Whilst common intuition and the rapid growth of weather derivative practices effectively support the notion that equity returns are sensitive to weather randomness, empirical support is fragile. This thesis is the first study that investigates weather exposure and weather risk-return trade-off consistent with the arbitrage pricing theory (APT). It explores weather risk and its premium in the U.S. market during January 1980 to December 2009, based on three of the most weather-influenced industries. The research starts with the construction of ten seasonally-adjusted weather measures as the proxies of unexpected temperature, gauged in Fahrenheit degree and percentage terms. The weather exposures of individual firms are estimated based on each of the ten measures and the market return. Although average weather exposure coefficients are small, the number of firms with significant estimates is more than attributable to chance and results are more profound in utilities. The weather coefficients are mainly stable over the sample period, indicating that the introduction of weather derivatives does not significantly impact a firm’s weather exposure. Further investigation into summer and winter time reveals that most of the significant weather betas are found in winter. However, only a minority of firms have statistically different weather betas between the two seasons. Results are robust with respect to the ten measures. The finding that unpredictable weather broadly affects groups of stocks has a direct implication in asset prices, as weather risk may be one of the priced factors. In this study, the weather risk premium is estimated using the standard two-pass Fama and MacBeth (1973) methodology, enhanced with Shanken’s adjustments for the errors in variables problem. The tests are based on firm-level and portfolio-level regressions, assessed by different model specifications and repeated for the ten weather measures. In the unconditional setting, there is little support that the market price of weather risk is not zero. Although the estimates are insignificant, the magnitudes of weather premiums are relatively high compared with those of other macroeconomic factors in previous literature. Most of the estimated weather pricings are negative; thus, stocks exposed to weather should be hedged against an unanticipated increase in temperature. The main pricing results are robust to alternative sample sets, portfolio formations, base assets and weather measures. Nonetheless, the significance of weather premium is slightly affected by model specifications. In few cases, the pricings of weather risk are significant when the positive values of weather betas are used in cross-sectional regressions.

An assessment of the longitudinal motion of a hybrid configuration called the aerodynamically alleviated marine vehicle (AAMV) with the presence of waves, is demonstrated in the thesis. The development of this type of vehicle requires a mathematical framework to characterise its dynamics with the influence of external forces due to the waves’ motion. An overview of the effect of waves towards the models of dynamics developed for wing in ground effect (WIGE) craft and high-speed marine vehicles (planing craft) is carried out. However, the overview only leads to a finding that the longitudinal stability of a lifting surface over wavy ground effect is not entirely established. Taking this fact into account, the analysis of the model is proposed for a WIGE craft configuration. A simplification is adopted considering heave motion only in the modelling of oscillation. The simplification is made to thoroughly capture the effect of oscillation toward dynamic stability of the vehicle. To support the model verification, a numerical simulation followed by a semi-empirical design method was adopted to produce aerodynamic data, both in two-dimensional and three-dimensional domains, respectively. The results show that the combination of underpinning parameters, i.e. ride height, frequency and amplitude of oscillation, remarkably influence the aerodynamics. The characteristics in aerodynamics affect the production of stability derivatives and eventually stability behaviour of the chosen configuration. Some patterns in the results are identified but there also some data that show the peculiarity. Thus further investigation is needed.

No description available.

