Les pertes de rendement dues au climat sont positivement corrélées. Cela va à l’encontre des principes d’assurance et expose l’assureur à des risques financiers qu’il ne peut supporter seul. Les réassureurs eux-mêmes peuvent être dépassés par les sommes en jeu. Les marchés financiers en revanche possèdent la capacité financière requise et l’effet diversifiant des risques climatiques pourraient intéresser les investisseurs. Une stratégie de gestion du risque systémique consistant pour l’assureur à isoler la partie corrélée du risque rendement et à la transférer aux marchés financiers via des obligations catastrophe est analysée en trois points. Tout d’abord, des modèles de tarification isolant la part systémique du risque sont présentés. Ensuite, la démonstration de la faible corrélation d’une obligation agricole est faite, ainsi que de ses rendements élevés, confirmant son potentiel pour les investisseurs. Enfin, l’évolution de la valeur de marché des compagnies émettrices d’obligations catastrophe est étudiée. Au global, aucun impact n’est détecté. En détail, des émissions répétées favorisent la hausse de la valeur de l’émetteur, et de grosses émissions en favorisent la baisse. Les assurances indicielles sont utilisées comme support de l’étude. Basées sur des proxys de rendement plutôt que sur des rendements réels, elles donnent accès à des bases de données complètes et fiables. Ces travaux contribuent à la littérature restreinte concernant les risques agricoles et leur transfert vers les marchés financiers. Ils fournissent aux assureurs une stratégie alternative de transfert de risque et ouvrent la voie vers des outils innovants d’investissement. / Crop yield insurance comes with loss correlation, impeding the classical insurance risk pooling. Insurers alone cannot face the high exposure entailed by weather risks, which can even fall beyond the reinsurers’ financial capacity. Financial markets appear as a logical risk-transfer solution, investors being potentially interested by the diversifying effect of weather-linked risks. A systemic risk management strategy consisting for the insurer to isolate the correlated component of the crop yield risk and to transfer it to the financial markets through catastrophe bonds is investigated in three points. First, insurance pricing models separating the risk into a systemic and a non-systemic component are presented. Second, the interest for investors to take part in a cat bond based on agricultural risks is analyzed. The low correlation to financial markets of such bonds and their potentially high returns confirm the attractiveness of this new asset class for investors. Finally, the evolution of the market value of cat bonds issuers is studied. No general evolution is identified, but firms used to issue cat bonds may expect their market value to increase, while the firms issuing the largest bonds may expect their market value to decrease. The study is applied to the case of index insurance, based on yield proxys rather than real yields, which provides detailed data for accurate risk quantification. This work contributes to the still limited literature regarding agricultural risks and insurance by describing an integrated systemic risk management strategy providing insurers with alternative risk-sharing solutions and investors with innovative asset allocation opportunities.

This masters thesis consists of a translation of acts I-IV from Dion Boucicault’s play London Assurance, a theoretical comment on the translation and a comparative study of asides. It is divided into four parts: an introduction, presenting the work and my translation strategy, as well as a short stylistic analysis; source text and translation; a theoretical comment, mainly based on theories from the field of Translation Studies, but also theories on lingustics and literature; and a comparative study of the use of asides as a theatrical convention in English and Swedish drama. The main focus of my translation strategy is to keep or adapt features that give the audience a sense of the cultural context where the play takes place, as well as the time – fashionable society in early Victorian England, while providing a text that is performable and speakable for the actors, and which preserves the humor present in the source text. / Den här masteruppsatsen består av en översättning av akt I-IV i Dion Boucicaults pjäs London Assurance, en teoretisk kommentar rörande översättningen samt en komparativ undersökning av avsidesrepliker. Den är uppdelad i fyra delar: en inledning där verket och min översättningsstrategi presenteras samt där en kort stilistisk analys görs, källtext och översättning, en teoretisk kommentar som främst grundar sig i översättningsvetenskapliga teorier, men även i språk- och litteraturvetenskapliga, samt en komparativ undersökning av användningen av avsidesrepliker som teaterkonvention i engelskt och svenskt drama. Min översättningsstrategi fokuserar på att behålla eller bearbeta sådana drag som ger publiken en känsla av pjäsens kulturella och tidsmässiga kontext – högre societet i det tidiga viktorianska England – samtidigt som texten ska vara spelbar och talbar för skådespelarna, och bevara den humor som finns i källtexten.

