Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Selection and european principles'

Le concessioni di servizi pubblici locali a rilevanza economica, inquadramento normativo e giurisprudenziale aggiornato all'anno 2012. Particolare attenzione alla procedura di selezione del concessionario e, in particolare, ai principi generali estrapolati dalla giurisprudenza della Corte di Giustizia e tradotti in norme di trasparenza, imparzialità e parità di trattamento immediatamente applicabili. analisi della casistica nazionale in cerca di riscontro degli insegnamenti del giudice europeo alla luce del recepimento delle direttive del 2004 attraverso il d.lgs. 163/2006.

In this work we analyze some selection principles over some classes of hyperspaces. In the first part we consider selective variations of tightness over a class of function spaces whose topologies are determined by bornologies on the space. As results, we extend several well known translations between covering properties and closure properties of the topology of pointwise convergence. In the second part we consider artificial hyperspaces that assist the analysis of productive topological properties. We emphasize the results characterizing productively ccc preorders and the characterization of the Lindelöf property via closed projections.
Neste trabalho analisamos alguns princípios seletivos quando considerados sobre alguns tipos de hiperespaços. Na primeira parte consideramos variações seletivas do tightness sobre diversos tipos de espaços de funções, cujas topologias são determinadas por bornologias no espaço. Como resultados, estendemos diversas traduções conhecidas entre propriedades de recobrimento e propriedades de convergência na topologia da convergência pontual. Na segunda parte consideramos hiperespaços artificiais que auxiliam na análise de propriedades topológicas produtivas. Destacamos os resultados que caracterizam as pré-ordens produtivamente ccc e a caracterização da propriedade de Lindelöf em termos de projeções fechadas.

Choice set size has implications on how people select typefaces, which are normally presented in long, alphabetical lists in programs such as Microsoft Word™. The extensive size of the choice set makes choosing a typeface a difficult task, which is unfortunate because typeface selections are highly important. Choosing the right typeface ensures that the rhetoric of the message is expressed correctly, and that confusions do not occur due to low legibility. Two ways of decreasing the choice difficulty is by reducing the number of typefaces and incorporating categories into the choice set. For these reasons, this experiment explored the effects that choice set design has on typeface selections in two studies. Study 1 examined the effect that size and categorization had on the affective response (satisfaction, difficulty, etc.) and preference for making a typeface decision. Participants reported higher satisfaction and preferred typeface choice sets that contained informative categories. Results also revealed that moderate size choice sets were associated with less difficulty, less choice overload, and higher satisfaction than large choice sets. Study 2 examined the effect that categorization had on the strategy for choosing a typeface across different document types. Participants spent more time choosing a typeface and contemplated more typefaces when using choice sets that contained categories, regardless of document type. This provides evidence that categorization lead participants to use a more optimal decision strategy, which should increase the likelihood of selecting a more optimal typeface.
Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology

In the last few decades the European Union (EU) and its members have emphasized the importance of human rights and the need to improve human rights conditions in Third World countries. In this research project, I attempted to find out whether the European Union and its members practice what they preach by giving precedence to countries that respect human rights through their Official Development Assistance (ODA) program. Furthermore, I tried to analyze whether European integration occurs at the foreign policy level through aid allocation. Based on the literatures on political conditionality and on the relationship between human rights and foreign aid allocation, I expected that all EU members promote principles of good governance by rewarding countries that protect the human rights of their citizens. I conducted a cross-sectional time-series selection model over all recipients of ODA for each of the twelve members for which I have data, the European Commission, and the aggregate EU disbursements from 1979 to 1998.

The function of the complex song of the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) was examined. Song playback experiments showed that both male and female starlings were attracted by song, and complex song inhibited males from entering nestboxes. Wild starlings (at least two years old when first recorded) showed extensive changes in the composition of their song phrase repertoires and most also increased the size of their repertoires, which will result in a correlation between age and repertoire size in this species. Females prefer males that have more complex song, and this preference remained significant when preferences for certain nest sites were controlled. Males with larger repertoires did not spend more time incubating or make more feeding visits to nestlings than did males with smaller repertoires. The evolution of complex song in the European starling is consistent with an age-indicator model of sexual selection, in which aspects of male quality correlated with age are advertised by the complexity of male song.

Many modern products require the careful planning of a vast number of aspects of their life cycle to succeed in the market, such as, financing, functionality, quality, reliability, environmental impact, manufacturing process, relationship with suppliers, etc. Potentially, the numerous domain- independent design methods generated for decades in the fields of engineering design and creative problem solving (CPS) have much to offer in today's complex multi-objective product design activity. However, the number of methods used in industry is relatively small, especially in early stages of design. Of those that are used, some are practised at the wrong stage or incorrectly. Incorrect selection of methods occurs often. It leads to poor results and to distrust of design methods generally, and has been identified as one of the main causes for the lack of design methods in industry. This thesis deals with the development of a strategy to undertake correct selection and use of methods in industry. It covers design methods to explore problems, to generate ideas and to evaluate concepts. Three papers, A-C, have been included in this licentiate thesis. The first paper, Managing uncertainty in the design and development process by appropriate methods selection, is of a theoretical nature and investigates a principle to help engineers in the correct selection of methods. The second paper, The application of the 4Ps model to the management of creativity & innovation in product development, explains a case study conducted at Volvo Car Corporation that explores the characteristics of engineering practice and the problem and need of implementing methods in industry. Finally the third paper, Exploring the need for an interactive software tool for the appropriate selection of engineering design methods, explains how the principle of method selection can be applied in industry so that engineers learn with the minimum of difficulty how to select and use methods correctly.
Godkänd; 2003; 20070218 (ysko)

