This study examines the hedging effectiveness of the Silver Bullet Fund created by AuAg Funds. The Silver Bullet Fund will be examined alongside a financial proxy and an industry proxy, to assess whether to hedge or not during turbulent times.     The study examines the hedging performance of the Silver Bullet fund by utilizing a static model to capture the behavior of a crisis at a specific point in time, alongside a dynamic model to capture the behavior of crises over time. Further research suggests that several other econometric models can be used for analysis with the same purpose. However, the evidence in this study suggests that a hedged portfolio outperforms an unhedged portfolio during crisis for the S&P500 Index, while for the STOXX 600 Europe Automobiles & Parts Index should not be hedged during the crisis under the static assumption. Moreover, there are also occasions where the standardized returns for the three variables lies outside of the confidence intervals. The study also finds that under the dynamic model, the financial proxy Hedge Ratios during all three crises, compared to the industry proxy, sees the highest value of the Hedge Ratios, however, presenting low hedging effectiveness.

The goal of this work is to create an application, which will combine procedural and keyfram animations with subsequent visualization. Composition of this two different animations techniques is used to animate a virtual character. To combine this two techniques one starts with interpolations from keyframe animation and then enchance them by procedural animations to properly fit into the characters surroundings. This procedural part of animation is obtained by using forward and inverse kinematics. Whole application is written in C++, uses GLM math library for computations and OpenGL and GLUT for final visualization.

O termo bancada da bala descreve as bancadas suprapartidárias do Legislativo compostas majoritariamente por egressos das forças de segurança, cuja agenda se organiza em torno de temas da segurança pública. Seus membros são associados a uma visão autoritária e repressiva de controle social, aos interesses da indústria armamentista e a uma tensão constante com a política de Direitos Humanos. O sucesso e a articulação política de candidatos com esse perfil são retratados midiaticamente como expressão de uma onda conservadora no cenário político e social brasileiro. No entanto, a estruturação desses grupos não é um fenômeno recente, principalmente para o legislativo paulista que, desde 1987, apresenta grupos de deputados-policiais favoráveis a políticas de mano dura. Buscou-se compreender a estruturação desses grupos, com base em autores da Sociologia da Punição que identificam reconfigurações semelhantes no campo de controle do crime na maioria das democracias contemporâneas (como políticas de contenção contraditórias e ambivalentes, transformações nos discursos oficiais em relação ao crime no sentido de um populismo penal, crescimento dos sentimentos de insegurança e sua instrumentalização pela esfera política e eleitoreira). Investigou-se como essas questões se organizam nos discursos de deputadospoliciais da 18ª legislatura da Assembleia Legislativa de São Paulo, comparando-os aos discursos da chamada bancada da segurança, eleita pela primeira vez na 11ª legislatura. Realizou-se a pesquisa documental sobre as proposições legislativas, sessões e frentes parlamentares mediante a análise do discurso com base no instrumental analítico foucaultiano. Observou-se uma trajetória de continuidade entre os grupos em que a matriz da guerra estende-se para além dos objetos clássicos do penal e do trabalho policial, tornando-se um organizador de mundo pelo qual se definem as fronteiras entre o bem, a legitimidade, a ordem e suas respectivas oposições. O principal desdobramento observado é a maneira como os deputados da 18ª legislatura mobilizam um discurso gerencialista da cidade que se mostra estratégico para o discurso do populismo penal, em que o princípio de tolerância zero é agenciado sobre toda sorte de comportamentos, figuras e atividades presentes nos espaços de grande circulação de pessoas e mercadorias. Conclui-se que a estruturação desses grupos se realiza discursivamente e politicamente, não apenas em relação à identidade policial, pautas corporativas e bandeiras securitizadoras, mas também na forma como esses elementos geram identificação, conferem legitimidade, se combinam e atualizam sensibilidades e representações enraizadas socialmente. Esses elementos acrescem discursos sobre o fenômeno da punição, que, por sua vez, fala à sociedade muito mais do que em termos de crime e castigo: canaliza ansiedades e insatisfações, produz solidariedade, organiza o mundo conforme diferentes territórios morais. Assim, os discursos mobilizados por bancadas da bala possibilitam comunicações com públicos e grupos políticos diversos, reorganizando conservadorismos nos campos político e de controle do crime. / The expression bullet caucus describes supra-party organized groups of legislators composed mostly of former members of police and military forces, whose agenda is built around public security issues. Its members are associated with an authoritarian and repressive vision of social control, as with the interests of the arms industry, and constant tension over human rights policies. The media portrays the success and political articulation of candidates in this profile as an expression of a conservative rise in the Brazilian political and social scene. However, the emergence of these groups is not a recent phenomenon, especially for the São Paulo legislature, which since 1987 has had groups of police-officer-congressmen in favor of hard-hitting policies. We sought to understand the constitution of these groups, based on authors of Sociology of Punishment who identify similar reconfigurations in the field of crime control in most contemporary democracies (such as contradictory and ambivalent containment policies, changes in official discourses on crime towards criminal populism, growing feelings of insecurity, and their instrumentalization by the political and electoral spheres). We investigated how these issues appear in speeches of police-officercongressmen of the 18th legislature of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, comparing them to speeches of the so-called security caucus, elected for the first time in the 11th legislature. Documentary research on legislative propositions, legislative sessions, and congressional fronts was carried out using discourse analysis, based on Foucaultian analytical instruments. Continuity has been observed between the two groups, to which the image of war reaches far beyond the classic subjects of criminal law and law enforcement, becoming a world organizer that defines the boundaries between good, legitimacy, order, and their respective oppositions. The main development observed was the way in which congressmen of the 18th São Paulo state legislature resort to a managerial discourse about the city, strategically favoring tendencies of penal populism, which enforces principles of zero tolerance over all sorts of behaviors, figures and activities found in massive people and goods circulation areas. We concluded that the structuring of these groups takes place discursively and politically, referring to police identity, corporate topics and public security causes, and enabling these elements to generate identification, confer legitimacy, and combine and update firmly rooted social sensitivities and representations. These elements add discourses on the phenomenon of punishment, which, in turn, speaks to society much more than in terms of crime and punishment: it channels anxieties and dissatisfaction, produces solidarity, and organizes the world according to different moral territories. The discourses mobilized by bullet caucuses communicate with distinct publics and political groups, reorganizing conservatism in the political and crime control fields.