L’activité scientifique du sujet porte sur l’acquisition de données expérimentales et la modélisation de la composition des clathrates hydrates de gaz. Les domaines d’application concernent la séparation et le stockage de gaz, la purification de l’eau, et le stockage d’énergie par matériaux à changement de phase.L’équipe a mis en évidence il y a quelques années que la composition des hydrates de gaz était sensible aux conditions de cristallisation, et que le phénomène de formation se produisait en dehors de l’équilibre thermodynamique.Le travail de thèse a permis d’explorer plusieurs modes de cristallisation à partir de solutions de même composition initiale pour observer les différences concernant l’état final, compositions notamment, et les relier à la vitesse de cristallisation. Suivant le mode de cristallisation, lent ou rapide, l’acquisition des données expérimentales peut prendre de quelques jours à plusieurs semaines. Les expériences sont réalisées en réacteur pressurisé dans lequel nous mesurons en ligne la composition de la phase gaz et de la phase liquide, pour calculer par bilan de matière la composition de la phase hydrate.Nous avons bien mis en évidence des variations dans la composition de la phase hydrate suivant le mode de cristallisation. Nous avons dû établir un modèle thermodynamique donnant la composition de la phase hydrate à l’équilibre pour des mélanges de gaz qui n’avaient jamais été traité par la littérature, et qui ont donc nécessité des campagnes de mesure extrêmement lentes et donc longues pour être sûr de l’état thermodynamique à l’équilibre.Nous sommes en cours d’établir un modèle cinétique pour modéliser les écarts à cet état d’équilibre de référence pour nos expériences réalisées à vitesse de cristallisation rapide. / The scientific goal of this thesis is based on the acquisition of experimental data and the modeling of the composition of clathrates gas hydrate. The domains of application concern the gas separation and storage, water purification, and energy storage using change phase materials (PCMs).Our research team has recently demonstrated that the composition of gas hydrates was sensitive to the crystallization conditions, and that the phenomenon of formation was out of thermodynamic equilibrium. During this thesis, we have investigated several types of crystallization, which are based on the same initial states. The goal is to point out the differences between the initial solution composition and the final solution composition, and to establish a link between the final state and the crystallization rate.Depending on the rate of crystallization (slow or fast), the acquisition time of experimental data lasted from a few days to several weeks. The experimental tests were performed inside a stirred batch reactor (autoclave, 2.44 or 2.36 L) cooled with a double jacket. Real-time measurements of the composition of the gas and the liquid phases have been performed, in order to calculate the composition of the hydrate phase using mass balance calculations. Depending on the crystallization mode, we have identified several variations of the composition of the hydrate phase and final hydrate volume.We have established a successful thermodynamic model, which indicates the composition of the hydrate phase and hydrate volume in thermodynamic equilibrium state using a gas mixture which had never been used before in the literature. So this thermodynamic model has required an extremely slow experimental test. These tests were also long in order to be sure of the thermodynamic equilibrium state.We are currently establishing a kinetics model in order to model the deviations from the reference point of equilibrium of our experimental tests which were carried out at a high crystallization rate.

Thesis provides an overview of different types of mortgages and mortgage protection assurances available in czech credit and insurance markets. Thesis is composed of detailed description of particular products and case study describing comparison of three types of mortgages: classic anuity mortgage, mortgage with postpone payment of principal in combination with unit linked life assurance, mortgage with postpone payment of principal in combination with investment to securities. The aim was the comparison on the basis of chosen evaluations of unit linked life assurance and securities and determination of boundary percentage value of evaluation by which the combine product become preferable to classic mortgage.