The paper reflects on the importance of the general principles of public procurement in the application and interpretation of the law in this area. To this objective both the international law of administrative contracts, which has its main landmarks in the government procurement agreement of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Model Law, as the regulation and case law of the European Union are analyzed, which has laid a very advanced teaching in this regard. Finally it is subject to review recent legislation compared to Latin America on public procurement, which attaches great importance to general principles.
En el trabajo se reflexiona acerca de la importancia de los principios generales de la contratación pública en la aplicación e interpretación del Derecho en la materia. A tal efecto se analizan tanto el Derecho Internacional de las contrataciones administrativas, que tiene sus principales hitos en el Acuerdo de compras públicas de la Organización Mundial del Comercio y en la Ley Modelo de Naciones Unidas, como la regulación y jurisprudencia de la Unión Europea, que ha sentado una doctrina muy avanzada al respecto. Finalmente es objeto de comentario la reciente legislación comparada de países de América latina sobre contratos públicos, que concede una gran importancia a los principios generales.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
The European Union (EU) currently lacks a comprehensive agreement on where the EU will engage in crisis management missions under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) framework. This thesis investigates the motives for why the European Union engages in military or civilian operations under the framework of CSDP. Predominant research suggests the three dominant factors motivating the EU to engage in CSDP are national interests of the Member States; the EU is a supranational institution seeking to balance against the U.S.; and national political parties dominate foreign policy of the Member States. These three dominant factors lead to the development of three hypotheses for why the EU engages in military operations under the framework of CSDP. The first hypothesis suggests the EU elects to undertake CSDP missions as a means of balancing against United States' hegemony. The second hypothesis suggests the EU undertakes CSDP missions because of the national interest of the dominant nations, specifically, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The final hypothesis suggests that the national political parties and their political stances influence when the EU will engage in military or civilian operations under CSDP. These hypotheses are tested using three case studies to examine what the dominant factor is in CSDP mission selection. The three cases represent missions outside of Europe where there is significant risk for EU troops and, therefore, significant political risk for EU Member State politicians. The three CSDP missions used in the case study section are the EU mission EUFOR Artemis to Bunia the Democratic Republic of Congo, EUPOL Afghanistan and EUNAVFOR Somalia. After examining the three cases within the boundaries of the three hypotheses, this thesis concludes that the national interests of the dominant Member States are the most significant motive for CSDP mission selection. While the other two motives play a role in the decision-making process, they are not nearly as dominant as that of the Member States' national interests.

The dissertation attempts to explain the EU and China’s interventions or non-interventions in humanitarian crises. The research is motivated by the high-profile debate on humanitarian intervention in international fora, and the concepts of normative power and norms contestation. The main research question here is to what extent their professed principles and norms, for instance, Responsibility to Protect vis-à-vis Non-Interference in domestic affairs, have affected the policy-makings of the EU and China. After the reviews of the two international actors’ positions, principles, and policy-making processes on crisis intervention, the dissertation traces two empirical cases, the Darfur and Libyan crises. The research findings reveal that the ideational factors have permissive, regulative, and incentive effects on the EU and China’s policy-makings on crisis intervention. In return, the empirical study provides new reflections on the normative powers, as well as the EU and China’s global roles.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This PhD dissertation analyses the processes used by political parties to select candidates for the European elections, making the unique institutional setting and electoral dynamics of the European Parliament a “litmus test” for party organisations. By applying an institutional design theory to the ways parties nominate their candidates for the EP, I can test a wide range of pre-existing postulates about parties’ behaviours, and can do so across many different countries (thus considering various electoral settings and socio-political arenas) while also accounting for the multi-level setting in which they operate. To this end, I thoroughly explore the intra-party “machinery” at work in the drafting of nominees. More specifically, this dissertation first provides a descriptive account of the main intra-party formal rules that govern the EP selection procedures from a comparative perspective. Concretely, this descriptive analysis serves to measure the relative power of individuals, party organs, and party levels, and to establish what imperatives (membership fees, endorsements, incompatibilities, quotas) are prescribed by the various parties. On that basis, I identify the patterns of selection rules put in place by the parties. I then explore the factors that condition the parties' choices of procedures by relating the aforementioned observations to a number of national- and EU-level characteristics. Later, I confront these rules with the parties’ informal practices during the actual process, and further trace an entire process from the rules' enactment to the choice of candidates. In doing so, I hope to contribute a small but important building block to the understanding of current political parties, while also speaking directly to those who are more generally interested in comparative politics and EU politics.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis concerns the relationship between English and European Community administrative law. The main aim is to draw out the nature of this relationship by comparing the development of two principles, the principles of legitimate expectations and proportionality, within English and European Community administrative law. A secondary aim is to assess the challenge presented by European Community law for English law. The emphasis is on the distinct visions of law or legal traditions which have influenced both systems of administrative law rather than specific substantive laws. Chapter 2 identifies the nature of the English and Continental traditions of administrative law and the development of English and European Community administrative law. More specifically, English law is based on the common law approach while Continental and European Community administrative law has a more purposive orientation. Chapter 3 examines the pressures for the adoption of the two principles in English law. These pressures have been both internal, through the role of Lord Diplock, and external, through the influence of European Community law. In Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 the principles are examined in depth in both European Community and English administrative law. Comparative observations of the articulation of the principles in European Community law and their development in English law are made in chapters 5 and 7. In this respect the identification of the different traditions of administrative law becomes crucial in assessing the success of the principles as legal transplants in English law. The conclusion draws together these themes in order to identify the relationship between English and European Community law. An assessment is also made of the challenge presented by European Community law and suggestions are made as to what English law ought to do in order to respond effectively.

