Mobile-phone-based, person-to-person payment and money transfer systems are innovative—but are they really good for poverty reduction and development?

The early design stage of a building is decisive for describing the concept of the HVAC system. Designers and practitioners can adjust and optimize the design during this stage as it provides them with enough resilience to adapt new changes. In practice, a well-defined optimization process is essentially required in order to achieve the project’s goals within a reasonable time span. These goals va

In the struggle to reach the national environmental policy objectives, environmental compensation has emerged as a possible policy tool that may contribute to achieving the objectives. In Sweden, environmental compensation is legally mandated mainly in cases of exploitation within Natura 2000 areas and nature reserves, which is handled through the Swedish Environmental Code. In contrast, regulatorIn the struggle to reach the national environmental policy objectives, environmental compensation has emerged as a possible policy tool that may contribute to achieving the objectives. In Sweden, environmental compensation is legally mandated mainly in cases of exploitation within Natura 2000 areas and nature reserves, which is handled through the Swedish Environmental Code. In contrast, regulator

Spatial Data Infrastructure is one of the requirements for sustainable development and many countries worldwide are at different stages of implementation. Several researchers have shown that SDI has helped governments to recover funds due to reduction in duplication of efforts and also has increased efficiency in resource management and planning.Tanzania as other developing countries, is at initia

The thesis aims to contribute to the preservation of traditional medicinal knowledge of the Tacana Bolivian native tribe, as well as to the isolation and characterization of antiparasitic metabolites from plants used for the treatment of endemic diseases. A selection of medicinal plants, made in collaboration with the Tacana communities who decided which plants have a specific medicinal propose, w

Healthy cortical bone tissue is both tough and strong and has a unique ability to resist fracture. One reason is the hierarchical structure of the tissue where toughening mechanisms at all length scales act to slow down or stop a propagating crack. The most potent toughening mechanisms arise at the microscale when cracks interact with the osteonal microstructure and deflect along weak interfaces.

This paper argues that an economic system of large and small technology-based firms which interact through technology-related acquisitions and spin-offs can be highly conducive to overall innovativeness and growth. Based on Williamson's (1975) suggestion of a 'systems solution by classical specialisation', and the empirical research on Swedish technology-based firms reported by Lindholm (1994), an

This study reports the results of an empirical analysis of acquisitions and growth of small technology-based firms. Three issues are focused upon: (1) the importance of technology-based acquisitions among large Swedish companies; (2) the growth patterns of acquired and non-acquired small technology-based firms (STBFs);and (3) factors explaining the growth among STBFs. The results indicate that tec

In this paper we answer the call for a micro-level perspective on regional economic change, in peripheral regions in particular. Using an in-depth and comparative case study approach, we investigate how agency shapes regional development paths, and how agency is in turn shaped by local context. The performance of a single labor market often hides the very different strategies taken by decision-mak

Recent scientific research highlights the urgent need to protect Europe’s remaining – and rapidly declining– biological diversity. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the major tools with which policymakers in the European Union (EU) can achieve this aim. However, so far, the CAP has proved largely ineffective – or even detrimental – to this goal. With relatively localised exceptions, t

This article offers an actionable framework for dealing with trust violations in R&D partnerships: it explains how to turn around a conflicted R&D partnership, repair trust, and learn from the experience. As innovation becomes more open, firms increasingly find themselves involved in R&D collaborations with suppliers, customers or even competitors. Trust plays a fundamental role in suc

PURPOSE: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) can be formed in foods by the reaction of reducing sugars with proteins, and have been shown to induce insulin resistance and obesity in experimental studies. We examined the association between dietary AGEs intake and changes in body weight in adults over an average of 5 years of follow-up.METHODS: A total of 255,170 participants aged 25-70 years we

Child perspective on being summoned to, visiting and exiting Barnahus Aim This study forms an essential part in informing effective prevention and interventions with children exposed to or at risk of domestic violence and sexual abuse, focusing on children becoming summoned, visiting and exiting Barnahus with a child perspective. Background In Sweden when custodians are under suspicion, the child

Our study aims to investigate the relationships of the major lineages within the moth family Geometridae, with a focus on the poorly studied Oenochrominae- Desmobathrinae complex, and to translate some of the results into a coherent subfamilial and tribal level classification for the family. We analyzed a molecular dataset of 1,206 Geometroidea terminal taxa from all biogeographical regions compri

In the first part of this thesis, three intermetallic compounds are discussed, that were originally thought of as thallium iodide type compounds. Starting from small evidence that there is more than meets the eye, investigations began to find the true structure of AuIn. AuIn emerged to be modulated with various domain sizes over temperatures between room temperature and 400◦C, where at room temper