O termo bancada da bala descreve as bancadas suprapartidárias do Legislativo compostas majoritariamente por egressos das forças de segurança, cuja agenda se organiza em torno de temas da segurança pública. Seus membros são associados a uma visão autoritária e repressiva de controle social, aos interesses da indústria armamentista e a uma tensão constante com a política de Direitos Humanos. O sucesso e a articulação política de candidatos com esse perfil são retratados midiaticamente como expressão de uma onda conservadora no cenário político e social brasileiro. No entanto, a estruturação desses grupos não é um fenômeno recente, principalmente para o legislativo paulista que, desde 1987, apresenta grupos de deputados-policiais favoráveis a políticas de mano dura. Buscou-se compreender a estruturação desses grupos, com base em autores da Sociologia da Punição que identificam reconfigurações semelhantes no campo de controle do crime na maioria das democracias contemporâneas (como políticas de contenção contraditórias e ambivalentes, transformações nos discursos oficiais em relação ao crime no sentido de um populismo penal, crescimento dos sentimentos de insegurança e sua instrumentalização pela esfera política e eleitoreira). Investigou-se como essas questões se organizam nos discursos de deputadospoliciais da 18ª legislatura da Assembleia Legislativa de São Paulo, comparando-os aos discursos da chamada bancada da segurança, eleita pela primeira vez na 11ª legislatura. Realizou-se a pesquisa documental sobre as proposições legislativas, sessões e frentes parlamentares mediante a análise do discurso com base no instrumental analítico foucaultiano. Observou-se uma trajetória de continuidade entre os grupos em que a matriz da guerra estende-se para além dos objetos clássicos do penal e do trabalho policial, tornando-se um organizador de mundo pelo qual se definem as fronteiras entre o bem, a legitimidade, a ordem e suas respectivas oposições. O principal desdobramento observado é a maneira como os deputados da 18ª legislatura mobilizam um discurso gerencialista da cidade que se mostra estratégico para o discurso do populismo penal, em que o princípio de tolerância zero é agenciado sobre toda sorte de comportamentos, figuras e atividades presentes nos espaços de grande circulação de pessoas e mercadorias. Conclui-se que a estruturação desses grupos se realiza discursivamente e politicamente, não apenas em relação à identidade policial, pautas corporativas e bandeiras securitizadoras, mas também na forma como esses elementos geram identificação, conferem legitimidade, se combinam e atualizam sensibilidades e representações enraizadas socialmente. Esses elementos acrescem discursos sobre o fenômeno da punição, que, por sua vez, fala à sociedade muito mais do que em termos de crime e castigo: canaliza ansiedades e insatisfações, produz solidariedade, organiza o mundo conforme diferentes territórios morais. Assim, os discursos mobilizados por bancadas da bala possibilitam comunicações com públicos e grupos políticos diversos, reorganizando conservadorismos nos campos político e de controle do crime. / The expression bullet caucus describes supra-party organized groups of legislators composed mostly of former members of police and military forces, whose agenda is built around public security issues. Its members are associated with an authoritarian and repressive vision of social control, as with the interests of the arms industry, and constant tension over human rights policies. The media portrays the success and political articulation of candidates in this profile as an expression of a conservative rise in the Brazilian political and social scene. However, the emergence of these groups is not a recent phenomenon, especially for the São Paulo legislature, which since 1987 has had groups of police-officer-congressmen in favor of hard-hitting policies. We sought to understand the constitution of these groups, based on authors of Sociology of Punishment who identify similar reconfigurations in the field of crime control in most contemporary democracies (such as contradictory and ambivalent containment policies, changes in official discourses on crime towards criminal populism, growing feelings of insecurity, and their instrumentalization by the political and electoral spheres). We investigated how these issues appear in speeches of police-officercongressmen of the 18th legislature of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo, comparing them to speeches of the so-called security caucus, elected for the first time in the 11th legislature. Documentary research on legislative propositions, legislative sessions, and congressional fronts was carried out using discourse analysis, based on Foucaultian analytical instruments. Continuity has been observed between the two groups, to which the image of war reaches far beyond the classic subjects of criminal law and law enforcement, becoming a world organizer that defines the boundaries between good, legitimacy, order, and their respective oppositions. The main development observed was the way in which congressmen of the 18th São Paulo state legislature resort to a managerial discourse about the city, strategically favoring tendencies of penal populism, which enforces principles of zero tolerance over all sorts of behaviors, figures and activities found in massive people and goods circulation areas. We concluded that the structuring of these groups takes place discursively and politically, referring to police identity, corporate topics and public security causes, and enabling these elements to generate identification, confer legitimacy, and combine and update firmly rooted social sensitivities and representations. These elements add discourses on the phenomenon of punishment, which, in turn, speaks to society much more than in terms of crime and punishment: it channels anxieties and dissatisfaction, produces solidarity, and organizes the world according to different moral territories. The discourses mobilized by bullet caucuses communicate with distinct publics and political groups, reorganizing conservatism in the political and crime control fields.

