number of bilateral donors and multilateral development agencies. Despite their many similarities (e.g., social, cultural, religious, linguistic, geographic) and a shared history, the two countries’ post-Soviet development trajectories diverged dramatically. While Kyrgyzstan quickly launched transition reforms, liberalizing its economy and polity with support from external donors, Turkmenistan adopted a more gradual approach to political and economic reform and managed to minimize the influence of external actors in domestic affairs. This thesis analyzes the donor-recipient interaction in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan across three sectors: governance, rural development, and environment. The analysis focuses on the management of aid through an anthropological, political economy-directed inquiry of relations between foreign donors and aid recipients at the micro level (daily interactions in managing aid). Collective action theory, evolutionary theory and adaptive behavior approaches are utilized to analyze the interaction on micro-level. However, the analysis is also situated in a broader, macro-level context of development and security priorities of the two states, for which the realist branch of the international relations theories is applied. Methodologically, the study is based on the triangulation of findings from various sources, including the content analysis of primary and secondary sources as well as the analysis of over 60 semi-structured interviews involving government and donor officials from the two countries. The thesis does not attempt to analyze whether development aid was effective. Instead, using similar analyses of aid interactions (Mosse, 2005; Swedlund, 2017), this thesis aims to investigate how aid interactions ‘happen’ (Wedel, 1998). While I agree that the sustainability of development aid is hampered by the inability of both donors and recipients to ‘make credible commitments’ (Swedlund, 2017), in this thesis I argue that aid interactions are also influenced by other factors, namely the political sensitivity of the sectors to which the aid is given (governance, rural development, environment), regime characteristics, availability or absence of natural resource-based revenues, and geopolitics. These factors, taken together, affect the aid bargaining process in important ways. The thesis makes a three-fold contribution to the existing knowledge on aid relations. First, it expands the knowledge on the agency of recipient governments by putting them at the core of the analysis. Second, it contributes to the very limited number of cross-sectoral and cross-country comparative studies on both aid management and on public policy making in general and in Central Asia in particular. Thirdly, it provides a detailed account of how development aid has been managed in Turkmenistan, a country on which no serious academic literature related to aid management has been produced to date.

This thesis consists of three independent essays, unified by the common theme of the distributional impacts of government. The first paper estimates the price elasticity of demand for pharmaceuticals amongst high-income older people in Australia. It exploits a natural experiment by which some people gained entitlement to a price reduction through the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC). The preferred model is a nonlinear Instrumental Variable (IV) difference-in-difference regression, estimated on repeated cross sectional survey data using the Generalised Method of Moments. No significant evidence is found for endogenous card take-up, and so cross-sectional estimates are also considered. Taking all of the results and possible sources of bias into account, the ??headline?? estimate is -0.1, implying that quantity demanded is not highly responsive to price. The elasticity estimate is a key input into the second paper which analyses the distributional impact of the CSHC. I consider the trade-off between moral hazard and risk pooling. There have been few previous attempts internationally to address this trade-off empirically for any health insurance scheme. The utility gain through risk-pooling is found to be negligible. However, the deadweight loss through moral hazard may be considerable. I also use an illustrative model to demonstrate the possible effects of the CSHC on inter-temporal savings behaviour. While the CSHC may induce some people to save, it may have the opposite effect on others. The net impact was not determined. The third paper estimates the Australian public sector wage premium. It includes a detailed critical review of the methods available to address this issue. The chosen approach is a quasi-differenced panel data model, estimated by nonlinear IV, which has many advantages over other methods and has not been used before for this topic. I find a positive average public sector wage premium for both sexes. The best estimates are 10.0% for men and 7.1% for women. The estimate for men is statistically significant (p < 0.04) and borders on significance for women (p < 0.07). No evidence is found to suggest that the public sector has an equalising effect on the wages of its workers.

