Conic finance is a brand new quantitative finance theory. The thesis is on the applications of conic finance on South African Financial Markets. Conic finance gives a new perspective on the way people should perceive financial markets. Particularly in incomplete markets, where there are non-unique prices and the residual risk is rampant, conic finance plays a crucial role in providing prices that are acceptable at a stress level. The theory assumes that price depends on the direction of trade and there are two prices, one for buying from the market called the ask price and one for selling to the market called the bid price. The bid-ask spread reects the substantial cost of the unhedgeable risk that is present in the market. The hypothesis being considered in this thesis is whether conic finance can reduce the residual risk? Conic finance models bid-ask prices of cashows by applying the theory of acceptability indices to cashows. The theory of acceptability combines elements of arbitrage pricing theory and expected utility theory. Combining the two theories, set of arbitrage opportunities are extended to the set of all opportunities that a wide range of market participants are prepared to accept. The preferences of the market participants are captured by utility functions. The utility functions lead to the concepts of acceptance sets and the associated coherent risk measures. The acceptance sets (market preferences) are modeled using sets of probability measures. The set accepted by all market participants is the intersection of all the sets, which is convex. The size of this set is characterized by an index of acceptabilty. This index of acceptability allows one to speak of cashows acceptable at a level, known as the stress level. The relevant set of probability measures that can value the cashows properly is found through the use of distortion functions. In the first chapter, we introduce the theory of conic finance and build a foundation that leads to the problem and objectives of the thesis. In chapter two, we build on the foundation built in the previous chapter, and we explain in depth the theory of acceptability indices and coherent risk measures. A brief discussion on coherent risk measures is done here since the theory of acceptability indices builds on coherent risk measures. It is also in this chapter, that some new acceptability indices are introduced. In chapter three, focus is shifted to mathematical tools for financial applications. The chapter can be seen as a prerequisite as it bridges the gap from mathematical tools in complete markets to incomplete markets, which is the market that conic finance theory is trying to exploit. As the chapter ends, models used for continuous time modeling and simulations of stochastic processes are presented. In chapter four, the attention is focussed on the numerical methods that are relevant to the thesis. Details on obtaining parameters using the maximum likelihood method and calibrating the parameters to market prices are presented. Next, option pricing by Fourier transform methods is detailed. Finally a discussion on the bid-ask formulas relevant to the thesis is done. Most of the numerical implementations were carried out in Matlab. Chapter five gives an introduction to the world of option trading strategies. Some illustrations are used to try and explain the option trading strategies. Explanations of the possible scenarios at the expiration date for the different option strategies are also included. Chapter six is the appex of the thesis, where results from possible real market scenarios are presented and discussed. Only numerical results were reported on in the thesis. Empirical experiments could not be done due to limitations of availabilty of real market data. The findings from the numerical experiments showed that the spreads from conic finance are reduced. This results in reduced residual risk and reduced low cost of entering into the trading strategies. The thesis ends with formal discussions of the findings in the thesis and some possible directions for further research in chapter seven. / Thesis (MSc (Risk Analysis))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Conic finance is a brand new quantitative finance theory. The thesis is on the applications of conic finance on South African Financial Markets. Conic finance gives a new perspective on the way people should perceive financial markets. Particularly in incomplete markets, where there are non-unique prices and the residual risk is rampant, conic finance plays a crucial role in providing prices that are acceptable at a stress level. The theory assumes that price depends on the direction of trade and there are two prices, one for buying from the market called the ask price and one for selling to the market called the bid price. The bid-ask spread reects the substantial cost of the unhedgeable risk that is present in the market. The hypothesis being considered in this thesis is whether conic finance can reduce the residual risk? Conic finance models bid-ask prices of cashows by applying the theory of acceptability indices to cashows. The theory of acceptability combines elements of arbitrage pricing theory and expected utility theory. Combining the two theories, set of arbitrage opportunities are extended to the set of all opportunities that a wide range of market participants are prepared to accept. The preferences of the market participants are captured by utility functions. The utility functions lead to the concepts of acceptance sets and the associated coherent risk