Triclosan (TCS) as an antimicrobial agent in a variety of consumer products has drawn environmental and health care scientist's attention for over 40 years as it has been widely detected in environment. Once released to the environment, TCS can easily transfer to water bodies and soil due to its fair solubility and hydrophobicity. TCS is not considered as a toxic compound. However, two main reasons have bolded TCS occurrence important in the environment. Firstly, TCS can easily adsorb to and accumulate in the media possessing organic matter such as sludge, soli or tissue. Secondly, TCS can degrade/transform to other compounds with higher potential toxicity and persistency. While many degradation products have been observed in certain circumstances, the main easily-formed products can be pointed as 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,8-dichlorodibenzoparadioxin (2,8-DCDD) and methyl triclosan (MTCS). 2,4-DCP is listed as the priority toxic pollutant by US Environmental Protection Agency. 2,8-DCDD is a member of dioxin family with a recently reported relative potency factor of 1₉104. This compound is suspected to transform to higher chlorinated dioxins when exposed to light or chlorine. MTCS, resulted from microbial methylation of TCS, has received much attention recently due to its persistency. Although TCS has been studied vastly, its̀ fate and behavior in wastewater and sludge as the first receiver in the environment has not been investigated deeply so far. In this research, attempt was done to answer some so far unanswered questions such as whether i) TCS occurrence is consistent within a single STP and between different STPs, ii) TCS transformation is a factor of wastewater and sludge treatment, iii) TCS degradation occurs in aerobic/anaerobic sludge digestion, iv) TCS adsorption is predictable and obeys any equilibrium and kinetics model. Two gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based-methods were successfully developed for determination of TCS, 2,4-DCP, 2,8-DCDD and MTCS in wastewater and sludge. In the first method, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and silica column chromatography were applied for the extraction and cleanup of wastewater. In the second method, accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and multilayer silica column chromatography were employed for the extraction and cleanup of sludge. For validation purpose, the methods were successfully applied to wastewater and sludge samples from three different municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Hong Kong. Satisfactory mean recoveries for all target compounds were obtained as over 82% and 84% for wastewater and sludge samples, respectively. TCS degradation products were detected based on the treatment practice. 2,8-DCDD was detected in the plant utilizing UV disinfection at the mean level of 20.3(±4.8) ng.L-1. 2,4-DCP was identified in chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) applying chlorine disinfection at the mean level of 64.5(±4.5) ng.L-1. Besides, MTCS was detected in the wastewater collected after biological treatment 33.3(±3.4) ng.L-1 as well as in sludge samples that have undergone aerobic digestion at the mean level of 266.1 (±14.2) ng.g-1 dry weight (d.w.). Mass balance of TCS in three STPs and the extent of TCS transformation to the degradation compounds were investigated and adsorption behavior of some of the occurred compounds was studied. Moreover, TCS fate was probed in full scale plant during wastewater and sludge aerobic/anaerobic treatment condition. Finally few correlations were investigated. For STP (I), 77.6% of the entering TCS mass flux to the plant was directly discharged to the receiving environment. The mass that was settled along the sludge underwent aerobic digestion treatment of which 52.2% was aerobically degraded in the digester. However 5.4% of the TCS in the sludge was observed to be transformed to MTCS and 47.8% was remained in the dewatered sludge to be disposed to landfill. TCS elimination in STP (II) wastewater treatment was 25.5%. Chlorination could cause 5.3% of TCS loss during disinfection process. Nevertheless, still 68.7% of the loading TCS was discharged to the environment through wastewater. TCS mass flux in pretreatment and post treatment sludge was almost constant. For STP (III), 14.2% and 8% of initial TCS mass flux was adsorbed to primary and secondary sludge, respectively. Mass balance between TCS lost in the biological treatment, the mass adsorbed to the sludge and the effluent revealed that 44.0% of the initial TCS mass flux was biodegraded in biological treatment of which 19.8% was transformed to MTCS. In addition, 10.3% of TCS mass was lost in UV irradiation disinfection unit of which 90.8% was transformed to 2,8-DCDD. Significant TCS mass loss (20.6%) was observed in anaerobic digestion of sludge and the remaining mass in dewatered sludge was disposed to landfill. No other degradation product was observed in the dewatered sludge except MTCS that showed insignificant change in mass flux after anaerobic digestion. Kd values were calculated for TCS, MTCS and 2,4-DCP for the first time based on the concentration of target compound in liquid and solid phase. Moreover, temporal-based variation of TCS and its degradation products were statistically proved. A relationship was attributed between TCS fraction adsorbed to the particulates in raw wastewater and elimination efficiency in primary treatment (r = 0.83, 0.66 and 0.87 for STP (I), (II) and (III), respectively). Adsorption behavior of TCS, 2,4-DCP and MTCS to primary and secondary sludge was investigated. For this purpose, a simple and efficient GC-MS-based method was developed for simultaneous determination of TCS, MTCS and 2,4-DCP in wastewater. Batch experiments were carried out and effect of various parameters such as pH, temperature and sludge concentration were studied. Three isotherm models, Linear, Freundlich and Langmuir were examined to fit the adsorption data. Amongst, Linear and Freundlich isotherm models were able to describe the system behavior well while Langmuir isotherm model did not exhibit satisfactory result. Relevant Kd values were derived for three compounds and were compared to the full scale. Pseudo-first and second order kinetics models were applied to describe the kinetic data. Pseudo-second order kinetic was found to fit well over the range of applied initial concentrations based on the regression coefficients and the relative error for the calculated equilibrium sorption capacity which implied the sorption of TCS, MTCS and 2,4-DCP onto the inactivated dried sludge proceeds predominantly through a pseudo-second order kinetics.