Mestrado em Finanças
Neste trabalho, comparamos as carteiras tangentes e carteiras de risco mínimo obtidas com a teoria moderna da carteira (MPT) e a teoria pós-moderna da carteira (PMPT) com o propósito de analisar as diferenças na seleção de ações. Baseamos o nosso estudo num conjunto de 16 ações do índice EURO STOXX 50 e estimamos os inputs com dados históricos entre 1997 e 2015. Para medir o risco na PMPT, usamos a semivariância em relação a três retornos alvo - 0, a taxa de juro sem risco e a taxa de retorno do mercado bolsista Europeu. Para atestar a robustez dos resultados, replicamos a análise estimando os inputs a partir de modelos de equilíbrio. Observamos que as carteiras da PMPT escolhem ações que exibem uma distribuição de retorno com assimetria positiva e/ou leptocúrtica. Adicionalmente, a composição destas carteiras privilegia ações com baixa semivariância, caracterizada por baixa frequência de retornos inferiores ao retorno alvo e/ou baixo desvio médio.
In this work, we compare tangent portfolios and minimum risk portfolios derived from the modern portfolio theory (MPT) and the post-modern portfolio theory (PMPT) to analyse the differences in stock selection. We base our study on a set of 16 stocks included in the EURO STOXX 50 index and estimate inputs from historical data since 1997 until 2015. To measure risk in PMPT, we use semivariance in relation to three target returns - 0, the risk-free rate and the European stock market return. To attest the results' robustness, we replicate the analysis estimating inputs from equilibrium models. We find that PMPT's portfolios select stocks that display return distributions with positive skewness and/or leptokurtosis. Additionally, these portfolios' composition favors stocks with low semivariance, characterized by low downside frequency and/or average downside deviation.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In ecological restoration, we try to return an ecosystem from degraded to a natural state, by using various treatments, and returning the native plant species back to a site with seeding or planting. Restoration is not a magic bullet and is a risky action, which we are still learning much about. A restoration project is always constrained by the number of plant species is can use based on various logistical and financial constraints. What species to use and where to use them is rarely thought out scientifically, but can have lasting results as a complimentary conservation action. Which species can be sourced commercially and which need to be collected by hand can have major impacts on a project budget. Next, understanding which occur naturally, and where, and in what frequency could be important to understand in creating species mixes. The traits of plant species relating to natural regeneration can be important for understanding restoration action and timing. Finally, how to prioritize project constraints with desired species and the ecosystem function each plant species uniquely contributes to, could have profound effects, on restoring not just plant species richness, but also the natural processes that make up a healthy ecosystem. Here, we explore four different aspects of this main question of which species should be used where and why, and arrive at frameworks that could further multi-national decision making and policy. The work presented here, transcends that of a case study, and the questions, methods, and approaches employed could be applied to any ecosystem globally.

Black grouse Tetrao tetrix is a bird species composed of large, continuous as well as severely reduced and fragmented populations, making it an optimal species to investigate how genetic diversity is affected by habitat fragmentation. I have focused on genetic diversity in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to measure the ability of the black grouse to respond to environmental changes. I partly characterized MHC class II in black grouse and found striking similarities with chicken MHC class II. I demonstrated that black grouse possess a similar compact MHC as chicken with few MHC class II B (BLB) and Y (YLB) loci. I did not find evidence of balancing selection in YLB so I concentrated further studies on BLB. I developed a PCR-based screening method for amplifying and separating expressed BLB alleles in European black grouse populations. Small fragmented populations had lost neutral genetic diversity (based on microsatellites and SNPs) compared to samples from the historical distribution and contemporary large populations. There was also a trend, albeit less pronounced, for reduced MHC diversity in these populations. Neutral markers in small isolated populations were affected by increased levels of genetic drift and were therefore genetically differentiated compared to other populations. MHC markers on the other hand, were not subjected to genetic drift to the same extent probably due a long historic process of balancing selection. Inferences of heterozygosity and evolutionary patterns as well as detailed correlations to reproductive success and diseases cannot be performed until MHC can be amplified in a locus-specific manner. Therefore, I developed a single locus sequence-based typing method for independently amplifying MHC class II B loci (BLB1 and BLB2). I found that BLB1 and BLB2 were duplicated in a common ancestor to chickens and black grouse and that these loci are subjected to homogenizing concerted evolution due to inter-genetic exchange between loci after species divergence.  I could also verify that both BLB1 and BLB2 were transcribed in black grouse and under balancing selection. This collection of work has significance for future conservation of black grouse as well as research and management of zoonotic diseases.