La thèse est une recherche action ; l'action s'articule autour d'une plateforme de télémédecine, évaluée en matière de processus et de résultats dans des publications scientifiques et en matière éthique dans le présent manuscrit. La plateforme de télé-expertise a été crée sur le modèle développé par le collegium telemedicus (https://collegiumtelemedicus.org) et implantée sur les terrains d'intervention de Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), organisation non gouvernementale humanitaire. Le système donne accès à un réseau de spécialistes capables de répondre sous quelques heures aux demandes d'avis spécialisés des soignants en situation d'isolement géographique et / ou dans des zones à faibles ressources. Plus de 4000 cas ont été traités à travers la plateforme confirmant le besoin et l'intérêt du service par les soignants présents sur le terrain. Les évaluations scientifiques montrent que le système est fiable et performant. La majorité des utilisateurs juge le service utile et adapté aux besoins du terrain avec un effet positif sur la prise en charge des patients. L'accès à un spécialiste réduit en outre le sentiment d'isolement des praticiens en leur permettant une gestion collégiale des cas et participe à son éducation dans des domaines spécialisés. Un certains nombre de limites existent toutefois, comme les difficultés de suivi des patients ou l'absence de retour adressé à l'expert impliqué sur l'évolution du cas après son avis. L'action est née sous la double impulsion d'un constat d'une perte de chance en l'absence d'accès aux spécialistes et de l'injustice d'accès aux soins spécialisés en situation d'isolement géographique et dans des zones à faibles ressources. Bien que le droit international plaide pour le meilleur soin pour tous, il le conditionne aux ressources disponibles des populations concernées, signant par là même le constat de son impuissance à faire appliquer le droit qu'il proclame. L'action mise en œuvre grâce au soutien opérationnel de MSF (connaissance du terrain, recrutement des spécialistes volontaires...) apporte une réponse concrète et immédiate à cette injustice. L'évaluation rigoureuse du système relève d'une démarche éthique qui vise à s'assurer d'une utilisation efficiente des ressources dans un contexte où leur allocation est un enjeu éthique majeur. L'analyse a permis d'établir dans quelle mesure l'action respecte les principes éthiques de bienfaisance et de non-malfaisance et comment le principe d'autonomie se trouve renforcé par l'accès aux avis spécialisés en améliorant les « capabilités » individuelles. Enfin, l'action interroge nos pratiques de pays à haut revenus, notamment la place et l'organisation de la médecine spécialisée. Les solutions développées dans les zones à faibles revenus constituent des modèles efficaces et économes, susceptibles de faire évoluer la façon de penser la santé et le modèle de soin dans les pays à haut revenus. / The thesis is an action research; the action is based on a telemedicine platform, evaluated in terms of process and results in scientific publications and ethics issues raised in this manuscript. The tele-expertise platform was created on the model developed by the collegium telemedicus (https://collegiumtelemedicus.org) and implemented on the intervention fields of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a humanitarian non-governmental organization. The system provides access to a network of specialists able to respond within a few hours to requests for expert advice to healthcare providers in situations of geographic isolation and / or in low-resource settings. More than 4000 cases were processed through the platform, confirming the need for and interest in the service by healthcare providers working in difficult environments. The scientific assessments show that the system is reliable and efficient. The majority of users judge the service to be useful and well adapted to the needs in the field with a positive impact on patient management and outcomes. Access to specialists also reduces the sense of isolation of practitioners, allowing them collegial case management and assisting in their education in specialized areas. However, a certain number of limitations exist, such as monitoring patient follow-up or lack of feedback sent to the expert involved on the evolution of the case following the provision of expert advice. The action is born from the loss of opportunity caused by the absence of access to specialists, and the injustice represented by restricted access to specialized care in a situation of geographic isolation or in low-resource settings. International law advocates the best possible care for all, but acknowledges that it depends on the available resources of the targeted populations.Thus international law acknowledges its inability to apply the law that it proclaims. The action was implemented thanks to the operational support of MSF (field experience, volunteer specialists recruitment ...). It provides a concrete and immediate response to the injustice of restricted access to expertise from the field. Rigorous evaluation of the system comes within an ethical approach designed to ensure an efficient use of resources in a context where their allocation is a major ethical issue. The analysis helped to establish the extent to which the action respects the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, and how the principle of autonomy is reinforced by access to expert advice by improving the "capabilities" of the individual. Finally, the action questions existing high-income country practices, including the establishment and organization of specialized medicine. The solutions developed in low-resources areas are effective and efficient models, likely to change the way of thinking about health and care model in high income countries.

