The relative importance of various drivers of economic growth and prosperity has evolved over time and for a growing number of countries, innovation, in its many dimensions, is emerging as a leading factor. The 'Innovation for Development Report' provides a comprehensive look at the role of innovation in enhancing the development process.
Libres para vivir....Free to live. Living this past year in Valencia, Venezuela, it was amazing to see the Lord work in the lives of students, my teammates, and myself. From extreme adventures to hanging out in the park to discipleship to weekly Bible study to welcome parties, and good-bye parties, to students growing in community and their desire to see God change their campus to a national conference to people receiving Christ for the first time to learning how to make caraotas con arepas to catching a glimpse of how God has worked in Venezuela the past eleven years to living life with students and watching them grow in their love for the Lord, it was an incredible year. I hope that you enjoy living these experiences vicariously through these weekly correspondences. Though such times fade into a memory, we can still rejoice in what the Lord has done and be excited about the eternal hope that we have in Him. -David Hamilton Noyd
This report is the latest in the BreastScreen Australia monitoring report series, which is published annually to provide regular monitoring of national participation and performance for BreastScreen Australia. This report provides data for the 2009-2010 period of participation in BreastScreen Australia, as well as the latest available breast cancer incidence and mortality data (from sources outside BreastScreen Australia).
More college-bound seniors than ever are taking the SAT—in 2012, 1.66 million of them. Up Your Score: SAT is the only guide written for students, by students. Filled with expert advice and proven strategies, it injects a feisty attitude into the dry business of test prep, fending off test anxiety with humor. Its four authors and guest editor achieved perfect or near-perfect scores and attended the colleges of their choice, and the book shows readers how they can do the same. Discover the eight core ways the test approaches math. Learn 600 key vocabulary words with proven tricks to make definitions memorable. Master the 13 most important grammar rules, and find out how to prepare your essay in advance. Plus, Up Your Score shows how to “psych out” the test. How to think like the SAT. The best ways to fill in answer circles and other strategies to save precious minutes. Tips for maintaining concentration. Why it’s always better to guess than to leave a question unanswered. And a recipe for energy-boosting Sweet & Tasty 800 Bars. Up Your Score is the inexpensive complement—and reality check—to the institutional tomes by Princeton Review and Kaplan. It’s the guerrilla guide that students recommend to each other—the only one kids actually want to use. But don’t take our word for it—check out these posts from Up Your Score’s Facebook page: “OMG, with this book, my second SAT score went up 220 points from my first score . . . thanks for the awesome tips. everyone should buy this book!:)” “Just bought the book for my SAT test . . . I’m already laughing and it’s making studying a little less terrible “I got a 1900 partly because of you guys, thank you SO much!”
Easy global liquidity conditions, stronger risk appetite and a retrenchment in cross-border bank lending led to a surge in emerging market firms’ bond issuance in international markets (what we term “The Bon(d)anza”). Using firm-level data for five large Latin American economies, we provide evidence of a significant change in companies’ external funding strategies and liability structures after 2010, as well as in the balance sheet risks that firms face. We find that stepped up bond issuance was mostly aimed at re-financing rather than funding investment projects, as firms extended the average duration of their debt while securing lower fixed-rates, reducing roll-over and interest rate risks. The shift towards safer maturity structures has come at the expense of a leveraging-up in foreign-currency-denominated financial debt in several countries— reversing a de-dollarization trend seen during the last decade. We also provide evidence that a substantial part of these bonds were issued through offshore vehicles, suggesting regulatory and tax arbitrage strategies. For some corporations, rising dollar debt and high leverage will be particularly taxing in an environment of US dollar strengthening, less buoyant commodity prices and slowing domestic activity.