The mutability of transcription factors (TF) is thought to be of high importance for the evolutionary change of living organisms. Transcription factors, coactivators, coregulators, kinases, chromatin remodelers conditional factors and other proteins together govern the timing and level of gene expression. About 10% of the genes in the human genome are predicted to be TFs and mutational changes in these genes or in the target regulatory sequences they bind will potentially give rise to evolutionary advantages or malfunctions for the organism. Recent research has suggested that the parts of the transcription factors that are not structurally defined in solution, so called intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), have a higher potential for evolutionary diversification than more structurally rigid regions. This suggests that these domains that earlier have been considered mostly unimportant may have an important potential for evolutionary diversification. This project aimed to further evaluate evidence supporting the hypothesis that variable-structured domains in transcription factors are of significant importance for functional diversification. This was be done by comparing the rate of synonymous and non-synonymous genetic variation in the coding regions of 12 selected TFs within a highly conserved clade of European wine yeasts and by comparing this variation to divergent phenotypic patterns within the strains. The frequency of non-synonymous mutations was much greater than for synonymous mutations indicating an important role of positive selection acting on these TFs during diversification of the different strains. No significant connections were discovered between the distribution of DNA variation and phenotypic patterns.

Abstract

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) migrates to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. Even though the biology of A. anguilla leptocephali in the Sargasso Sea has been studied for several decades, information regarding their diet has remained unknown until now. Previous dietary studies concerning other species of leptocephali in the Pacific Ocean have been limited to the recognition of identifiable prey remains amongst gut contents. Hence, in this study a molecular approach relying on the detection of prey DNA amongst gut contents was used to study dietary profiles of A. anguilla leptocephali in the Sargasso Sea.

 

Leptocephali were collected during the circumglobal Galathea 3 expedition in spring 2007 to the Sargasso Sea. DNA extracted from gut contents were PCR amplified using universal primers targeting the nuclear 18S rRNA gene. In order to separate eel amplicons from prey amplicons, PCR products were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Furthermore, clone libraries were constructed using universal primers targeting a portion of the 18S rRNA and mitochondrial COI gene, respectively. In total, the gut contents of 78 leptocephali were screened by DGGE.

 

A diverse array of eukaryotic taxa was identified, hence demonstrating the applicability of a universal PCR- DGGE approach to study gut contents of leptocephali. The results presented here show, for the first time, that young stages of A. anguilla leptocephali feed on a large variety of zooplankton of which many were gelatinous (e.g. Hydrozoa, Thaliacea and Ctenophora). Several of the identified taxa also constitute important parts of the Sargasso Sea zooplankton community and are of size ranges (adult or larval stages) that made them reasonable as leptocephali prey.

The past decade witnessed the emergence in the European Union of a comprehensive legal framework aimed at countering money laundering. The aim of the thesis is to place these measures in context, by examining their evolution in the light of parallel developments in the fields of international relations and crime prevention and control. Through the employment of an interdisciplinary approach, it is demonstrated that the development of money laundering counter-measures in the European Union is inextricably linked with the reconceptualisation of security in the international arena, now extending beyond the narrow state/military realm and including threats such as organised crime and, related to that, money laundering. Money laundering counter-measures are thus legitimised as emergency measures deemed as necessary to address these newly perceived threats. In this context, and following international political pressure for the adoption of a global anti-money laundering framework, the European Union counter-measures constitute a new paradigm of security governance, achieved through three principal methods: criminalisation, consisting in the emergence of a new criminal offence of money laundering; responsibilisation, consisting in the mobilisation of the private sector to co-operate with the authorities in the fight against money laundering; and the emphasis on the administration of knowledge, through the establishment of new institutions, the financial intelligence units, with extensive powers to administer a wide range of information provided by the private sector. All three methods pose significant challenges to fundamental legal principles and ultimately, to well-established social transactions and bonds. The analysis will focus on these challenges, which become more acute in the light of the constant evolution of these measures. An attempt will thus be made to demonstrate that a 'securitised' ant-money laundering paradigm, which may serve as a mould for subsequent initiatives in the field or organised crime, has the potential to undermine the very essence of fundamental legal principles and rights.