To ensure that manufactured cartridges is safe to use, a tensile test is performed. The frictional force between the bullet and the case is required according to Normas standard to be between 15 – 75 Kg. Variations of the frictional force, with values outside of the standard had been noted by Norma Precision without understanding the cause. The aim of this report was to investigate and evaluate possible causes of the variations measured by tensile tests, difference between extreme values and to find a solution to what can be done to prevent the variations. Two different cases and three different bullets were used by request from Norma in the scope of this report. Different combinations of the bullets and cases was tested by alternating process parameter, surfaces and loading procedures. The loaded cartridges went through tensile tests to investigate differences. Bullets and cases with extreme values from the measured frictional force were chosen for further investigation in SEM and profilometer. To be able to draw further conclusions four different simulation models was created in Abaqus and different parameters was calculated. The dimensions and shape of the bullet resulted as the cause of changes of the tensile test curves. The smallest frictional force was found to differ from the largest by a change in wear mechanism from mainly abrasive ploughing to cutting and adhesion that caused transfer of material from the bullet to the case. The change in wear mechanism was found to be caused by an increased bullet diameter. The loading procedure was found to cause variations in plastic deformation on the neck of the case and damage the bottom of the bullet. The loading procedure was assumed to have the largest impact on the variations in frictional force. To minimize the variations the central axis of the case was suggested to be in line with the central axis of the bullet.

