Financial ideas, political constraints : the IPE of sovereign wealth funds

Rather than ponder sovereign wealth funds' (SWFs ') significance for global capital markets, this thesis takes a step back and asks the following: why do SWFs exist in such numbers across the global political economy? The SWF literature, dominated by fmancial economists and neoliberal commentators, has yet to adequately address this puzzle. This is significant given the funds embed systematically significant amounts of national wealth throughout speculative capital markets, thereby increasing their state's vulnerability to recurrent asset bubbles and crises. The thesis consequently examines the interest-based politics behind SWFs' domestic origins. It begins its analysis with the argument that SWFs are first and foremost domestic strategies of governance created to achieve specific short and medium term goals of the administrative state. This is despite their international and long-term investment orientations. In short, the funds serve to immediately stabilize state actors' governance function by reconceptualising problems of uncertainty in the quantitative and manageable terms of fmancial risk. This account of SWFs' origins thus contests that currently dominating mainstream commentary, which portrays the funds as evolutionary features of modem fmance capitalism. The domestic political interests SWFs were initially created to serve consequently remain critically unexamined. Drawing from the constructivist institutionalism literature, the thesis also seeks to demonstrate that SWFs are the institutional embodiment of a specific array of prescriptive fmancial ideas. It will be shown this framework offmancial 'knowledge' problematically constrains political actors to defer their interests to the demands of the speculative fmancial realm. In the face of recurrent crises, such constraint highlights how SWFs' immediate impact on domestic socioeconomic spheres outweighs their imagined fmancial benefits. The funds' rapid expansion since 2000 therefore poses significant implications for the nature and exercise of sovereign authority in SWF-states. These theoretical arguments are developed in Part I of the thesis, and then tested against three case studies in Part II: Norway's Government Pension Fund-Global; Alberta's Heritage Savings Trust Fund; and Ireland's National Pension Reserve Fund.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of WarwickGBUnited Kingdo

Du bon usage des ressources renouvelables

Depuis une dizaine d'années, l'idée que la sauvegarde de notre planète passe par le développement économique et le partage équitable des bénéfices s'est largement répandue. Dans le cas des ressources naturelles renouvelables, quel est donc ce "bon usage" qui permettrait de concilier préservation des écosystèmes et bien-être des populations locales ? Les études de cas en milieu tropical rassemblées dans cet ouvrage soulignent la diversité et la complexité des systèmes mis en place pour gérer ces ressources. Produites de manière spontanée par les écosystèmes, elles peuvent être utilisées par les sociétés humaines sur le mode d'un simple prélèvement (chasse, cueillette, pêche) ou bien faire l'objet d'une activité destinée à accroître leur potentiel (extractivisme, agroforesterie). A travers ces études de cas, trois grandes questions d'intérêt général sont abordées : les interactions entre artificialisation et anthropisation ; le rôle de la gestion sociale locale ; les relations entre science et aménagement. L'expérience montre que le bon usage ne peut se référer à un paradigme immuable : il consiste surtout à réaliser un équilibre précaire dans un contexte écologique et social en continuelle transformation. (Résumé d'auteur

A new generation of veryhigh stability BVA oscillators

International audienceA third generation of “Oscilloquartz” OCXO's using the technique of housing a BVA SC-cut crystal resonator and its associated oscillator components in double oven technology has been developed with the funding support of European Space Operations Centre (E.S.O.C). The main purpose is to provide a local oscillator for high performances ground clock. The main features targeted of that new “8607-C series” are to get significant improvements compared to the classical “state of the art” 8607-B design in a better short term stability @ 1 sec in Allan variance, a better-low phase noise and outstanding short term stability and a better-high isolation from “pressure and humidity” variations

TÉCNICAS DE VALIDAÇÃO DE DADOS PARA SISTEMAS INTELIGENTES: UMA ABORDAGEM DO SOFTWARE SDBAYES

Nesse artigo é abordado a validação de métricas de Mineração de dados, referentes a um software, denominado SDBayes, que foi desenvolvido em um projeto de pesquisa. O software faz a predição dos discente mais propensos a evadir ou permanecer em uma Instituição de Ensino Superior apresentando probabilidades de permanência e probabilidades de evasão, também utiliza Redes Bayesianas, que são métricas de classificação muito usadas para a área médica, pois simula muito bem o raciocínio humano. No entanto, as classificações feitas pelas Redes bayesianas nem sempre correspondem com a realidade do problema, com isso, foram abordadas, cinco técnicas de validação de dados, para estimar a real capacidade de predição do sistema desenvolvido. Os métodos usados foram: F-measure, K-fold, Hold-out, Leave-one-out e o Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC)

History and Outcome of Febrile Neutropenia Outside the Oncology Setting: A Retrospective Study of 76 Cases Related to Non-Chemotherapy Drugs

International audienceBACKGROUND: Despite major advances in its prevention and treatment, febrile neutropenia remains a most concerning complication of cancer chemotherapy. Outside the oncology setting, however, only few data are currently available on febrile neutropenia related to non-chemotherapy drugs. We report here data on 76 patients with febrile neutropenia related to non-chemotherapy drugs, followed up in a referral center within a university hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from 76 patients with idiosyncratic drug-induced febrile neutropenia were retrospectively reviewed. All cases were extracted from a cohort study on agranulocytosis conducted at the Strasbourg University Hospital (Strasbourg, France). RESULTS: Mean patient age was 52.2 years old (range: 18-93) and gender ratio (F/M) 1.6, with several comorbidities present in 86.8% of patients. The most common causative drugs were: antibiotics (37.4%), antithyroid drugs (17.2%), neuroleptic and anti-epileptic agents (13.1%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and analgesics (8%), and platelet aggregation inhibitors (8%). Main clinical presentations upon hospitalization included isolated fever (30%), sore throat, acute tonsillitis and sinusitis (18.4%), documented pneumonia (18.4%), septicemia (14.5%), and septic shock (6.6%). Mean neutrophil count at nadir was 0.13 × 10(9)/L (range: 0-0.48). While in hospital, 22 patients (28.9%) worsened clinically and required intensive care unit placement. All patients were promptly treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, and 45 (59.2%) with hematopoietic growth factors. Mean duration of hematological recovery (neutrophil count ≥1.5 × 10(9)/L) was 7.5 days (range: 2-21), which was reduced to 0.7 days (range: 2-16) (p = 0.089) with hematopoietic growth factors. Outcome was favorable in 89.5% of patients, whereas eight died. CONCLUSIONS: Like in oncology and myelosuppressive chemotherapy settings, idiosyncratic febrile neutropenia is typically serious, about 40% of patients exhibiting severe pneumonia, septicemia, and septic shock, with a mortality rate of 10%. Like in febrile, chemotherapy-related neutropenia, modern and timely management (immediate broad spectrum antibiotherapy, hematopoietic growth factors) may reduce infection-related mortality. All practitioners should be aware of this potential side-effect that may even occur in the event of "daily medication" exposur