We assess the impact of the European reform in the electricity market focusing on the effects of the First (96/92/EC) and the Second Directive (2003/54/EC). The contribution of the thesis is threefold. Firstly, we study the progress towards a single integrated EU market examining wholesale electricity price convergence in the main EU power exchanges. The key idea is if the underlying national markets are integrated, then there is evidence of a real integrated market. Thus, over the long run wholesale electricity prices should follow the same pattern. To establish wholesale price convergence we apply a fractional cointegration analysis developed by Granger. We find evidence of perfect cointegration between the German and the Austrian wholesale electricity markets. Secondly, we analyse the impact of the reform at retail level focusing on the effect on industrial consumer welfare. Specifically, we study the price-cost margins in the EU15 countries over the period 1980-2006. Our analysis examines the long-run equilibrium of achieving a single internal electricity market allowing Member States to converge freely to the steady state as established by the harmonization principle of the EU reform. Differently from previous studies, we apply the pooled mean group estimator developed by Pesaran et al. (1999), which constraints the long run parameters to be same, representing therefore the EU mandated goal of market integration, and allows different rates of adjustment to the equilibrium, representing harmonization. Empirical evidence shows that wholesale market opening, privatization and regulation result in an increase of industrial consumer welfare. However, as the degree of vertical integration decreases, price-cost margins increase shrinking industrial-consumer welfare. In addition, the analysis of national rates of adjustment to long-run equilibrium shows that Italy and Germany are the countries with the highest and lowest profit persistence respectively. Finally, we focus on the Italian wholesale market, specifically the Italian day-ahead market, to establish the progress towards competition after wholesale market opening, linking theoretical predictions and empirical findings to identify its underlying oligopolistic structure and to examine potential improvements in consumer welfare after market liberalization. Accounting for the zone organization of the Italian wholesale market, we study the two main macrozones North and South in the summer and winter months of 2005 and 2006. In each market, we define the set of the strategic players and price-taker firms according to both generation capacity and production. We then define two oligopolistic models to describe the underlying oligopolistic structure. In particular, in the North market, we compare the Stackelberg and the Cournot model, whereas, in the South, the Stackelberg and the Dominant firm model. To determine the coefficients of the strategic player’s residual demand, we first estimate the competitive fringe supply. We evaluate the oligopolistic market outcome according to optimization techniques. Applying a variation of the traditional coefficient of determination we find that the North market has recorded a change in the oligopolistic structure from the Stackelberg model (2005) to the Cournot model (2006). However, as stated by microeconomic theory this change implies a loss of efficiency. Concerning the South market results show that during weekdays, in both years, the market follows a Stackelberg model. Instead, during weekends the market has recorded a change from the Dominant firm model to the Stackelberg model.

Award date: 1 October 2018
Supervisor: Professor Deirdre Curtin
Enhanced cooperation is the EU’s most general, multi-purpose, and thus differentiation-friendly possibility to legislate without binding all Member States. After years of initial reluc-tance, it has been put into practice in a number of cases in the last years. In light of these developments, many perspectives on enhanced cooperation are worth revisiting. At the same time, the EU has recently been facing numerous fundamental challenges, and enhanced co-operation could be one of the tools for policy makers to consider when searching for solutions. It does so by analysing two crucial legal aspects of the enhanced cooperation mechanism in depth: the last resort principle and the principle of openness. Both principles stand out among the law governing enhanced cooperation as particularly important, defining notions – indeed, cornerstones of enhanced cooperation.

The European Commission has for some time indicated a desire to remove the remaining restrictions on cabotage. Such liberalization is expected to result in significant changes on some domestic road transport markets. The Scandinavian markets are among these and the local hauilers fear that the lower wages of Easter European hauliers will leave them out of business. In this thesis a scenario of full cabotage liberalization is assumed. Representatives from associations with interest within the Scandinavian road transport markets has been approached with a qualitative survey on carrier selection criteria. Respondents are asked to determine the importance of the criteria, as well as the relevance to the competition between Scandinavian and Eastern European hauliers. Finally they are asked to assess whether the advantage of each criterion lies with Scandinavian or Eastern European hauliers. The qualitative orientation of the survey is achieved though justification and follow up questions. Reliability of pickups and deliveries is still regarded the most important criteria. Also competitive prices received a high rating. It is concluded that the significant price difference between Scandinavian and Eastern European hauliers will benefit Eastern European hauliers considerably in the competition for the simple “from A to B” shipments. For more complicated shipments, entailing a higher level of service, communication and supply chain integration, the local hauliers are expected to stand their ground.

Україна впевнено прямує до створення правової держави та підписання Угоди про асоціацію з Європейським Союзом, що потребує кардинальних змін у всіх сферах суспільно-політичного життя. На сьогоднішній день наша держава перебуває досить складній політичній і економічній ситуації, у зв’язку з чим виникає багато проблемних питань, які доцільно було б вирішити найближчим часом. Відразу після здобуття незалежності, влада держави не в змозі була реалізувати адміністративну реформу і вона відійшла на другий план, адже після того, як молода держава самостійно вийшла на міжнародну арену, виникало багато інших питань, які потребували невідкладного вирішення. На сьогоднішній день здійснення адаптації національного права до права ЄС в адміністративній сфері забезпечить реалізацію початої ще в минулому столітті адміністративної реформи, адже реформування державних органів є одним із основних вимог Європейського Союзу. На сьогоднішній день Європейський Союз всебічно сприяє Україні у виконанні нею своїх зобов’язань, так, наприклад, на реформу державного управління ЄС переказав Україні 12 млн євро, що вирішило проблему із організаційно-фінансовою складовою. Наступним кроком України є повна адаптація законодавства до принципів ЄС з метою відповідності національних норм європейським стандартм.

