How Efficient are Africa’s Emerging Stock Markets?

The development of financial institutions has been viewed in recent years as critical to the economic development process. This research uses recent data from the eight largest African stock markets to test whether these markets meet the criterion of weak-form stock market efficiency with returns characterised by a random walk. Results are then compared with similar tests on emerging stock markets in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Conclusions from the research indicate that test results for weak-form efficiency in the emerging African stock markets compare favorably with those performed on other emerging stock markets

Orchestrating Digital Innovation: The Case of the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation

In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to how firms facilitate and enact digital innovation in networks with diverse actors (i.e., heterogeneous networks). However, while considerable evidence shows that firms can build key capabilities via engaging with external partners, we found few studies on how they orchestrate digital innovation in situations where an academic unit plays a facilitating role in the heterogeneous network. We address this question by focusing on experiences from a national academic initiative, the Swedish Center for Digital Innovation (SCDI). Formed in 2013, the SCDI has adopted an engaged scholarship approach and a combination of activities designed to increase digital innovation capabilities among partner organizations. We argue that acquiring new knowledge through external and internal sources stimulates firms and public sector organizations engaged in digital innovation to integrate such new knowledge with their existing knowledge base. Specifically, we demonstrate how SCDI’s core activities have created increased capabilities for the involved stakeholders, and we offer lessons learned and recommendations for academic units that wish to orchestrate digital innovation

Cyclic voles and Puumala hantavirus in a changing boreal landscape

Land-use change is causing extinction of species globally, while also increasing the risk of disease exposure to humans through augmented interactions with wildlife, when humans live and work in manipulated ecosystems or when animals seek shelter/refuge in man-made infrastructure. Forestry is one such activity, which is continually altering forest structure worldwide, causing habitat loss for many specialized forest species. This study investigates the population ecology of three cyclic vole species, Myodes rufocanus, Myodes glareolus and Microtus agrestis, in relation to intensive forestry in northern Sweden. M. glareolus is also the natural reservoir of Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) which is important from a public health perspective since PUUV causes nephropathia epidemica in humans. M. rufocanus and M. agrestis declined substantially in density and distribution during the 1970-80s while M. glareolus only marginally declined and is still the most common species in the region. The decline of M. rufocanus was related to habitat loss. The cumulated impact from long-term clear-cutting explained local extinctions of M. rufocanus. The species is also dependent on maintained connectivity between old forest and shelter-providing stone fields. In contrast, local extinction of M. agrestis was not related to forestry, suggesting action of another strong driver. M. agrestis re-colonized most of the study area during 2010-2011, two years that were characterised by cold winters and a thick snow cover, suggesting a climatic driver in this case. Occurrence of PUUV infected M. glareolus was negatively related to the impact of long-term clear-cutting in the surrounding landscape. PUUV infected M. glareolus survived during low density periods of the vole cycle in old forests. In summary, the main driver of the decline in density and distribution of M. rufocanus appeared to be intensive forestry. PUUV infection dynamics also appeared to be related to forestry. Since land-use changes and climate changes have coincided in Fennoscandian forests, I suggest that future studies should focus on estimating the relative impact of these two factors on pathogen and vole population dynamics

CONCEPTUALIZING LITERACY IN AAC: SOME REFLECTIONS

Literacy is a concept, which almost has taken over and included concepts like reading, writing and inter human social communication in general. However, it has only recently been integrated into the AAC-fields connected to social work, special education and assistive technologies. This paper focuses on some key-questions regarding AAC and literacy, mentioning that the holistic approach of AAC in combination with a general linguistic theory as the one by Charles Peirce, creates a more whole or holistic perspective for thinking and looking for answers on these questions. The social model created by Uri Bronfenbrenner is also very applicable. Even though a holistic approach demands openness on the behalf of the teacher or interventionist as well as of the user her/himself, it is important to remember the need for good methods and methodology, based upon good practical evidence with the common target to acquire literacy.KEY WORDS: communication, alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), literacy, reading, writing.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v68i4.95

Some Applications of Logical and Psychological Principles

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. 1893. Major: Grammar. 1 computer file (PDF); 125 pages

Behavioral Patterns Associated with Chemotherapy-Induced Emesis: A Potential Signature for Nausea in Musk Shrews

Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms in patients with many diseases, including cancer and its treatments. Although the neurological basis of vomiting is reasonably well known, an understanding of the physiology of nausea is lacking. The primary barrier to mechanistic research on the nausea system is the lack of an animal model. Indeed investigating the effects of anti-nausea drugs in pre-clinical models is difficult because the primary readout is often emesis. It is known that animals show a behavioral profile of sickness, associated with reduced feeding and movement, and possibly these general measures are signs of nausea. Studies attempting to relate the occurrence of additional behaviors to emesis have produced mixed results. Here we applied a statistical method, temporal pattern (t-pattern) analysis, to determine patterns of behavior associated with emesis. Musk shrews were injected with the chemotherapy agent cisplatin (a gold standard in emesis research) to induce acute (<24 h) and delayed (>24 h) emesis. Emesis and other behaviors were coded and tracked from video files. T-pattern analysis revealed hundreds of non-random patterns of behavior associated with emesis, including sniffing, changes in body contraction, and locomotion. There was little evidence that locomotion was inhibited by the occurrence of emesis. Eating, drinking, and other larger body movements including rearing, grooming, and body rotation, were significantly less common in emesis-related behavioral patterns in real versus randomized data. These results lend preliminary evidence for the expression of emesis-related behavioral patterns, including reduced ingestive behavior, grooming, and exploratory behaviors. In summary, this statistical approach to behavioral analysis in a pre-clinical emesis research model could be used to assess the more global effects and limitations of drugs used to control nausea and its potential correlates, including reduced feeding and activity levels

Taking its place in Europe - Iceland’s long road to its EU application

Iceland applied for EU membership in 2009. Before that it had sought to alleviate pressures on her to fully integrate with Europe firstly by pursuing limited integration through membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and later by joining the European Economic Area (EEA). This paper traces the steps taken by this peripheral European country from itsstruggle of independence from Denmark, through World War II, American occupation, the founding of a republic, NATO membership and the Cod Wars with Britain. The paper analyses the various phases of the debate on the ties to the European institutions leading to EEA and Schengen membership, the “miraculous economic success“ which ended in the epic crash of 2008 which precipitated a much contested EU applicationpeer-reviewe