measures. The acceptance sets (market preferences) are modeled using sets of probability measures. The set accepted by all market participants is the intersection of all the sets, which is convex. The size of this set is characterized by an index of acceptabilty. This index of acceptability allows one to speak of cashows acceptable at a level, known as the stress level. The relevant set of probability measures that can value the cashows properly is found through the use of distortion functions. In the first chapter, we introduce the theory of conic finance and build a foundation that leads to the problem and objectives of the thesis. In chapter two, we build on the foundation built in the previous chapter, and we explain in depth the theory of acceptability indices and coherent risk measures. A brief discussion on coherent risk measures is done here since the theory of acceptability indices builds on coherent risk measures. It is also in this chapter, that some new acceptability indices are introduced. In chapter three, focus is shifted to mathematical tools for financial applications. The chapter can be seen as a prerequisite as it bridges the gap from mathematical tools in complete markets to incomplete markets, which is the market that conic finance theory is trying to exploit. As the chapter ends, models used for continuous time modeling and simulations of stochastic processes are presented. In chapter four, the attention is focussed on the numerical methods that are relevant to the thesis. Details on obtaining parameters using the maximum likelihood method and calibrating the parameters to market prices are presented. Next, option pricing by Fourier transform methods is detailed. Finally a discussion on the bid-ask formulas relevant to the thesis is done. Most of the numerical implementations were carried out in Matlab. Chapter five gives an introduction to the world of option trading strategies. Some illustrations are used to try and explain the option trading strategies. Explanations of the possible scenarios at the expiration date for the different option strategies are also included. Chapter six is the appex of the thesis, where results from possible real market scenarios are presented and discussed. Only numerical results were reported on in the thesis. Empirical experiments could not be done due to limitations of availabilty of real market data. The findings from the numerical experiments showed that the spreads from conic finance are reduced. This results in reduced residual risk and reduced low cost of entering into the trading strategies. The thesis ends with formal discussions of the findings in the thesis and some possible directions for further research in chapter seven. / Thesis (MSc (Risk Analysis))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Univ., Diss.--Frankfurt/Main, 2004. / Literaturangaben.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Karlsruhe, 2001.

Submitted by Ana Lúcia Silva (lucinhaps@uol.com.br) on 2011-08-01T19:14:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese ana-lúcia.versão final.docx: 1254993 bytes, checksum: 3c56a43adf0c3460adff4afe8351a474 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-08-01T19:42:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese ana-lúcia.versão final.docx: 1254993 bytes, checksum: 3c56a43adf0c3460adff4afe8351a474 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-08-01T19:44:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese ana-lúcia.versão final.docx: 1254993 bytes, checksum: 3c56a43adf0c3460adff4afe8351a474 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-08-02T11:08:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese ana-lúcia.versão final.docx: 1254993 bytes, checksum: 3c56a43adf0c3460adff4afe8351a474 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-01 / A tese tem como objetivo discutir a liquidez do mercado secundário de títulos da dívida pública no Brasil. Em três ensaios, defende que problemas de organização do mercado prejudicam a ampliação da liquidez e que a formação de preços nesse mercado acompanha as taxas do mercado futuro de depósitos interfinanceiros – DI futuro, e não o contrário, como esperado, já que a presença de títulos de elevada liquidez no mercado à vista é que deveria desenvolver o mercado futuro. O primeiro ensaio mede e estima os determinantes do bid-ask spread cotado (indicador de liquidez) para cada vértice de taxa de juros, tendo como referência os vencimentos dos títulos pré-fixados em cabeça de semestre: LTNs (LTN-13 e LTN-11) e NTNFs- (NTNF-17, NTNF-14). Mercados com menores spreads são mais líquidos, mercados com spreads maiores são menos líquidos. Os modelos empíricos foram estimados por meio de análises de séries de tempo. O trabalho utiliza o cálculo do bid-ask cotado para medir a liquidez dos títulos em análise, medido pela diferença entre o ask price e o bid price de fechamento do mercado. A estimação dos determinantes da liquidez de mercado foi realizada com base no método dos mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO). O modelo testa se maturidade e volume de negócio determinam o bid-ask spread dos títulos. Mercados com menores spreads são mais líquidos do que mercados com maiores spreads. Os resultados mostram que a mediana e a média do bid-ask spread cotado crescem com a maturidade dos títulos. Os sinais dos parâmetros das regressões confirmam para a maioria dos vértices dos vértices analisados neste trabalho a hipótese inicial de que o bid-ask spread aumenta com a elevação maturidade e diminui com maior volume