South African agriculture experienced rapid deregulation during the 1990s as the one channel marketing boards were dismantled. For the grains industry this meant the rapid development of a derivatives market (SAFEX). Derivative markets are surely the most intriguing and complex financial markets with the most misunderstood and riskiest instruments of all financial markets. Their complexity also caused its fair share of problems within the South African scenario with the inception of SAFEX in 1996/97. Not only is this type of market complex but it also creates huge fluctuations in the portfolio value of a derivatives linked portfolio. It is precisely this type of fluctuations and exposure that can be controlled and managed to the preferred level of risk by the correct and responsible application of these instruments. The successful application of these instruments depends greatly on the fact that the underlying market should be an efficient market which will then in turn allow for cost effective pricing of these instruments and ultimately lead to successful product structuring. The South African agricultural derivatives market was tested for efficiency by using a co-integration analysis which proved market efficiency. Once market efficiency was established it allowed for the structuring of marketing portfolios which ultimately resulted in a rule of thumb marketing strategy for maize producers. The strategy required the maize producer to fix a price during planting period for delivery in July the following year. In order for the producer to benefit from any potential upside during the season between price fixing and delivery the producer should buy a call option with an expiry date of the month of March following planting. This will save him at least four months worth of time value on the option premium. This study also acknowledged the fact that the derivatives market in South Africa is still in its fledgling phase and realises the vast potential for risk reduction through radical innovation by creating and mixing the basic positions of derivatives. This study illustrates by way of examples a few approaches in structured products. In an attempt to achieve successful product development the study applied portfolio theory as a means to quantify risk by using mean return and portfolio variance parameters. It addressed the more obvious price risk situation which is faced by all grain producers by developing a rule of thumb marketing strategy for farmers. The more complex situation of emerging agriculture was also considered where the objective was to enable a small scale producer to benefit from the risk reduction potential of these instruments. At the same time it would also allow them to access production credit without a traditional balance sheet while allowing the financier to be ring fenced from the risk of price fluctuation on the clients profit profile. A more adventures approach was followed for the dairy industry by creating a proxy price for milk based on the maize price of SAFEX in an attempt to encourage an increase in the volatility of the milk price which could then be managed very successfully through the use of derivatives which will then ultimately enable cash flow management. / Dissertation (MSc (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