The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth understanding of how a single private provider conducted an application for re-accreditation in line with the recently revised accreditation framework set out by the Council on Higher Education. This framework aims to promote an integrated approach to accreditation and increased autonomy for higher education institutions with regard to the reaccreditation of programmes. The research unpacked how accreditation was understood and applied within the context of the institution, placing emphasis on understanding the elements that promoted or inhibited quality as well as the tensions and contradictions that arose within this process. The driving question addressed by this research was: How does management within a South African private higher education institution engage with the re-accreditation process? Literature revealed that there is limited research on understanding quality assurance in private higher education in South Africa, and specifically on accreditation. Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) was considered the most effective lens to interpret the findings of this study, as research indicates that it is for teasing out the historical and cultural contradictions within as well as between people, tools and the environment within complex educational systems. Multiple data-gathering techniques, including semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observations and documentation reviews, were conducted. The findings of this study illuminate the critical role of management and their respective interpretations of quality in the shaping of the application for re-accreditation, that balanced quality development and accountability requirements. The study highlighted contradictions and issues that inhibited meaningful engagement with accreditation as well as the enhancement of programme and institutional quality.

Le secteur de l'assurance automobile est confronté à plusieurs bouleversements règlementaires, financiers, comportementaux et technologiques. Afin de faire face aux défis résultant de ces changements et maintenir leur profitabilité, les assureurs doivent innover en matière de tarification. Dans ce contexte, nous développons dans cette thèse deux thématiques liées à la tarification en assurance automobile. La première thématique s'articule autour de l'optimisation des stratégies tarifaires, en souscription et au renouvellement. La deuxième thématique est orientée vers l'utilisation des expérimentations dans l'objectif de mieux appréhender les déterminants de la demande d'assurance.Tout d'abord, nous nous intéressons à l'optimisation tarifaire au renouvellement. Nous illustrons comment les modèles de demande empiriques reposant sur les données dont disposent l'assureur peuvent être utilisés afin d'optimiser sa rentabilité et la rétention de ses clients. Nous élargissons ensuite le cadre d'optimisation en tenant compte des dépendances inter-temporelles entre les décisions tarifaires actuelles et les profits générés au cours des périodes ultérieures. Ainsi, nous introduisons le cadre de Valeur Client qui permet à l'assureur d'adapter sa stratégie tarifaire en fonction des comportements des assurés au cours de leur vie client tout en tenant compte du cycle du marché. Les illustrations empiriques des deux premiers chapitres reposent sur des données naturelles observées par l'assureur.Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, nous illustrons l'apport des expérimentions de terrain et de laboratoire à la compréhension de la demande d'assurance automobile. Une expérimentation de terrain nous permet d'affiner la mesure de l'élasticité prix des clients et de traiter le problème de tarification comme un problème de bandit contextuel. L'évaluation offline de plusieurs stratégies d'apprentissage par renforcement montre que celles appliquant une expérimentation tarifaire ciblée obtiennent de meilleures performances financières en comparaison à la stratégie myope, qui exclut toute possibilité d'expérimentation. Enfin, nous présentons les résultats d'une expérimentation de laboratoire dont l'objectif était de mesurer la valeur ajoutée des variables privées issues des modèles de décision dans le risque. En particulier, nous analysons le rôle de l'aversion au risque et la perception du risque dans l'explication des choix d'assurance automobile. La même expérimentation nous a permis d'analyser la validité externe en assurance expérimentale, c'est-à-dire la ressemblance des comportements des individus dans un contexte expérimental et dans le contexte économique réel du marché.En plus de la dualité expérimentation-optimisation dans le domaine de la tarification assurantielle, cette thèse illustre donc la dualité entre les données privées et les données publiques, ainsi que la dualité entre les modèles empiriques de demande d'assurance et les modèles théoriques. / The motor insurance sector currently confronts regulatory, financial, behavioral and technological challenges. Under these circumstances, insurers must uphold in