To date, there are no existing models for evaluating foreign markets, adapted to mobile health (mHealth) consumer medical device (CMD) start-ups seeking to launch their products or services in new countries. This calls for the development of a suitable international market selection (IMS) model that captures the complexity of and opportunities for mHealth. mHealth is a sub-segment of electronic health (eHealth), which furthermore is part of the wider phenomenon of digital health. mHealth covers medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices. This paper proposes a multidimensional IMS model comprising both macro and micro level factors. Our specialized approach integrates tools and theories by a number of researchers and is showcased in the assessment of the European Union (EU) for the mHealth CMD company AdhereBox. AdhereBox is a Swedish start-up that has developed a CMD consisting of a “smart” pillbox and a complementary mobile software application. We propose a number of dimensions that should be evaluated when assessing the potential  of the different EU health care markets in regards to mHealth CMD start-ups. Our suggested approach includes factors which are categorized into two groups of parameters: (i) stakeholders (which comprises consumers, providers, payers, distributors and collaborators) and (ii) barriers & enablers (consisting of incentives, reimbursement models, technological infrastructure, regulations and existing solutions). In summary, our study identifies critical factors that mHealth CMD start-ups should consider when evaluating foreign markets in an IMS. By applying our IMS model on AdhereBox, we illustrate how our model can be used, its parameters assessed and the interdependencies between these analyzed in order to arrive at a set of recommendations for further market analysis and conclusions on country attractiveness. As such, we believe that our research could provide valuable insights and guidelines for firms within mHealth seeking to expand their business within the EU, as well as for governmental organizations that want to better leverage and stimulate the potentials of a flourishing domestic mHealth ecosystem.