This study involves the synthesis and structural characterization of new metal complexes of thiophene derivatives that have (potential) liquid crystalline properties. Thiophene has been selected because of its stability and versatility in lending itself to synthetic modification and hence forms links in chain structures for rod-like metallomesogens. Thiophene, when compared with 1,4-disubstituted benzene units, can change considerably the polarity, polarizability and also the geometry of the compounds, altering the types of mesophases, phase transition temperatures, dielectric constants and other properties of mesogens. The reactions of a series of 5-alkyl-2-thiophenedithiocarboxylates with nickel(II) chloride formed two types of complexes, blue mononuclear nickel(II) complexes with two terminal dithiocarboxylate ligands, [Ni(S2CTR)2] (T = 2,5-disubstituted thiophene) and violet mononuclear nickel(II) complexes with perthio- and dithiocarboxylate ligands, [Ni(S3CTR)(S2CTR)] (R = alkyl groups). The blue monomers are preferred for the shorter alkyl chains (C4 and C6), and the violet compounds for the longer chain lengths (C8, C12 and C16) in the alkylthiophene complexes. In addition to the above series, [Ni(S2CTCH3)2], was prepared in a one-pot reaction and it was possible to isolate both the blue and violet products. The thermal properties of the complexes were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing optical microscopy (POM). Nickel complexes of the violet type with longer alkyl chains showed liquid crystalline properties. Zinc(II) complexes analogous to nickel(II) complexes prepared similarly. A crystal structure determination of one of those complexes revealed the fusion of two monomers to give a dimeric structure with bridging sulfur atoms, [Zn2 (ƒÝ-S2CTR) 2 (S2CTR) 2]. Although an irregular melting pattern was observed, the complexes did not show any liquid crystalline properties. In an attempt to extend the study towards organometallic compounds, complexes of the type [Re(CO) 4 (S2CTR)] or [Re(CO) 4 (S2CTTR)] (T = 2,5-disubstituted thiophene, TT = 2,5-disubstituted bithiophene; R = H, CH3, C14H29) were synthesized and characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy. Further characterization of [Re(CO) 4 (S2CTTH)] by single crystal X-ray diffraction confirmed the molecular structure of the complexes. These compounds showed sharp single melting points. Fischer-type carbene complexes of manganese(I) with octahedral coordination of the type [MnMeCp(CO) 2{C(OEtTR)}] or [MnMeCp(CO) 2{C(OEtTTR)}] (R = H, C6H13, C12H25, C16H33) were synthesized and characterized by IR, NMR and mass spectrometry. Thermal properties of the complexes were studied by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All the organometallic rhenium(I) and Fischer-type carbene complexes of manganese(I) showed weight loss upon heating due to decomposition. Therefore it can be assumed that these complexes are not suitable as liquid crystals. / Thesis (PhD (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Weather has a significant impact on business activities of many kinds. The list of economic activities subjected to the risk of the weather include: the energy producers and consumers, the industry of leisure, the insurance industry, the food industry and the agricultural industries but the primary industry, namely the energy industry, has given rise to the demand for weather derivatives and has caused the weather risk management industry to evolve actively. A derivative is a contract or security, whose payoffs depend upon the price of an underlying asset price, and is used to control the risks of naturally-arising exposures to such an asset price. Therefore weather derivatives are financial contracts with payouts that depend on weather in some form. It is a contract that provides a payoff in response to an index level based on weather phenomena (West, 2002).The underlying variable can be for example humidity, rain, snowfall, temperature, or even sunshine. The main players who take part in the weather derivatives markets industry can be grouped in to five main categories, namely: 1) End users who are also referred to as hedgers 2) Speculators 3) Market makers 4) Brokers 5) Insurance and re-insurance companies. Since the late 90’s when the first weather derivatives transactions were recorded, the underlying market has witnessed the development of a new derivative market in the United States, which is gradually expanding across Europe. However, the newly developed market for weather derivatives is not liquid in Africa and specifically South Africa mainly due to the following factors: 1) Many companies and business organisations have not yet established a hedging policy or even figured out how their businesses or industries are exposed to weather risks. 2 2) “Since many companies and industries depend on insurance companies to cover their risks, it is possible that the solutions suggested by these companies or industries looking for protection from weather risks differ according to the cover provided by these insurance organisations “(Micali, 2008). The main aim of this study is to review available statistical models for pricing derivatives, with temperature as the underlying which could enable industries, businesses and other organisations in South Africa to protect themselves against losses due to fluctuations in the weather and therefore hedge their risks.

The aim of the final thesis is to analyze the risk of trading with financial derivatives. The theoretical part generally describes characteristics of financial derivatives and their use. Practical part illustrates the risk of trading with financial derivatives by analyzing the bankruptcy of Barings Bank and Long-term Capital Management.

The principal aim of this graduation thesis is to characterize technical analysis including its application to chosen investment instrument. The begining of the thesis consists of the main investment approaches in the capital markets and their comparison with technical analysis. Afterwards, the definition and targets of technical analysis are given. Further, the work focuses on the Dow Theory as the main basis of the contemporary technical analysis and mentions other approaches in technical analysis. Then, the instruments of technical analysis are introduced. Graphical methods are only outlined whereas technical indicators are the focus of attention. There is the selection of twelve of them including their construction and usage. Finally, the application of chosen technical indicators belonging to chosen financial instrument is given and achieved results are commented.

A series of analogous reactions employing as a nucleus I-phenylazimidoquinone has been investigated.