Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Beef and chicken meat play a very crucial role in providing food to South African consumers. However, the rise of food prices in South Africa is viewed to curtail progress and drives consumers into debt and forgone opportunity to access food. Hence, it is of importance to understand the consumer price index (CPI) of meat and the disaggregate components of beef and chicken meat producer price indexes (PPI) as they give a clear insight into how individual commodities contribute to the general and food price inflation. The study aimed to comparatively analyse the relationship between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as PPI chicken meat and CPI meat in South Africa from 1991 to 2018. The objectives of the study were to compare the indexes’ variability, correlation, and causality between the different PPI and CPI components. The objectives were analysed using the Coefficient of variation (CV), the Pearson coefficient correlation, the Granger causality test, and the Vector Error Correction model. The CV findings highlight that PPI beef had high variability (65%) compared to CPI meat (56.7%), whereas PPI chicken meat had low variability (49.2%) compared to CPI meat(56.7%). There was evidence of a positive correlation (0.99) between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as PPI chicken meat and CPI meat using Pearson coefficient correlation. In addition, a long-run relationship was found between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as between PPI chicken meat and CPI meat by using the VEC model. Granger causality results indicated that there was a unidirectional relationship from PPI chicken meat to CPI meat, and independent relationships were found from PPI beef to CPI meat, CPI meat to PPI beef as well as CPI meat to PPI chicken meat. Based on the findings, the study recommends that policymakers, through evaluation of monetary policies, should continue maintaining a specific inflation target range as that will assist in stabilising meat prices in the economy. At the same time, protect meat producers against input price inflation using instruments such as input subsidies, grants, and the provision of modern technologies. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

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<p>  To improve cardiometabolic health, omnivores are often recommended to simultaneously adopt a healthy dietary pattern with an emphasis on increasing intakes of plant-based proteins and decreasing intakes of red and processed meats. However, the totality of observational and experimental results inconsistently supports relations between red meat intake and risks of cardiometabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Red meat is often not clearly or consistently defined within nutrition and health research and is consumed within healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns. These issues contribute to the conflicting findings. Observational data, which assess red meat (both unprocessed and processed) within an unrestricted Western-style dietary pattern, typically support positive associations with cardiometabolic disease incidence and mortality outcomes. Whereas experimental randomized controlled trial data consistently show that consuming healthy dietary patterns with or without the inclusion of lean unprocessed red meat, improve cardiometabolic disease risk factors. These discordant findings have left laymen, researchers,and policymakers alike to question whether a high intake of red meat is causally related to cardiometabolic disease outcomes. The results of the single blinded crossover randomized controlled feeding trial (Study 1, Chapter 3) support that consuming a U.S.-style healthy dietary pattern that included two 3oz servings/day of lean unprocessed beef did not adversely affect cardiometabolic disease risk factors. Based on observational and experimental research, the umbrella systematic review described in Chapter4, led to the inference that red and processed meats are not causally related with cardiovascular disease. However, relations between processed meat and mixed unprocessed and processed meat and type 2 diabetes were inferred to be potentially causal. Overall, the results described in this dissertation support that lean and unprocessed red meats consumed within healthy dietary patterns do not adversely affect cardiometabolic health</p>

Housing bubbles could have a great impact on the economy of a country, especially for a country as large as China. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the housing bubble situation of a region. Based on the classification of cities, this research has selected Yangzhou as the main research sample to predict the overall situation of housing bubble in third-level cities in China. The paper integrates the relevant theories and methods of the housing bubble research mentioned in the literature, and seeks out a set of suitable real estate bubble research methods: using ADF test, EG cointegration analysis to see whether the indicators are suitable as variables in the Granger causality test and regression analysis, and then perform regression analysis on the appropriate variables and housing prices to judge the real estate bubble. Also, the result of Yangzhou is applied to compare with that of Beijing and Shanghai so as to get the difference of real estate markets between first- and third-level cities. / Bostadsbubblor kan ge allvarlig inverkan på ett lands ekonomi, särskilt för ett så stort land som Kina. Därför är det nödvändigt att utvärdera om eventuella bostadsbubblor förekommer i olika regioner. I detta arbete analyseras förekomsten av en bostadsbubbla i en av Kinas städer i den tredje storleksklassen enligt det kinesiska klassificeringssystemet. Studieobjektet som valts är Yangzhou. I uppsatsen diskuteras de relevanta teorier och metoder som förekommer i litteraturen för analys av bostadsbubblor och ett antal metoder tillämpas. ADF-test och Engel-Grainer-kointegration används för att avgöra vilka av de tillgängliga marknadsindikatorerna som är lämpliga att använda vid test av Granger-kausalitet och i regressionsanalyser. Regressioner med de utvalda variablerna görs sedan mot bostadspriser för att erhålla mått på förekomsten av en bostadsbubbla. De empiriska resultaten från studien jämförs också med resultat för Beijing and Shanghai för att påvisa skillnader mellan marknaderna i städer av första respektive tredje storleksklassen.