negociado, confirmando a hipótese de baixa liquidez dos títulos públicos no mercado secundário brasileiro. O segundo ensaio analisa uma singularidade relevante do mercado brasileiro: a dependência da formação dos preços e da taxa de juros no mercado secundário de títulos públicos (LTN e NTNF) em relação ao DI futuro. As variáveis utilizadas foram o bid-ask spread cotado e o volume negociado no mercado de títulos públicos e de DI futuro. O ensaio utiliza tanto o método de Granger (1969), que tem como suposto que as informações relevantes para a previsão das variáveis estão contidas exclusivamente nos dados das séries temporais destas mesmas variáveis, quanto o modelo de Geweke (1982) para testar a causalidade, simultaneidade e dependência linear entre as duas séries no tempo. Os resultados confirmam a hipótese inicial de que bid-ask spread e volume de títulos públicos possuem forte dependência do bid-ask spread e do volume para contratos de DI futuro de mesmo vencimento, dependência devida à causalidade do mercado de DI futuro para o mercado de títulos públicos para a maioria dos vértices analisados nesse trabalho, indicando que a taxa CDI é benchmark para a precificação dos títulos públicos. Uma possível explicação está nos fatores de microestrutura, que fazem com que esse mercado seja o mais conveniente para negociar risco de liquidez e de mercado. O terceiro ensaio discute as implicações do desenho institucional sobre a liquidez do mercado secundário de títulos públicos - mecanismos e regras de negociação, desenho dos títulos e base de investidores. Essas regras afetam a formação dos preços no mercado, definem as trocas, a dimensão da assimetria de informação e os custos de transação e do processo de negociação. Pela sua relevância, a organização do mercado de títulos públicos tem sido objeto de reformas em diversos países. O terceiro ensaio é finalizado com a análise das medidas adotadas no Brasil e de seus resultados.

Submitted by Helder Antoniazzi (helderua@gmail.com) on 2013-09-11T00:46:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao 10-set-13.pdf: 970680 bytes, checksum: 19edacf9a47e77bc9b873b8e4fac35ed (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2013-09-11T13:35:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao 10-set-13.pdf: 970680 bytes, checksum: 19edacf9a47e77bc9b873b8e4fac35ed (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-11T13:49:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao 10-set-13.pdf: 970680 bytes, checksum: 19edacf9a47e77bc9b873b8e4fac35ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-21 / The present study analyzes the influence of share's market makers on liquidity, validating a proxy that is able to measure transactions costs into secondary market. Since 1984, important papers face the challenge of measuring liquidity and recently a general review was done to compare different measures, finding the most accurate ones. This article intends to revisit these measures and select a metric most suitable to Brazilian market. Once the proxy is chosen, will be then evaluated the relevance of the market maker in determining transaction costs through a modified version of econometric equation from Sanvicente (2012). Lastly, the great contribution of the article is to identify whether the companies should hire a market maker for their stocks, in order to reduce the costs of trading in its shares. / O trabalho tem por objetivo validar a influência dos formadores de mercado de ações sobre a liquidez, uma proxy capaz de medir os custos de transação no mercado secundário de ações. O desafio de medir corretamente a liquidez teve trabalhos relevantes desde 1984, e recentemente foi alvo de uma revisão geral que comparou diversas medidas e encontrou alguns ganhadores. A proposta do presente trabalho é a de revisitar estas medidas e selecionar a métrica mais adequada ao mercado Brasileiro. Escolhida a proxy mais significativa, será então avaliada a relevância do formador de mercado na determinação dos custos de transação por meio de uma versão modificada da equação econométrica de Sanvicente (2012). Por fim, este trabalho será relevante para identificar se as empresas devem contratar formadores de mercado para suas ações, com o fim de reduzirem os custos da negociação de suas ações.

The aim of this thesis is to describe of the chat application in the virtual reference services from both theoretical and practical point of view. The theoretical part is based on close reading of the mostly foreign literature. The first introductory chapter discusses the terminology and definition of reference services and then virtual reference services, which have not been settled yet. The second chapter deals with chat application. All phases of the chat application are mentioned, from planning through implementation and marketing to the final evaluation of the service. The third chapter is devoted to chat as a specific form of communication with particular focus on its advantages and disadvantages in the library services. The findings of these chapters are used in the analysis of the chosen virtual reference services. The practical part in the fourth chapter constitutes chat in real use, first in foreign libraries, then in Czech libraries as well. The fifth chapter constitutes the main contribution of the practical part. It describes the chat preparation within the Czech cooperative virtual reference service "Ask your library" in the National Library of the Czech Republic, in which the autor of this thesis participated. The conclusion provides a brief summary.

