School of Economics, Diss.--Helsinki, 2008. / Enth. 4 Beitr.

Appraisal methodologies for congestion mitigation projects are relatively less well developed compared to methodologies for projects reducing free flow travel times. For instance, static assignment models are incapable of representing the build-up and dissipation of traffic queues, or capturing the experienced crowding caused by uneven on-board passenger loads. Despite the availability of dynamic traffic assignment, only few model systems have been developed for cost-benefit analysis of real applications. The six included papers present approaches and tools for analysing traffic and transit projects where congestion relief is the main target. In the transit case studies, we use an agent-based simulation model to analyse congestion and crowding effects and to conduct cost-benefit analyses. In the case study of a metro extension in Stockholm, we demonstrate that congestion and crowding effects constitute more than a third of the total benefits and that a conventional static model underestimates these effects vastly. In another case study, we analyse various operational measures and find that the three main measures (boarding through all doors, headway-based holding and bus lanes) had an overall positive impact on service performance and that synergetic effects exist. For the congestion charging system in Gothenburg, we demonstrate that a hierarchal route choice model with a continuous value of time distribution gives realistic predictions of route choice effects although the assignment is static. We use the model to show that the net social benefit of the charging system in Gothenburg is positive, but that low income groups pay a larger share of their income than high income groups. To analyse congestion charges in Stockholm however, integration of dynamic traffic assignment with the demand model is necessary, and we demonstrate that this is fully possible. Models able to correctly predict these effects highlight the surprisingly large travel time savings of pricing policies and small operational measures. These measures are cheap compared to investments in new infrastructure and their implementation can therefore lead to large societal gains. / <p>QC 20160829</p>

This dissertation comprises three essays on macroeconomic impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI). The first essay analyses the impact of FDI on the growth rate of total factor productivity of host countries. The essay focuses on 77 low- and middle-income countries and is based on balanced panel data for the period 1980-2008. The system GMM and common correlated effects (CCE) panel data methods are applied to estimate the models. Estimated coefficients show that FDI does not have any significant impact on the growth rate and the levels of TFP. The second essay investigates the relationship between FDI and domestic investment focusing on low- and middle-income countries, and using panel data for the period 1980-2012. It applies common parameter and heterogeneous parameter, static and dynamic, single equation and simultaneous equation panel data econometric techniques to study the relationship. Empirical findings suggest that FDI crowds our domestic investment. Our estimated coefficients also suggest that countries that have weak institutions, less developed financial systems, less human capital, less developed infrastructure, or economies that are more open, are more exposed to foreign competition and experience stronger crowding out from inward FDI. In the third essay, the influence of capital flows on the real exchange rate of recipient countries is analysed. The influence of three important capital flows, viz. foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign aid, and remittances, are assessed on the real exchange rate, using data for 45 middle- and low-income countries for the period 1980–2013. Both heterogeneous and homogeneous panel data methods are applied to estimate the real exchange rate models. The estimated coefficients of these models imply that foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances do not influence the real exchange rate. Aid tends to depreciate the real exchange rate. Findings also suggest that financial development does not influence the exchange rate impact of aid in our sample countries. The study further finds that while aid tends to increase real exchange rate volatility, FDI and remittances do not have any robust influence on volatility. / February 2017