In 2020 the European Court of Human Rights received applications KlimaSeniorinnen and Others v Switzerland and Duarte Agostinho and Others v Portugal and 32 Others. Verein KlimaSerioninnen Schweiz is an association of some 2500 elderly Swiss women experiencing health issues due to rising temperatures. Applicants in the Duarte case are six Portuguese children and young people experiencing especially the mental health implications of the insufficient European climate policies. The applications claimed for the respondent governments to violate their human rights under Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private- and family life) of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Grand Chamber of judges delivered decisions for these cases on April 9th 2024. The Court ruled in favor of the Swiss association KlimaSeniorinnen and rejected the rest of the climate change applicants on grounds of admissibility.  In my thesis project, I examine the 2024 decisions focusing especially on questions of victim status and causality. By discussing the rulings this thesis will map out criteria the potential climate change applicants must meet when seeking climate justice from the European Court of Human Rights.

As an indirect consequence of increased heat cooling requirements, personal computers (PC) have become noisier due to the increased use of fans. Hard disk drives also contribute to the annoying noise radiated by personal computers, creating a need for the control of computer noise. Due to size constraints, the implementation of passive noise control techniques in PC is difficult. Alternatively, active noise control (ANC) may provide a compact solution to the noise problems discussed above, which is the subject of this work. First, the computer noise sources were characterized. The structure-borne path was altered passively through the decoupling of the vibrating sources from the chassis. Global noise control strategy was then investigated with a hybrid passive/active noise control technique based on folded lined ducts, integrating microphones and speakers, that were added to the PC air inlet and outlet. While the ducts were effective above 1000Hz, the use of a MIMO adaptive feedforward digital controller lead to significant noise reduction at the ducts outlets below 1000Hz. However, global performance was limited due to important airborne flanking paths. Finally, the same type of controller was used to create a zone of quiet around the PC user head location. It was implemented using multimedia speakers and microphones, while the computer was placed in a semi-reverberant environment. A large zone of quiet surrounding the head was created at low frequencies (250Hz), and its size would reduce with increasing frequency (up to 1000Hz). / Master of Science

Pinhole leaks in copper plumbing pipes are a big concern for the homeowners. The problem is spread across the nation and remains a threat to plumbing systems of all ages. Due to the absence of a single acceptable mechanistic theory no preventive measure is available to date. Most of the present mechanistic theories are based on analysis of failed pipe samples however an objective comparison with other pipes that did not fail is seldom made. The variability in hydraulic and water quality parameters has made the problem complex and unquantifiable in terms of plumbing susceptibility to pinhole leaks. The present work determines the spatial and temporal spread of pinhole leaks across United States. The hotspot communities are identified based on repair histories and surveys. An assessment of variability in water quality is presented based on nationwide water quality data. A synthesis of causal factors is presented and a scoring system for copper pitting is developed using goal programming. A probabilistic model is presented to evaluate optimal replacement time for plumbing systems. Methodologies for mechanistic modeling based on corrosion thermodynamics and kinetics are presented. / Master of Science

COVID-19 pandemic has exposed both strengths and weaknesses in world communities and particularly put a severe strain on health care. It is widely accepted that lifestyle factors are an important piece of the puzzle in preventive work against infectious diseases. One of these lifestyle factors is physical activity (FA) that positively affects people's well-being and has a strengthening effect on, among other things, the immune system. The purpose of the study was to investigate how people that have had SARS-CoV-2 infection describe their FA level and general state of health before the illness and how they feel that it has affected their disease course. A total of 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted during the period FebruaryMarch, which were then interpreted using content analysis as a tool. During the analysis work three main categories were identified: Well-balanced FA level, Relatively good general health, Experience of COVID-19 and FA significance. Most respondents perceived themselves as physically active to a greater or lesser extent. Respondents' perception indicates that FA has an important role in facing COVID-19 disease. Results indicate an increasingly accepted view in research that FA can act as a protective factor against SARS-CoV-2 virus / <p>Betyg i Ladok 220613.</p>