Since Darwin, evolutionary biologists envisaged various hypotheses to explain the advantages for males to exhibit exaggerated secondary sexual traits, also known as ornaments. One of these hypotheses proposes that male ornaments may signal to the females the benefits they can get by mating, and that female preference for ornamented males is one of the main selecting forces explaining the evolution of secondary sexual traits. The evolutionary scenario becomes more complex if we consider that in many species males bear multiple ornaments. Why multiple ornaments should evolve? Why and how do females base their choice among different male traits? Different ornaments could signal different aspects of male quality (=benefits). For example, individual condition at different stages of male’s life may by reflected by the expression of different ornaments, or diverse ornaments could respond differently to a similar stress experienced during a male life-history event due, for example, to a different response to carry-over effects. Condition dependence of male ornaments has been supported by a large number of studies on sexual secondary traits, yet whether and how different stresses at different life-history stages affect the expression of multiple ornaments has been investigated in a more limited number of cases. In my PhD project I used a passerine bird, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), as a model species given that males bear multiple secondary sexual traits. In this species it has been shown that females prefer males with long throat feathers that have high UV reflectance, that produce a complex song and, although with less empirical support, with more brightly colours on the beak. During my PhD I attempted to investigate the mechanisms that underlie the expression of male ornaments by experimentally manipulating individual condition during two energy-demanding life-history events, i.e. during nestling development and during the post-juvenile moult. Male attractiveness was directly evaluated in a female choice experiment. The first experimental manipulation aimed at investigating the effect of an immune challenge on growth and physiological responses on nestlings that were naturally infested with ectoparasites (manuscript 1), and to assess the temporal pattern of their first- and second-year moult (manuscript 2). The second experimental manipulation was used to test the effect of removing the stress caused by the nest ectoparasites on parental investment during the incubation (manuscript 3), and on parent-offspring communication during the nestling stage (manuscript 4). I then examined the temporal pattern of the post-juvenile moult in males from ectoparasite-free and naturally infested nests (manuscript 5). A third experimental manipulation consisted of supplementing with or depriving of carotenoids the diet of males in the course of their post-juvenile moult. I further tested the effect of nest ectoparasites and diet i) on the preening activity of males during winter, i.e. from the end of the moult to the start of the breeding period (manuscript 6), ii) on the expression of male ornaments and iii) on female preference (manuscript 7). My results suggest that an early stress, i.e. endotoxin or ectoparasites, does not significantly affect the nestling growth. Nestlings whose immune system was challenged with an endotoxin (LPS) showed similar antioxidant capacity and oxidative damage to those measured on control nestlings, whereas hematocrit was higher in second-brood LPS-nestlings than controls. Nestlings in ectoparasite-free nests produced a more conspicuous postural begging than that produced by nestlings in naturally infested nests. Parents were also sensitive to nest ectoparasites because they increased the time spent at the nest during the incubation period, although the provisioning effort during the nestling period was not different among deparasitized and control broods. Moult was advanced in birds injected with LPS and in those grown without nest ectoparasites, as they were probably in better condition than their counterparts and could therefore anticipate such costly life-history event. Birds from ectoparasite-free nests moulted over a longer period than controls, whereas moult duration of LPS and control birds was similar. The supplement of carotenoids during moult resulted in an increase of time invested in preening their plumage a few months after the end of the moult, and showed an increased yellow colouration of the beak in the following breeding season. As result, males that were grown in ectoparasite-free nests and were supplemented with carotenoids during the following moult were preferred by females in the mate choice experiment. In conclusion, the results of my PhD project provided an experimental evidence of carry-over effects in starlings. Males that experienced different stresses during the early stages of their life were less attractive for the females in their first breeding season. While I found a different colouration of the beak among birds from ectoparasite-free and control nests, the throat feathers were of similar length and colouration. This difference in attractiveness could be due to song characteristics during mate choice tests. Any attempt to individually record male song unfortunately failed and the effect of early stresses on song could not be assessed directly. Despite this, the resulting female preference for males that experienced favourable juvenile conditions suggests that male ornaments are considered as a whole during mate choice, and their expression is probably influenced by carry-over effects. These findings seem therefore in agreement with the redundant signal hypothesis, which suggests that female integrate the information of all male ornaments to assess the mate quality.
Sulla base delle teorie di Darwin, i biologi evoluzionisti hanno formulato diverse ipotesi per spiegare l’origine dei tratti sessuali secondari esibiti dai maschi, anche detti ornamenti. Una di queste ipotesi suggerisce che le femmine valutino gli ornamenti maschili per massimizzare il proprio successo riproduttivo nella scelta del partner e che la preferenza femminile sia una delle forze selettive principali alla base dell’evoluzione dei tratti sessuali secondari. Lo scenario evolutivo si complica se consideriamo che i maschi di molte specie esibiscono ornamenti multipli. E’ stato ipotizzato che diversi ornamenti possano segnalare differenti aspetti della qualità maschile. In questo caso la loro espressione potrebbe riflettere la condizione del maschio in fasi diverse della life-history, oppure differenti ornamenti potrebbero essere influenzati in modo diverso da uno stesso stress. Molti studi sui tratti sessuali secondari maschili hanno mostrato che i costi associati all’espressione di alcuni ornamenti sono correlati alla condizione dell’individuo, cioè sono condizione-dipendenti. Tuttavia, sono pochi gli studi sull’effetto di eventi di stress in fasi diverse del ciclo vitale sull’espressione di ornamenti multipli. Nel mio progetto di Dottorato ho studiato i meccanismi che regolano l’espressione dei tratti sessuali secondari di Storno (Sturnus vulgaris), un passeriforme di medie dimensioni in cui i maschi presentano ornamenti multipli. In questa specie, vi sono evidenze sperimentali che le femmine preferiscono penne della gola più lunghe e con un’alta brillantezza nella radiazione ultravioletta, canti complessi e (probabilmente) colori del becco più intensi. Nel corso del mio Dottorato ho effettuato tre manipolazioni sperimentalmente per modificare la condizione dei maschi in due fasi costose della life-history, durante lo sviluppo giovanile e nel corso della prima muta, per valutare l’effetto di stress precoci sull’espressione degli ornamenti nel corso della prima stagione riproduttiva. L’attrattività dei maschi manipolati è stata testata utilizzando un esperimento di scelta femminile. La prima manipolazione sperimentale aveva l’obiettivo di studiare l’effetto di uno stress immunitario sulla condizione dei pulcini in nidi naturali (manoscritto 1), oltre che sui tempi di muta del primo e del secondo anno di vita (manoscritto 2). Con la seconda manipolazione sperimentale ho testato l’effetto della rimozione dei parassiti del nido sull’investimento parentale durante il periodo d’incubazione (manoscritto 3) e sull’interazione genitori-prole (manoscritto 4). La terza manipolazione sperimentale è stata effettuata sulla dieta dei maschi nel periodo della muta giovanile; ad un gruppo di individui è stata somministrata una dieta ricca di carotenoidi, mentre un altro gruppo ha ricevuto una dieta priva di carotenoidi. Quindi ho esaminato i tempi della muta giovanile dei maschi involati da nidi con e senza parassiti che hanno ricevuto una dieta ricca o priva di carotenoidi (manoscritto 5). Ho analizzato l’effetto delle differenze di carico parassitario e di dieta i) sul tempo investito dai maschi nel mantenere in ordine il piumaggio (manoscritto 6), ii) sull’espressione degli ornamenti maschili e iii) sulla preferenza femminile (manoscritto 7). I risultati ottenuti suggeriscono che uno stress precoce, come un’infezione batterica o la presenza degli ectoparassiti nel nido, non abbia un effetto rilevante sulla crescita dei pulcini. Il potere antiossidante (Capacità Antiossidante Totale, TAC) e la concentrazione di metaboliti reattivi dell'ossigeno (ROM) non sono risultati significativamente differenti tra i pulcini trattati con lipopolisaccaridi (LPS) e i pulcini di controllo trattati con una soluzione salina. D’altra parte, l’ematocrito è risultato più alto nei pulcini trattati con LPS ma solo in quelli nati tardivamente. Nei nidi in cui sono stati rimossi gli ectoparassiti, i pulcini hanno eseguito un begging posturale mediamente più intenso, mentre le strategie di allocazione degli adulti non sono state influenzate dalla presenza dei parassiti nel nido, anche se durante la fase di incubazione delle uova gli adulti hanno trascorso un tempo significativamente maggiore nei nidi privi di parassiti. L’inizio della muta post-giovanile è stato anticipato dagli individui trattati con LPS e da quelli involatisi da nidi senza ectoparassiti, probabilmente perché in condizioni migliori rispetto agli individui di controllo (trattati con una soluzione salina, o involatisi da nidi infestati da parassiti). La muta è stata completata in tempi più lunghi dai maschi involatisi dai nidi senza parassiti, mentre il trattamento con LPS non ha prodotto differenze significative rispetto ai controlli nella durata della muta. La presenza dei carotenoidi nella dieta durante la muta non ha influenzato la colorazione delle penne della gola. Tuttavia i risultati suggeriscono che il trattamento abbia avuto un effetto positivo sulla condizione nei mesi successivi alla muta, poiché i maschi che hanno assunto carotenoidi nel corso della muta hanno investito più tempo nelle attività di mantenimento del piumaggio e hanno prodotto un becco più brillante nel corso della successiva stagione riproduttiva. Nell’esperimento di scelta, le femmine hanno mostrato una preferenza significativa per i maschi involatisi dai nidi senza parassiti e che hanno ricevuto una dieta ricca di carotenoidi durante la muta. In conclusione, i risultati del mio Dottorato forniscono prove sperimentali di effetti carry-over nello Storno. Infatti, due differenti stress giovanili hanno ridotto l’attrattività dei maschi nella prima stagione riproduttiva, anche se i dati ottenuti dalle misure strumentali hanno evidenziato differenze significative soltanto per la colorazione del becco e non per la lunghezza o la colorazione delle penne della gola. E’ noto che l’attrattività dei maschi è legata alle caratteristiche del canto, ma nel corso del mio Dottorato non è stato possibile stimare l’effetto delle manipolazioni sperimentali su tale ornamento. Ad ogni modo il risultato ottenuto dall’esperimento di scelta femminile suggerisce che le femmine considerano in modo complessivo gli ornamenti multipli del maschio, la cui espressione è influenzata da effetti carry-over. Questi risultati sembrano in accordo con l’ipotesi del segnale ridondante (Redundant Signal Hypothesys), secondo cui le femmine integrano le informazioni ottenute dagli ornamenti maschili per valutare la qualità dei potenziali partner.

