Though the "doughnut hole" is gradually closing, Part D remains an imperfect program.
Through a wave of acquisitions, Itau is gradually closing the gap on its archrival Bradesco, currently Brazil's largest private bank.
The discrepancy in earnings between graduates and non-graduates is gradually closing (it's currently around a 45 per cent average) but there's hope that, with the Government forcing business to take apprenticeships seriously, we could see the difference close further.
This space is gradually closing, and the task is to think and act before this opportunity is swallowed by the neoliberal demand to simply negotiate a solution in the interest of the very way of life that produced the predicament.
The physicalist's picture is that science is gradually closing in on a complete account of consciousness by learning more and more about how consciousness depends on physical structures and processes.
He showed her his tiny cell, joked about his experiences, and then went to the quarry where he had hacked stones for 13 years, now looking like a bright open-air amphitheatre, where he welcomed the new woman governor, Colonel Jones, who is gradually closing down the prison.
But that gap is gradually closing, as Google has stepped up efforts to get Android users to register with credit cards.
As can be observed from the Figure 4, with passage of time there seem to be convergence where female mortality from road traffic accidents is gradually closing up with males.
Also, some authors (e.g. Hug and Zhang, 2010: p. 10) advise the Western states to take cognizance of the fact that the time window when they have a comparative advantage in technology is gradually closing, so their leverage over Kazakhstan is progressively waning.
Most notably, a Goldman Sachs research report released over the summer declared that "the window for profitable investment in thermal coal is gradually closing," suggesting that if you haven't already gotten product into the pipeline, you're too late to make money.