The purpose of this study is to identify and explore issues and challenges that impact on transplant coordinators and their practice. Such identification enhances understanding of their role, provides evidence for decision-makers to facilitate the positive aspects of the coordinators' practice, highlights their professional needs and contributions and provides baseline data for future research, education and policy development. The study used both qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection methods involved focus group interviews and Delphi surveys. Participants were coordinators who were employed on a full-time, part-time or relieving basis. Recruitment of participants was done by purposive and snowball sampling. There were 112 coordinators in the study and each was randomly assigned to the focus groups or Delphi survey phases of the research. The analysis of the focus group data together with the literature, informed the development of the first Delphi survey. The second Delphi survey was developed using the data from the focus groups, literature and the first survey. Four categories emerged from the data. The first involved 'knowledge and experience', which explored the education needs of coordinators and the issue of nursing qualification requirements. The work environment, demands and conditions, together with role attributes were discussed in the next category - 'the role'. Recipient, donor family and transplant coordinator outcomes were addressed in the 'outcomes’ category. The basic social process – building relationships - explored the relationships that coordinators have with the health team and their client groups. Four types of relationships emerged which were supportive, non-supportive, aggressive and virtual relationships. The emergent theory of the challenges that transplant coordinators face relates to the building of relationships. The theory also discovers how knowledge and experience, the role and outcomes impact on the building of these relationships in an interdependent manner. This study also emphasises that the transplant coordinators' role is complex, demanding and distinctly unique in terms of the context within which coordinators practice. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1311520 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2008

<p> <p>&nbsp / </p> </p> <p align="left">In this minithesis the researcher explores the experiences of recipients of the HIV/AIDS peer education abstinence programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), with a particular focus on their perceptions of the extent to which, and the manner in which, the programme influenced their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual risk behaviour, HIV and abstinence.</p>

The aim of the present study is to examine the interactional functions of code-switching in plurilingual conversation, with a particular focus on those related to the elaboration of the social identities of the interlocutors, i. e. their identity work. The adopted analytical model was initiated by Auer, and further developed by Gafaranga, who combined it with the Membership Categorization Analysis elaborated by Sacks. The study is based on a corpus consisting of the audio recorded dinner talk of an Italian-Swedish family whose members use Swedish, Italian and a Ligurian dialect, and focuses on the sequential progression of the talk in interaction, thus based on an approach proper of conversation analysis. The participants create and display their different roles (identities), which are related to both group membership and individuality, a subsequent distinction made by Fant. Code-switching is used as a communicative strategy among the speakers and is used to make relevant identities, as well as a tool for the management of the interaction. The analysis is divided in two distinctive parts: one related to the code-switching connected to the organisational management of the conversation, the other connected to the identity work of the interlocutors. The linguistic codes used within the group are either inclusive (Swedish, Italian) or selective (Ligurian) and the analysis indicates a general inclusion rather than exclusion of interlocutors, as the speakers accommodating to the linguistic preferences and competences of the interlocutor. The speakers, when selecting a code, thus make use of recipient design, a concept worked out by Sacks, Schegloff &amp; Jefferson. They choose code in order to include a particular interlocutor, adjusting to the language preferences of the other. There are some instances of asymmetrical plurilingual conversation, in which the interlocutors maintain different codes, but since the code choice appears to be anticipated by the addressee the interaction runs smoothly between them. As for the direction of the code switch, two different tendencies emerge: one in the switches connected to the identity work of the participants in which the direction of the switches seems to be highly significant. The other in the switches connected to the management of the conversation in which the direction proves to be reversible.

The aim of the study was to describe how managers at the eldercare system especially in nursing homes work to ensure high quality care. For this purpose, a qualitative method was used in this study and four managers at nursing home have been interviewed. Previous studies have shown that managers in some cases are restricted in their actions and that this may slow down the improvement of the care. At the same time the managers describe their work as demanding and diverse. They have a significant staff responsibility, meaning that they have to ensure the quality of care.  In this study, some previous results have been confirmed for example that the managers feel that they have an impact on the quality of care, that managers value their contacts with staff, patients and relative highly and that their main purpose is the quality of care. The data was analyzed using one of many role theories and with different descriptions of leadership. The results show that the managers are working to ensure that the quality of the care is high by ensuring that the staff is competent, participating in development meetings, maintaining good contact with serval actors like staff, patients and relative, providing staff training courses and involving the staff in developing a more productive environment. Therefore, the managers have more impact on how good the quality of the care is than one might think.