This master's thesis deals with physical simulation of cars. Program is implemented in C++ using OpenSceneGraph and Bullet libraries, which are shortly introduced. The application is implemented as simple racing game for one or two players. Using a simple menu, the user can select a car and the weather, which dramatically affects the handling characteristics of vehicles. Setting weather to random is one of the options leading to a dynamic weather changes during the game. The application takes into account collisions among cars and collisions with the terrain and bars on a racing circuit.

No description available.

Astrophysical data analysis of the weak-field predictions support the claim that modified gravity (MOG) theories provide a self-consistent, scale-invariant, universal description of galaxy rotation curves, without the need of non-baryonic dark matter. Comparison to the predictions of Milgrom's modified dynamics (MOND) provide a best-fit and experimentally determined universal value of the MOND acceleration parameter. The predictions of the modified gravity theories are compared to the predictions of cold non-baryonic dark matter (CDM), including a constant density core-modified fitting formula, which produces excellent fits to galaxy rotation curves including the low surface brightness and dwarf galaxies. Upon analysing the mass profiles of clusters of galaxies inferred from X-ray luminosity measurements, from the smallest nearby clusters to the largest of the clusters of galaxies, it is shown that while MOG provides consistent fits, MOND does not fit the observed shape of cluster mass profiles for any value of the MOND acceleration parameter. Comparison to the predictions of CDM confirm that whereas the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) fitting formula does not fit the observed shape of galaxy cluster mass profiles, the core-modified dark matter fitting formula provides excellent best-fits, supporting the hypothesis that baryons are dynamically important in the distribution of dark matter halos.

Astrophysical data analysis of the weak-field predictions support the claim that modified gravity (MOG) theories provide a self-consistent, scale-invariant, universal description of galaxy rotation curves, without the need of non-baryonic dark matter. Comparison to the predictions of Milgrom's modified dynamics (MOND) provide a best-fit and experimentally determined universal value of the MOND acceleration parameter. The predictions of the modified gravity theories are compared to the predictions of cold non-baryonic dark matter (CDM), including a constant density core-modified fitting formula, which produces excellent fits to galaxy rotation curves including the low surface brightness and dwarf galaxies. Upon analysing the mass profiles of clusters of galaxies inferred from X-ray luminosity measurements, from the smallest nearby clusters to the largest of the clusters of galaxies, it is shown that while MOG provides consistent fits, MOND does not fit the observed shape of cluster mass profiles for any value of the MOND acceleration parameter. Comparison to the predictions of CDM confirm that whereas the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) fitting formula does not fit the observed shape of galaxy cluster mass profiles, the core-modified dark matter fitting formula provides excellent best-fits, supporting the hypothesis that baryons are dynamically important in the distribution of dark matter halos.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate the possibilities of the OGRE visualization library and to implement an application which utilizes both simple and advanced OGRE features. Furhtermore there are explained basics of creating effects using Cg language and connecting them with OGRE library. The Bullet library which is often used in visualization applications for physics calculations is analyzed as well. The second part describes implementation of the demo application. In the end, the results are discussed, including possibilities of future development.