No description available.

The Eurasian woodcock Scolopax rusticola (hereon woodcock) is a wader adapted to woodland and farmland habitats. It is an important quarry species, widely hunted across Europe, but owing to its cryptic plumage and elusive nature, there exists only poor information concerning its natural history. As such, the conservation status of the woodcock remains uncertain. One area that is particularly lacking is knowledge of its ecology outside the breeding season. Generally, avian ecological studies have focused on breeding season events due to the importance of reproductive success in determining fitness. However, it is now apparent that the non-breeding season represents an equally important period of the annual cycle. For example, recent studies have shown that declines in some migratory bird populations were due to events during the non-breeding season, either during migration, or on the wintering grounds. In Britain, the non-breeding woodcock population comprises both British breeding and non-British breeding birds, yet the origins and relative distribution of these sub-populations is not fully understood. Nor is it known whether ecological differences exist between them. This thesis addresses these two aspects of woodcock biology, using stable isotope and radio-tracking methods. The former was used to assign birds to their likely origins and determine population-specific distributions across Britain. The latter was used, in conjunction with the former, to determine whether ecological differences exist between locally-breeding and non-locally breeding birds residing in Hampshire in winter. A large degree of mixing between birds from different breeding populations was apparent for woodcock residing in Britain over winter. Russia and Fennoscandia comprised the most likely origins of migratory birds and regional differences in distributions were apparent. The highest proportions of birds from Russia were found in Norfolk and Wales, whilst the highest proportions of birds from Fennoscandia were found in Scotland. The presence of non-breeding residents in Cornwall and Ireland also provided strong evidence for the short-distance, south-westerly movements of resident birds, which probably originated from Scotland. Locally, the movements and behaviour of birds were found to vary with age (adult vs. juvenile) and/or predicted migratory status (resident vs. migrant), with adult residents potentially representing the dominant group. Differences in habitat use, commuting flights, home range size and activity patterns were all apparent. As such, these findings might have important consequences for the relative survival rates and breeding success of resident and migrant woodcock. This work has provided new insights into the non-breeding ecology of woodcock in Britain and contributes significantly to European efforts to better understand this bird species. Given the importance of seasonal interactions, an understanding of events throughout the annual cycle is necessary and this can only be achieved through concerted efforts. Indeed, an integrated approach is imperative to develop the conservation plans necessary to ensure the sustainability of the woodcock.

This master's thesis aims to describe legislation of international and national double taxation. Furthermore, this paper deals with the term tax and puts down following questions: what does a tax represent; what is the subject of a tax; who is a resident and who is a non-resident. At the same time the master's thesis focuses on the history of international double taxation, consequences of double taxation and last but not least on the tax avoidance. The master's thesis is comprised of three chapters that are divided into more detailed subchapters. The first chapter deals with a tax as such in the Czech legal system and primarily deals with a tax as the most important source of financing of state budgets because the whole public sector is funded by taxes. Furthermore, it introduces to the issue of double taxation as a negative economic phenomenon for taxpayers and to the methods of the state intervention into a removal of double taxation whether national or international. In general the methods of prevention of double taxation are analyzed. The second chapter describes international treaties about prevention of double taxation. Nowadays taxpayers have a certainty due the international treaties about prevention of double taxation because they have a possibility to get to know the legal regime that will...

A research report submitted to the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (specialising in Taxation). Johannesburg - March, 2015 / Where Contracting States to a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) refer to their respective domestic law concepts in respect of determining residence for purposes of a DTA, conflicting results may arise which can lead to double taxation and Contracting States being denied treaty relief. The interpretation of the concept of ‘Place of Effective Management’ as found in the residency tie-breaker clause in Art 4(3) of DTAs (based on the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital) used to resolve issues of dual-resident companies for purposes of applying the DTA, provides a pertinent example of a need for a common international understanding of treaty terms in order to avoid such potential conflicts. This paper explores how the term ‘Place of Effective Management’ should be interpreted in the above context by a South African court of law in order to conform to an internationally accepted meaning of the phrase.