Three methods of sensitivity and unceartainty analysis have been applied to the operative stormwater- and recipient model StormTac. The study area is the watershed of lake Flaten in the municipality Salem. StormTac’s submodels for stormwater, pollutant transport and the recipient are cosidired. In the sensitivity assessment, the model parametres and inputs were varied one at a time by a constant percentage according to the “one at a time” (OAAT) method and the response of the outputs were calculated. It was found that the stormwater- and baseflow were most sensitive to perturbations in the perciptation. Unceartainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulation was performed in two different ways. (1) All model parametres and inputs were included with defined unceartainties and the resulting unceartainty for the target variable was quantified. Thereafter, whith the purpose to estimate the contribution of all the parametres and inputs, the cumulative uncertainty for the target variable, each parameters/inputs unceartainty was omitted one at the time. The most crucial uncertainty for the storm water flow was the runoff coefficient for forestland and the perciptation (i.e the differens between the 90- and 10-percentile for the storm water flow was reduced whith 44 % and 33 % respectively). (2) To identify optimal parameter intervals, the probability for an acceptable value of the target variable was plotted against each parameters value range. The result suggests that for some of the parametres i StormTac, the ranges should be changed. / Den operativa dagvatten- och recipientmodellen StormTac har applicerats på sjön Flatens avrinningsområde i Salems kommun. StormTac:s delmodeller för dagvatten, föroreningstransport och recipienten studerades. Tre olika metoder för att undersöka osäkerheten och känsligheten hos parametrar och indata i delmodellerna tillämpades. I känslighetsanalysen (OAAT-metoden) behäftades parametervärdena och indata med systematiska fel och responsen hos utdata beräknades. Dag- och basvattenflödet var känsligast mot fel i nederbördsdata, medan kväve-, fosfor- och kopparbelastningen till recipienten var känsligast mot respektive förorenings dagvattenkoncentration från områden med bebyggelse. Varje parameter och indatas bidrag till den kumulativa osäkerheten hos utdata uppskattades med hjälp av Montecarlosimulering. Genom att för varje effektvariabel studera differensen mellan 90- och 10-percentilen när osäkerheten hos en parameter/indata i taget utelämnades, kunde varje parameters/indatas bidrag till modellresultatets osäkerhet kvantifieras. För dagvattenflödet bidrog avrinningskoefficienten för skogmark med 44 % av osäkerheten och nederbörden med 33 %. Montecarloanlys praktiserades även för att identifiera optimala intervall för parametrarna i modellen. Sannolikheten för ett accepterat värde på den simulerade effektvariabeln plottades mot varje parameters värdemängd. För vissa parametrar indikerade resultatet att intervallen kan förändras mot hur de i nuläget ser ut i StormTac. Uniforma sannolikhetsfördelningar, begränsade av StormTac:s min- och maxvärden för parametrarna och ± 50% av orginalvärdet för indata, användes i båda osäkerhetsanalyserna.

Research literature on foreign assistance suggests that the U.S. provides aid in order to serve both its own strategic interests as well as the development needs of aid recipient countries. Maintaining a focus on Africa, this report uses newly available data for official development assistance and attempts to verify whether prevailing hypotheses regarding the motivations behind U.S. aid giving still hold true. Specifically, the report analyzes whether aid giving patterns align with 1) the development needs of recipient countries as understood through the lens of internationally established priorities, or 2) with good political and economic policies within recipient countries vis-à-vis democratic institutions and open markets, or 3) with U.S. national strategic interests (be they political, military, or economic interests). A statistical analysis of U.S. Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 53 countries in Africa over the period of 1970 to 2010 was carried out for this purpose. The results suggest that, when it comes to aid that is specifically addressed towards development projects in Africa, the strategic considerations and political priorities of the U.S. are just as important, if not more important, than the development needs or economic performance of recipient countries. Political allies and countries that democratize receive more aid from the U.S., ceteris paribus. In addition, it was found that more aid is given to countries with larger populations - a result that contradicts earlier literature on aid's motivations. The report is organized as follows. I begin in Section 1 by providing a general overview of U.S. foreign aid. In Section 2, I detail why Africa is a significant continent for such an analysis of U.S. aid, and outline some of the trends in aid to Africa. The third section summarizes some of the most important existing hypotheses about why the U.S. gives development aid. Section 4 describes the data and methodology used for this study and provides a discussion of the results obtained from the statistical analysis. Finally, in Section 6, I conclude by offering broader policy implications and sketching out avenues for future research. / text