improving their pricing strategies. Two topics related to pricing innovation are discussed in this thesis. We first take up the pricing strategy optimization for new businesses, as well as the renewals. Secondly, we highlight in the usage of experiments in leading us to a better understanding of insurance demand factors.On the first part of this thesis, we address pricing optimization at renewal, then illustrate how empirical demand models that rely on observable data could help the insurers to boost their profits and clients retention rate. We extend afterwards this framework by considering the impact of current pricing decisions on future cash-flows. Consequently, we introduce the Customer Value metric which allows insurers to reflect over the customers' behavior during their lifetime, when it comes to constructing their pricing strategy. The empirical illustrations of the first two chapters rely on natural data observed by the insurer.On the second part of this thesis, field and laboratory experiments will give us better comprehension of the motor insurance demand. Data from a field experiment refine the measure of clients' price elasticity. Offline assessment of several reinforcement learning algorithms shows how pricing experiments can achieve better performances compared with the myopic strategy which does not apply any kind of experiment. Laboratory experiments contribute to the understanding of demand models as well. In particular, we analyze the added value of risk aversion and risk perception in explaining the insurance choices. Furthermore, we examine the external validity of the experiment, i.e. the similarity between the behaviors of the customers in a lab environment versus their factual behaviors in the market.Aside from the duality between experiments and optimization, this thesis also illustrates the duality between private and public data, as well as the duality between empirical and theoretical insurance demand model.

Assuring production forms a crucial part of mining business profitability. Factors related to various mine operations, activities and business processes can threaten required/planned mine production. To address problems and ensure production level in mining, it is necessary to implement a mine production assurance program (MPA). Since such a guideline does not exist for mining as a process industry, this study started by reviewing four such techniques used in similar industries. These methods include: total productive maintenance, six sigma, a method prescribed by European foundation of quality management, and production assurance program (PAP) used in the oil and gas industry.These methods and techniques were reviewed according to their objectives and applications. Their implementation and achieved success was determined through a literature review and field participation/study. Comparing the tools, techniques and focus with mining productivity and production factors, it was observed that applicability of these methods for mining is limited due to a lack of tools for specific analysis or a lack of consideration of the requirements of mining. However, given certain similarities in objective and methods, PAP from the oil and gas industry may provide some guidance for MPA.As a basis of MPA, an index is required to create a clear relationship between different situations which can occur in mining operation and production loss. A literature review on mining productivity improvement methods shows availability, utilisation and production performance of equipment are the key factors in determining overall production. A single index applicable for chain operation in mining is needed. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) which includes these three elements has some limitations for application in mining. A Mine Production index (MPi) is thus proposed. This index involves all three parameters for equipment productivity mentioned above. It also consists of weights for each parameter. The weights in this study are determined through expert opinions/judgements using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). Equipment with low MPi can be labelled as bottlenecks. Weights associated with MPi calculation for bottleneck equipment can point out critical factors in equipment operation. Once bottleneck equipment and relevant critical factors are known, further analysis can be carried out to determine the exact cause of production loss.By using MPi for machine operations, it is possible to rank machines in terms of production effectiveness. When the study applied MPi to chain operations in a mining case study, a crusher was determined as bottleneck equipment. Further root cause analysis and uncertainty detection for bottleneck equipment is also possible, and this forms the basis for MPA. / CAMM - Lean mining