Visual acuity is reduced when optotypes are viewed in the presence of surrounding contours. This reduction in acuity is known as the crowding effect and is thought to be caused by a varying combination of contour interaction, gaze instability and attention. Traditional studies have used single optotypes surrounded by flanking bars to investigate crowding. Such targets may not realistically replicate the crowding effect inherent in clinical vision charts. The aim of this thesis was to systematically investigate the effect of crowding on visual thresholds in subjects with normal vision and in subjects with amblyopia, using specially designed charts. In the 1st and 2nd experiment, contour interaction was assessed using a high (80 %) and low contrast (5.8%) Sheridan Gardiner repeat letter (SGRL) chart in subjects with normal vision. The effect of contour interaction was investigated by varying the inter-letter separation in the SGRL chart. Significant contour interaction was obtained at the abutting condition for both the contrast conditions. In the 3rd experiment the same protocol was repeated but in amblyopes. Significant contour interaction was obtained at 0.2 letter separation and the abutting condition for both the contrast conditions. The effect of contour interaction appears to be less for low contrast than for high contrast letters in normal, non-amblyopic and amblyopic eyes. Finally, in the 4th experiment a Sheridan Gardiner Complex Interaction (SGCI) chart that requires imposed gaze fixations was constructed to measure visual acuity in normal’s and amblyopes. The effect of any gaze instability on crowding was investigated by comparing SGRL thresholds to SGCI thresholds. The SGCI thresholds were higher than the SGRL thresholds at all the separations measured, suggesting an important effect of gaze instability on crowding. In conclusion, this research has shown that gaze instability is an important component of the crowding effect for letter chart acuity measurements. Visual acuity especially when screening for amblyopia should be measured using a whole optotype chart that requires optotype to optotype fixation.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-05-26T17:50:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_MARIANE_ROTTA_PARCIAL.pdf: 2374056 bytes, checksum: 0b798c90ce9ab78e6edbfeb524d79d97 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-26T17:50:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_MARIANE_ROTTA_PARCIAL.pdf: 2374056 bytes, checksum: 0b798c90ce9ab78e6edbfeb524d79d97 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-19 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / The cellular milieu is a complex and crowded aqueous solution. It is thus expected that this large concentration of macromolecules causes deviations from solution ideality. To mimic the intracellular environment, crowding effects are commonly studied in vitro using crowding agents. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of macromolecular synthetic crowding agents on the apparent steady-state kinetic parameters (Km, kcat, and kcat/Km) for the chemical reaction catalyzed by 2-trans-enoyl-ACP (CoA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (InhA). The results showed that ficoll 70, ficoll 400, and dextran 70 had negligible effects on InhA activity in the range of concentrations used. On the other hand, a complex effect was observed for PEG 6000. Sucrose, which was employed in control experiments, decreased both the kcat/Km values for NADH and kcat for 2-trans-dodecenoyl-CoA (DD-CoA) substrate in a concentration-dependent manner. Molecular dynamics results suggest that InhA adopts a more compact conformer in sucrose solution, which likely accounts for the steady-state kinetic results. The presence of crowding agents appears to alter the relative abundance of different conformers of InhA in solution. The effects of the crowding agents on the energy (Ea and E?), enthalpy (?H#), entropy (?S#), and Gibbs free energy (?G#) of activation were determined. The ?G# values for all crowding agents tested were similar to dilute buffer, suggesting that excluded volume effects did not facilitate stable activated ES# complex formation. Nonlinear Arrhenius plot for PEG 6000 suggests that "soft" interactions may play a role in macromolecular crowding effects. / O meio intracelular ? uma solu??o aquosa complexa, pois ? preenchida por diversos tipos de macromol?culas. Espera-se que essa grande concentra??o de macromol?culas resulte em um comportamento n?o ideal para a solu??o. Para mimetizar o ambiente intracelular, os efeitos do da ocupa??o macromolecular s?o comumente estudados in vitro utilizando agentes de crowding. O objetivo central do presente estudo ? avaliar os poss?veis efeitos de agentes de crowding macromolecular sint?ticos nos par?metros cin?ticos aparentes de estado-estacion?rio (Km, kcat e kcat/Km) para a rea??o qu?mica catalisada pela 2-trans-enoil-ACP(CoA) redutase de Mycobacterium tuberculosis (InhA). Os resultados mostraram que ficoll 70, ficoll 400 e dextran 70 t?m efeitos negligenci?veis na atividade da InhA na faixa de concentra??o utilizada. Por outro lado, um complexo efeito foi observado na presen?a do PEG 6000. A sacarose, que foi utilizada como controle nos experimentos, reduziu os valores de kcat/Km para o NADH e kcat para o 2-trans-dodecenoil-CoA de uma maneira concentra??o-dependente. Os resultados de din?mica molecular sugerem que a InhA adota uma forma mais compacta na presen?a de sacarose, o que provavelmente tem efeitos nos resultados de cin?tica de estado-estacion?rio. A presen?a dos agentes de crowding parece alterar a abund?ncia relativa dos diferentes conf?rmeros da InhA em solu??o. Os efeitos do crowding macromolecular na energia (Ea e E?), entalpia (?H#), entropia (?S#) e energia livre de Gibbs de ativa??o (?G#) foram determinados. Os valores de ?G# para todos os agentes de crowding testados foram similares ao tamp?o Pipes 100 mM, sugerindo que os efeitos do volume exclu?do n?o facilitam a forma??o do complexo ativado est?vel ES#. A n?o linearidade do gr?fico de Arrhenius para o PEG 6000 sugere que intera??es ?brandas? possam atuar nos efeitos do crowding macromolecular.