Įvairių religijų doktrina moko, kad žmogus gali Dievą pažinti protu ir jį garbinti. Krikščionybėje žmogus gali Dievą priimti į savo gyvenimą, nes Dievas dovanoja save. Pats apsireiškimo įvykis jau yra Dievo esybės atskleidimas žmogui. Ypatingas Dievo dovanojimas savęs pasirodo įvairiose Sandorose su Senojo Testamento žmonėmis. Jėzuje Kristuje Dievo apsireiškimas ir Jo savęs atidavimas pasiekė viršūnę. Jėzaus Kristaus Kryžiaus auka atvėrė Trejybės slėpinio gelmes. Jėzus Kristus, kančios išvakarėse, įsteigęs Eucharistiją atiduoda žmonėms savo Kūną ir Kraują duonos ir vyno pavidaluose. Kanonų teisė nustato tam tikras sąlygas šventosios Komunijos priėmėjui: krikštas, buvimas be sunkios nuodėmės, pasninkas, išpažintis ir kt. Šiais išorinių veiksmų reikalavimais norima išsaugoti vidinę pagarbą Švenčiausiajam Sakramentui. Šio darbo teologinėje dalyje nagrinėjama Senojo Testamento sandoros. Žvelgiama į Jėzaus Kristaus gyvenimą per Dievo kenozės prizmę. Aptariama, kaip buvo suprantama ir garbinama Eucharistija įvairiais Bažnyčios istorijos amžiais. Teisinėje dalyje nagrinėjamos kanonų teisės nustatytos sąlygos priimančiajam Komuniją. Analizuojamos tų reikalavimų atsiradimo istorinės aplinkybės, aiškinamasi ko tiksliai reikalauja Kanonų teisė. Taip pat pateikiami pasitaikantys piktnaudžiavimo pavyzdžiai kai nesilaikoma teisės nuostatų. Darbe daromas ekskursas apie Švenčiausiojo Sakramento išniekinimą. Darbe naudojama įvairi teologinė ir teisinė literatūra lietuvių, lotynų, italų ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The doctrine of various religions teaches that a man is able to recognize God by mind and worship Him. In Christianity a man is able to accept God into his life because God gives Himself to him. The event of the Revelation itself is already a revealing of the substantiality of God to the man. The especial nature of God’s giving of Himself appears within the various covenants made with the people of the Old Testament. The particular Revelation of God was the life of Jesus Christ. In the sacrifice of the Cross Jesus Christ unclosed the depths of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Before His suffering Jesus established the Eucharist and gave his Body and Blood in the shape of bread and wine during the Last Supper. The Canon law establishes the conditions for a recipient of the Holy Communion: the baptism, confession, Eucharist fast, living without heavy sin etc. The Canon law requirements of these external actions aim to save the internal honor for the Holy Sacrament. The covenants of the Old Testament are discussed in the theological part of this research. The life of Jesus Christ is examined through the prism of God’s kenosis. The understanding and worship of the Eucharist during the various periods of the History of Church are discussed in this research. The conditions established by the canon law for the recipient of Holy Communion are examined in the legal part of this study. The historical circumstances of the appearance of these requests are analyzed. The occurring... [to full text]

<p> <p>&nbsp / </p> </p> <p align="left">In this minithesis the researcher explores the experiences of recipients of the HIV/AIDS peer education abstinence programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), with a particular focus on their perceptions of the extent to which, and the manner in which, the programme influenced their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding sexual risk behaviour, HIV and abstinence.</p>