With the development of service digitalization and the increased adoption of web services, modern large-scale software systems often need to support a large volume of concurrent transactions. Therefore, performance testing focused on evaluating the performance of systems under workload has gained greater attention in current software development. Although there are many performance testing tools available for providing assistance in load generation, there is a lack of a systematic evaluation process to provide guidance and parameters for tool selection for a specific domain. Focusing on business operations as the specific domain and the Nasdaq Central Securities Depository (NCSD) system as an example of large-scale software systems, this thesis explores opportunities and challenges of existing open- source performance testing tools as measured by usability and feasibility metrics. The thesis presents an approach to evaluate performance testing tools concerning requirements from the business domain and the system under test. This approach consists of a user study conducted with four quality assurance experts discussing general performance metrics and specific analytical needs. The outcome of the user study provided the assessment metrics for a comparative experimental evaluation of three open-source performance testing tools (JMeter, Locust, and Gatling) with a realistic test scenario. These three tools were evaluated in terms of their affordance and limitations in presenting analytical details of performance metrics, efficiency of load generation, and ability to implement realistic load models. The research shows that the user study with potential tool users provided a clear direction when evaluating the usability of the three tools. Additionally, the realistic test case was sufficient to reveal each tool’s capability to achieve the same scale of performance as the Nasdaq’s in-house testing tool OMEXUS and provide additional value with realistic simulation of user population and user behavior during performance testing with regard to the specified requirements. / Med utvecklingen av tjänste-digitalisering och ökad användning av webbtjänster behöver moderna storskaliga mjukvarusystem ofta stödja en stor mängd samtidiga transaktioner. Prestandatestning med fokus på att utvärdera prestanda för system under arbetsbelastning har därför fått större uppmärksamhet i den aktuella programvaru utvecklingen. Även om det finns många verktyg för prestandatestning tillgängliga för att ge hjälp i belastnings generering, saknas det en systematisk utvärderingsprocess för att ge vägledning och parametrar för verktygsval för en viss domän. Med fokus på affärsverksamhet som den specifika domänen och Nasdaq Central Securities Depository (NCSD) -systemet, som ett exempel på storskaliga mjukvarusystem, utforskar denna avhandling möjligheter och utmaningar med befintliga verktyg för prestandatestning med öppen källkod mätt med användbarhets- och genomförbarhet mått. Avhandlingen presenterar ett tillvägagångssätt för att utvärdera prestandatestverktyg avseende krav från företagsdomänen och det system som testas. Detta tillvägagångssätt består av en användarstudie utförd med fyra kvalitetssäkringsexperter som diskuterar allmänna prestandamått och specifika analytiska behov. Resultatet av användarstudien gav bedömningsmåtten för en jämförande experimentell utvärdering av tre verktyg för prestandatestning med öppen källkod (JMeter, Locust och Gatling) med ett realistiskt testscenario. Dessa tre verktyg utvärderades i termer av deras överkomlighet och begränsningar när det gäller att presentera analytiska detaljer om prestandamått, effektiviteten i lastgenereringen och förmågan att implementera realistiska belastningsmodeller. Forskningen visar att användarstudien med potentiella verktygsanvändare gav en tydlig riktning vid utvärdering av användbarheten av de tre verktygen. Dessutom var det realistiska testfallet tillräckligt för att avslöja varje verktygs förmåga att uppnå samma skala av prestanda som Nasdaqs interna testverktyg OMEXUS och ge ytterligare värde med realistisk simulering av användarpopulation och användarbeteende under prestandatestning med avseende på de angivna kraven.

Master of Science / Clinical Sciences / Daniel U. Thomson / Consumer interest in production agriculture has prompted the beef industry to develop tools to increase accountability of producers for animal management practices. The Beef Quality Assurance Feedyard Assessment, developed by veterinarians, animal scientists, and production specialists, was used to objectively evaluate key areas of beef cattle production such as animal handling, antimicrobial residue avoidance, and cattle comfort in 56 Kansas feedyards. During the assessment, management protocols were reviewed, facilities and pens were inspected, and cattle handling practices were observed. Of the 56 feedyards, 19 maintained complete and current Best Management Practices documentation for all management protocols required by the assessment. During assessment of cattle handling practices, 78.6% of feedyards met requirements for an Acceptable score for all measured criteria. An electric prod was used on only 4.0% of cattle during processing. In addition, 83.0% of feedyards scored Acceptable for stocking rate, feed bunk, water tank, and mud score standards.