Les cellules ont développé plusieurs voies de signalisation et de réponses transcriptionnelles pour réguler leur taille et coordonner leur croissance et leurs divisions cellulaires. L'intérieur des cellules est naturellement surchargé par des macromolécules. Cet encombrement macromoléculaire, appelé crowding, a été intensément étudié in vitro et est connu pour affecter la cinétique des réactions. Cependant, l'étude des effets d'encombrement in vivo est plus difficile en raison du haut niveau de complexité et d'hétérogénéité à l'intérieur d'une cellule. Au cours de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés aux effets de changement du volume cellulaire sur la cinétique de réactions biochimiques chez la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Pour cela, nous avons induit des stress osmotiques pour comprimer la cellule et étudier l'impact du crowding sur les cinétiques de signalisation. La réduction du volume cellulaire augmente la viscosité interne et peut retarder le fonctionnement de plusieurs voies de signalisation et de processus cellulaires. En augmentant progressivement le niveau de compression, on observe un ralentissement des processus biologiques jusqu'à un point où l'adaptation cellulaire est abolie. Ceci a été observé pour la translocation nucléaire de facteurs de transcription (Hog1, Msn2, Crz1, Mig1 et Yap1) ainsi que pour la mobilité des protéines Abp1 et Sec7. Nous montrons aussi que la compression altère la capacité de plusieurs protéines à diffuser dans le cytoplasme de différents types cellulaires. Nous proposons que ces altérations cinétiques induites par l'augmentation de la viscosité intracellulaire ne soient pas sans rappeler une transition vitreuse. Ces résultats suggèrent l'importance d'un encombrement macromoléculaire optimal permettant aux cellules de fonctionner correctement.

After a long-time preparation, CSI 300 index futures has made a milestone in the financial market in China in the 16 of April, 2010. In order to know what kind of impact will bring to stock market after the appearance of stock index future, the study discusses volatility and volume separately. On one hand, the study applies Modified Levene and GJR-GARCH as the empirical model, and the result indicates that stock return fluctuation is a short-term phenomenon. However, the result shows that the stock return volatility has no difference in the long-run. Furthermore, it not only reduces the asymmetric return fluctuation from good and bad news cause but improve the information efficiency in the spot market after the introduction of the stock index futures. On the other hand, the study applies multiple regression model and panel model to examine the crowding-out effect and the volume difference after the stock index futures enters the market. First, there is no crowding-out effect in the stock market. Second, both the trading volume of the constituent and non-constituent stocks increase after the introduction of the stock index futures, whereas the level of increasing trading volume of the constituent stocks is larger than non- constituent stocks are.

The unemployed is not nonsexual. Rather, the sexuality of unemployed is socially constructed. The unemployed both young and female do not struggle equally with unemployed both young and male for open positions in the labour market. On the one hand, unemployed young woman seeks a job through the criteria determined in a way that it shall not constitute any challenge for the dominance of men and capital due to the roles provided to herself within society. On the other, by his/her hiring and firing practices, employer reproduces both these criteria and his/her own interests consequent of these. Depending on her social and economical characteristics, unemployed young woman enters a bargain, more precisely a struggle, through these criteria and interests of capital to make a place for herself in labour market. State with its new right applications and regulations, labour market with a neo-liberal approach ensuing from the process since 1980s, family by mechanisms provided by patriarchal system are a party to and identifiers of this bargain or struggle process. This study scrutinises the reasons of young women&rsquo / s unemployment as part of this unequal bargain and struggle. Study provides a feminist analysis set in which young women&rsquo / s unemployment or the employment bargain between young women&rsquo / s labour and capital is considered through state, labour market, family and, the articulation mechanisms amongst them are examined with regards to the unification between capitalism and patriarchy. This analysis set reframes reasons of young women&rsquo / s unemployment with segregation, crowding and employment creation challenge.

Core-shell nanowire LEDs are light emitting devices which, due to a high aspect ratio, have low substrate sensitivity, allowing the possibility of low defect density GaN light emitting diodes. Current growth techniques and physical non-idealities make the production of high conductivity p-type GaN for the shell region of these devices difficult. Due to the structure of core-shell nanowires and the difference in conductivity between ntype and p-type GaN, the full junction area of a core-shell nanowire is not used efficiently. To address this problem, a series of possible doping profiles are applied to the core of a simulated device to determine effects on current crowding and overall device efficiency. With a simplified model it is shown that current crowding has a possible dependence on the doping in the core in regions other than those directly in contact with the shell. The device efficiency is found to be improved through the use of non-constant doping profiles in the core region with particularly large efficiency increases related to profiles which modify portions of the core not in contact with the shell

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