Den här studien undersöker yrkesverksamma teckenspråkstolkars syn på likheter och skillnader mellan på-platstolkning och distanstolkning. Undersökningen behandlar också samordning och teckenspråkstolkars uppfattning av begreppet. Materialet består av videoinspelade intervjuer som sedan analyserats utifrån uppsatsens frågeställningar. Teckenspråket är ett visuellt språk och innehåller på så vis grammatiska delar som inte återfinns i talat språk, exempelvis teckenrummet framför den som tecknar. I denna studie undersöks vad som förändras i tolkningen när det sker via en skärm och på så vis blir tvådimensionellt i stället för tredimensionellt för mottagaren. Även påverkan på tolkningen av att tolkanvändarna inte befinner sig i samma fysiska rum som tolken tas upp i undersökningen. Resultatet visar att distanstolkning begränsar teckenspråkets referenssystem i det tredimensionella rummet, men även användandet av kroppsspråket i ett tolkmedierat samtal. Vid på-platstolkning kan tolken vrida sig mot en tolkanvändare för att diskret få kontakt med denne, men vid tolkning på distans fungerar inte denna kroppsliga orientering som resurs på samma sätt med tanke på att skärmen är tvådimensionell och att tolkanvändaren inte befinner sig i samma rum som tolken. / This study examines professional sign language interpreters view on similarities and differences between interpreting on site and remote interpreting. The study also examines coordination and the understanding of the word by sign language interpreters. The material for this study consists of videorecorded interviews which have been analysed based on the study’s research questions. Sign language is a visual language and therefore has grammatical differences to spoken language, for example the signing space in front of the person signing. This study examines what parts of interpreting that change when it is performed remotely and therefore becomes two- instead of three-dimensional for the recipient. The study also investigates how the interpreting is affected when the interpreter users are not in the same physical room as the interpreter. The results show that remote interpreting limits the reference system as well as how bodily orientation is used as a resource in an interpreted conversation. The interpreter can turn towards an interpreter user during on-site interpreting in order to get their attention discreetly, however, in remote interpreting this body turn does not work in the same way, seeing as the screen is two dimensional and that the interpreter user is not in the same physical room as the interpreter.

Rapid growth in the field of communications industry has led to newer opportunities and challenges in the design of CMOS based monolithic integrated circuits. ASK modulators are a class of digital modulators which are known for their relative simplicity of implementation for low cost applications in the industrial and biomedical domains. This thesis presents a LC-based CMOS Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) modulator scheme which demonstrates promising capability for radio frequency designs. This work describes the design and implementation of differential cross-coupled NMOS only LC power oscillator with ASK modulation to operate at 2.4 GHz frequency. In this work, 65nm CMOS process technology has been used for implementation. The work mainly focused on system parameters such as oscillation frequency, output signal power, power consumption and phase noise. The LC tank was created with a centre-tap on-chip differential spiral inductor and a Metal Insulator Metal (MIM) capacitor. The method of a current mirror with switching technique is employed for biasing the LC oscillator as well as ASK modulation output. The oscillator circuit has been optimised by using a simulation based approach to study the design and measurements to gain a greater insight into the performance of the ASK modulator. An output signal power of -1.59dBm at 2.30 GHz with a phase noise of -115.39dBc/Hz@1MHz and a power consumption of 5.92mW has been achieved at the layout level. Optimal ASK modulated output performance has been obtained for the data rate of up to around 40Mbits/s. In this thesis, simulation results have been presented for both the schematic and the layout levels.

One of the purposes with this master’s thesis is to shed light on tacit knowledge in the reference interview. Theoretical starting points are Robert Taylor’s report about question-negotiation and information-seeking in libraries, tacit knowledge, the concept of horizon in human consciousness and conversation methodology. The empirical material has been collected through the qualitative methods shadowing and interview. The thesis has a section that delves into the method of shadowing, as this turned out to be a useful method to perceive tacit knowledge in reference interviews. The study’s second purpose aims therefore to investigate if shadowing can be developed to perceive and describe tacit knowledge in unspoken work situations, like a reference interview. The empirical analysis shows aspects and components of tacit knowledge in the reference interview. It also shows strategies developed and used by librarians to be able to help users to find the information they express that they need. Shadowing was a useful method in the study, as it can capture nuances and non-verbal details in the interplay between librarian and user.  This is a two years master's thesis in Library and information science.