Thesis advisor: Summer H. Hawkins / Thesis advisor: David Takeuchi / Dramatic increase in the number of people living to old age has led to a higher prevalence of three-generational households during the last few decades. And co-resident grandparents play a more important role in the lives of children as caregivers in three-generational households. However, little is known about the longitudinal effects of co-resident grandparents on grandchildren’s health. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) from Wave I-III, this three-paper dissertation explored the longitudinal effects of co-residence with grandparents on the physical and psychological health of grandchildren in three-generational households across racial/ethnic groups. Paper 1 investigated the determinants of co-residence with grandparents in three-generational households within the family context, showing that co-residence with a grandparent was associated with low socio-economic status for white families, and with family culture for Hispanic families. Paper 2 examined the influence of co-residence with grandparents on BMI trajectories as adolescents age into emerging adulthood across racial/ethnic groups. The results showed that Hispanic adolescents who lived with a grandparent showed significantly slower rates of BMI growth compared to those who have not lived with a grandparent during adolescence. Paper 3 examined how co-residence with a grandparent affects adolescents’ depressive trajectories as they age into early adulthood and whether this relationship varies by immigrant generational status. The results showed that Asian first-generation immigrant adolescents experienced less depressive symptoms than Asian second- and third- generation immigrant adolescents in three-generational households. This dissertation suggested that we attempt to provide intergenerational policies and services to improve the well-being of all family members. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

A highly effective vaccine against malaria is urgently needed, with leading vaccination strategies involving the induction of protective antigen-specific CD8⁺ T-cells via heterologous prime-boost viral vector immunization, targeting primarily the pre- erythrocytic liver stages of the Plasmodium falciparum lifecycle. To date, the greatest immunogenicity has been obtained through a heterologous prime boost regimen, where vaccination with an Adenoviral vector is followed 8 weeks later by a Modified Vaccinia Ankara virus (MVA) boost. Experimental work directed at providing a greater understanding of CD8⁺ T-cell memory responses induced by Ad-MVA vaccinations lead to the development of a novel vaccine strategy aimed at priming CD8⁺ T-cells in the periphery and subsequently targeting them to hepatic tissue with protein loaded poly(lactic- co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles or recombinant viral vectors. Durable Ag-specific CD8+ T- cells exhibiting a phenotype of tissue-resident memory T-cells were generated in the liver, with a ten-fold increase over the conventional heterologous vector regimen. Importantly, in P. berghei sporozoite challenge models of liver-stage malaria, this strategy was found to result in unprecedented levels of sterile protection across multiple clinically relevant antigens and mouse strains. This prime and target immunization strategy for liver-stage malaria may provide a novel general approach for prevention or immunotherapy against other hepato-trophic pathogens.

This study examined if there was a correlation between a video game experience based upon ethnicity and gender, using the framework from scholars and activists of Critical Race Theory(​Delgado och Stefancic, 2017), the researchers had 16 participants play the controversial game Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, 2009). All the participants played for 15 minutes, half of which played as the American main character Chris Redfield while the other as his African sidekick Sheva Alomar. Participants were later interviewed where the data was then collected to be coded usinga thematic analysis. The results shows that there are only minor differences between the character perspectives of each respective character, the main themes found were emotions, player experience, prejudice and our own term unidentification, which mean that the players could notidentify with the characters in the game. This study can be used to identify potential problems and solutions on ethnic and gender questions regarding video games.

There is a substantial body of literature establishing relationship satisfaction as a significant predictor of an individual’s psychological and physical wellbeing. This study expands that literature by studying an individual’s intention to strengthen and sustain the physical well-being of his/her residence as a function of his/her relationship satisfaction. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model provides the overarching framework for this study. Fundamental to the ecological theory is the interaction between an individual and its surrounding environments. Based on this, the study aims in exploring the interactions between an individual’s internal (relationship satisfaction) and external (residential well-being) environments. The study has two primary research questions: Can “relationship” be used as a predictor of individual’s intentions to maintain and improve the physical well-being of his/her residence? Does the type of family structures affect this association? The study intends to answer these questions by studying the relationship satisfaction of 1395 homeowners in Florida and their intentions to prepare their homes for hurricanes and improve their residential energy-efficiency. Here, hurricane preparedness and residential energy-efficiency are used as indicators for improving residential well-being. The motivation behind conducting this study is to understand the larger range of impact relationship satisfaction can have in an individual’s life.

No description available.

No description available.