第一章 台灣與美國股市價量關係的分量迴歸分析 摘要 本文利用分量迴歸來觀察台灣和美國股市報酬率和成交量的價量關係。實證結果發現兩地股市的價量關係截然不同。台灣股市的報酬率與成交量之間具有正向關係，呈現「價量齊揚」和「價跌量縮」的現象，而前者效果通常較顯著；但報酬率接近最大漲幅限制時，報酬率與成交量之間並無顯著關係，報酬率接近最大跌幅限制時，「價跌量縮」的現象甚至更強。相對於台灣，美國股市的報酬率與成交量則出現「價量齊揚」與「價量背離」互相對稱的 “V” 字關係。就實證方法而言，傳統以 OLS 方法估計的迴歸模型並無法得到上述的實證結果。進一步的分析顯示，融券成數的高低以及平盤以下不得放空等規定都是造成台灣股市出現「價跌量縮」的可能原因。 第二章 股市價量關係的分量迴歸分析 (二) 摘要 本章利用分量迴歸觀察包括台灣在內的亞洲新興工業國家與成熟股市的價量關係。實證結果顯示，亞洲新興工業國家和日本股市「價量齊揚」的效果較強，其中香港、南韓和新加坡呈現較弱的「價量背離」現象，因此價量之間有不對稱的 “V” 字關係；而日本股市則呈現「價跌量縮」，與第一章分析的台灣股市價量關係相似。在成熟股市的價量關係中，英國金融時報指數、美國道瓊工業指數和德國股價指數皆呈現對稱的 “V” 字關係，與美國US指數的價量關係相似。亞洲地區的國家在1997下半年到1998上半年普遍經歷了一場金融風暴，本文進一步的分析發現在這場風暴期間，亞洲地區除了台灣以外，日本、香港、南韓與新加坡都出現較強的「價量齊揚」與「價量背離」，這種現象可能肇因於投資人認為風暴期間的股價報酬率風險較高，遂使得股價報酬率對成交量的反應較為敏銳。相對而言，歐美地區的國家，受到亞洲金融風暴的影響較小，所以整體的價量關係在亞洲金融風暴期間並無重大改變。本章的結果都是透過分量迴歸所獲得。 第三章 股市價量因果關係的分量迴歸分析 摘要 本文依據分量迴歸設計 Granger 因果關係的新檢驗方法，並依此方法來檢驗幾個股市價量之間的因果關係。本文分析的股市包括日本、英國與美國等世界前三大股市，以及合稱亞洲四小龍的台灣、香港、南韓與新加坡等新興工業國家或地區的股市。實證結果顯示：除了台灣股市以外，其他的股市皆呈現 “V” 字的跨期價量關係。其中英國、美國、香港和新加坡股市的跨期價量關係大體呈現正向「價量齊揚」與負向「價量背離」互相對稱的 “V” 字關係，而日本和南韓股市則是「價量齊揚」較強的不對稱 “V” 字關係。此一結果表示這些股市的價量之間都存在分配上的 Granger (1969) 因果關係。但若以均數迴歸來衡量跨期價量關係，則所有股市都呈現不顯著的跨期價量關係，也就是傳統文獻上所謂價量之間沒有 Granger 因果關係。本文所提出的 Granger 因果關係之分量迴歸分析，可以觀察到整個條件分配中各分量的因果關係，為分配上的 Granger 因果關係提供一個較完整的檢驗方法。 / We examine the relationship between the stock return and trading volume in the Taiwan and U.S. Stock Exchanges using quantile regression. The empirical results show that the return-volume relations in these two exchanges are quite different. For Taiwan data, there are significant positive return-volume relations across quantiles, showing that a large positive return is usually accompanied with a large trading volume and a large negative return with a small trading volume, yet the effect of former is stronger. However, such relations change when returns approach the price limits. We also find that for U.S. data, return-volume relations exhibit symmetric V-shapes across quantiles, showing that a large return (in either sign) is usually accompanied with a large trading volume. On the other hand, linear regressions estimated by the ordinary least square method are unable to reveal such patterns. Further investigation shows that various restrictions on short sales in the Taiwan Stock Exchange may explain the difference between the return-volume relations in Taiwan and U.S. data.