The thesis is a comparative legal analysis of environmental principles in environmental law. Environmental principles are novel concepts in environmental law and they have a high profile in environmental law scholarship. This high profile is promoted by two factors – the high hopes that environmental law scholars have for environmental principles, and the increasing prevalence of environmental principles in legal systems, particularly in case law. This thesis analyses the latter, mapping doctrinal developments involving environmental principles in two jurisdictions and court systems – the courts of the European Union and the New South Wales Land and Environment Court. This doctrinal mapping has both narrow and broad aims. Narrowly, it identifies the legal roles in fact taken on by environmental principles within legal systems. Broadly, and building on this assessment, it responds to scholarly hopes that environmental principles (can) perform a range of significant roles in environmental law, including solving both environmental problems and legal problems in environmental law scholarship. These hopes are based on assumptions about environmental principles that have methodological weaknesses, including that environmental principles are universal and that they fit pre-existing models of ‘legal principles’ drawn from other areas of legal scholarship. The thesis exposes these methodological problems and concludes that environmental principles are not panaceas for pressing and perceived problems in environmental law. It does this by showing that the legal roles of environmental principles, which are significant in environmental law and its current evolution, can only be understood by closely analysing the legal cultures in which they feature. This is a conclusion for environmental law scholarship generally – while environmental issues and problems may be urgent and often global, legal analysis of the law that applies to those problems requires close engagement with legal systems and cultures, as they are and as they develop.

Network security has always been an area of priority and extensive research. Recent years have seen a considerable growth in experimentation with biologically inspired techniques. This is a consequence of our increased understanding of living systems and the application of that understanding to machines and software. The mounting complexity of telecommunications networks and the need for increasing levels of security have been the driving factor. The human body can act as a great role model for its unique abilities in protecting itself from external, foreign entities. Many abnormalities in the human body are similar to that of the attacks in wireless sensor networks (WSN). This paper presents basic ideas drawn from human immune system analogies that can help modelling a system to counter the attacks on a WSN by monitoring parameters such as energy, frequency of data transfer, data sent and received. This is implemented by exploiting two immune concepts, namely danger theory and negative selection. Danger theory aggregates the anomalies based on the weights of the anomalous parameters. The objective is to design a cooperative intrusion detection system (IDS) based on danger theory. Negative selection differentiates between normal and anomalous strings and counters the impact of malicious nodes faster than danger theory. We also explore other human immune system concepts and their adaptability to Wireless Sensor Network Security.

This research presents a diachronic and synchronic analysis of European plays produced at the National from 1963 to 1997 and seeks to situate their selection, production and reception within the socio-cultural context of Britain's changing relationship with the representation of Europe during that time, Building on the theoretical understanding of the selection, production and reception process suggested by Stanley Fish, Jauss, Susan Bennett and Maria Shevtsova, this thesis evaluates the relationship between the 'interpretive community' of the producers, critics and audiences of the National Theatre, This analysis has been undertaken through three main activities. Firstly I have examined the selection process of the three Artistic Directors between 1963 and 1997 through interviewing the main participants, Sir Peter Hall and Sir Richard Eyre, as well as research into published letters, diaries and autobiographies, Through access to the Tynan and Olivier Archives in the British Library, it has been possible to closely examine the selection process between 1963 and 1973. The process of production has been examined through the analysis of Prompt Books, programmes and photographs that are held by the National Theatre Archive, as well as biographies and autobiographies. The reception process has been examined through two interpretive communities, that of the critics and the audience: firstly by comparing the reception of the interpretive community of critics who received the productions for British newspapers and periodicals between 1963 and 1997, and then by contrasting that reception with the actual number of people who attended each production. I have accessed the Box Office returns, Annual Reports, Board Minutes and Director's reports at the National Theatre Archive in order to complete this analysis. This research explores Britain's relationship with Europe through qualitative and quantitative analysis, and proves the effectiveness of reception analysis as a methodology for understanding historical and contemporary culture.