This thesis investigates the exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices, and its non-linearity and asymmetry effect in Mongolia. The recursive VAR model and non-linear econometric model are applied using monthly data from January 2000 to December 2013. We find that exchange rate pass-through is high and incomplete both in the short and in the long run in Mongolia. There is a statistically significant asymmetry effect, which states that impact of exchange rate depreciation on consumer price is higher than appreciation. However, we do not find an evidence of non-linearity in consumer price reaction to the large and small absolute changes of the exchange rate relative to its sample average and median as a threshold level. Additionally, we estimate the importance of the exchange rate shock for the consumer price variation using variance decomposition technique. In spite of this relatively high pass through, the exchange rate shocks explain a relatively small percentage of the variation in CPI inflation. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Caves are valuable sites from geological , palaeontological and biological point of view. They are important biotopes of rare and endangered species. Their ecosystem is quite specific and often very independent on environment. Therefore, the caves since the beginning of science have been the subject of research , and gradually also the subject of protection. Caves can also be very attractive objects of interest of tourism. In the Czech Republic there are 14 open to the public karst caves that have regulated attendance, and their access time is subordinated to the interests of nature conservation. On the other hand, there are also a number of caves that are not secured in any way and may be a target of unregulated tourism. This dissertation discusses the evaluation and the impact of attendance on non-karst caves in the National Nature Reserve Canyon Labe, which are freely accessible. I divided the work into three parts. In the first part I dealt with quantifying the attendance of all caves in the area of interest, On the basis of collected data, I made a selection of caves , which I later focused on. In the second part of my work I focused on obtaining information about the visitors and their motivations using public inquiry survey in selected caves, In the third part I tried to analyze the impact...

The study of interest pass through has been on the core attention of researchers since it serves as an incentive to evaluate the accuracy of monetary policy transmission mechanism. Therefore there are a lot of studies conducted under this topic encompassing a large number of countries and data. My aim, inspired by the great previous works, is to develop the same topic but by focusing on Balkan countries and more specifically on Albania. Being a developing country located on the heart of Balkan while aspiring the EU integration, Albania has gone under a considerable number of economic reforms which are also reflected on the degree and speed of transmission of policy rates to landing rates and on the determinants of such rates. Crisis of 2008 had a global impact but yet several conducted studies revealed that Albania was not directly affected by it. My contribution to this thesis consists in measuring how the pass-through mechanism performance was affected by the crisis and the implications derived from it. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / J. Anita Dille / Variable-rate (VR) nitrogen (N) applications have the potential to improve efficiency of grain sorghum production. Field experiments were conducted in 2010 and 2011 in Stockton and Manhattan, KS. Four VR-N prescriptions were generated using various combinations of grid soil sampling data, soil electrical conductivity (EC) data, and yield maps, and were compared in the field with a uniform application based on a composite soil sample and whole field average yield goal. Soil EC data were used to create management zones that were individually soil sampled. Prescriptions were applied before planting and grain sorghum was harvested and recorded with a yield monitor in the fall. Grain sorghum yields responded to N at both sites with a higher response in 2010 due to more precipitation during the growing season. At Stockton in both years, greatest yields and returns were realized with prescription 4, a combination of management zone soil data and spatially-variable yield goal, while the smallest yields were realized with prescription 2 based on management zone soil data and field average yield goal. Prescription 5, which used grid-soil sampling and a spatially-variable yield goal, and prescription 2 resulted in the lowest returns in both years. At Manhattan in both years, greatest yields and returns were realized with prescription 3, combining a composite soil sample with spatially-variable yield goal. Prescription 5 was among the lowest returning treatments in both years. At Stockton, there was no correlation between yield and soil EC during the 2010 growing season, however there was a significant correlation between yield and shallow EC during the drier 2011 season. At Manhattan, yield was correlated to deep EC in 2010 and to shallow EC in 2011. Overall, increasing spatial intensity of data to develop the prescriptions did not necessarily result in an increased yield response to the application. Prescriptions that included a variable yield goal component tended to perform better across both sites and years.

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a life-saving therapy in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a condition that affects 3000 patients/year in Sweden with a mortality rate of about 40%. However, MV may induce or worsen lung injury causing “ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI)”. From a mechanical perspective strain (deformation, or relative change in lung volume) and stress (tension) have been postulated as main determinants of VILI. High respiratory rate is potentially another factor that may exacerbate VILI by amplifying the total energy transmitted to the lungs during MV. In this thesis in animal ARDS models the hypotheses were that 1) lung parenchyma inhomogeneities concentrate stress and amplify lung damage and inflammation, 2) higher respiratory rates increase lung inflammation and lung edema in heterogeneous ARDS, and 3) local lung deformation is related to local inflammation. First, in a rat model the effect on inflammation and structural damage of regional lung collapse on the healthy surrounding lung tissue was assessed. Second, in porcine models the effect of respiratory rate on lung edema and inflammation was studied during two ventilatory modes; a) a permissive collapse mode and b) a homogenized lung parenchyma mode. Finally, lung deformation was correlated with lung inflammation assessed by positron emission tomography using 18F-FDG uptake. It was found that; 1) local inhomogeneities can act as stress amplifiers, increasing lung tissue inflammation and damage in the healthy surrounded lung. 2) high respiratory rate increases lung edema but decreases lung inflammation when permissive lung collapse is used and that these effects are prevented with lung parenchyma homogenization; 3) local lung deformation and inflammation are well correlated. In conclusion, lung inhomogeneities may aggravate VILI, respiratory rate may affect in different ways VILI progression depending on the ventilatory strategy, and finally, lung deformation is closely related to lung inflammation. With the caveat that the studies are performed in animal models, the results suggest that using ventilator strategies that homogenize the lungs, i.e., open collapsed lung regions and prevent re-collapse in ARDS will reduce VILI and in the end may decrease morbidity and the high mortality in this condition.

Syfte: Att undersöka läshastigheten på datorskärm och om den kan förbättras med hjälp av färgade overlays, samt om det finns någon skillnad i läshastighet på utskrivet papper och datorskärm. Metod: Deltagarna (n=30) fick läsa ett Wilkins rate of reading test översatt till svenska, där antalet ord som hann läsas upp högt under en minut jämfördes då de läste på papper utan overlay och på datorskärm med och utan overlay. Studien gjordes på studenter mellan 18-31 år. Resultat: Den här studien visar att det inte finns någon signifikant skillnad i läshastighet mellan läsning på utskrivet papper och datorskärm (p=0,508). Deltagarna läste 1,6 ± 13,3 ord mer/min på datorskärm än på papper. En signifikant skillnad kan däremot ses mellan läsning på datorskärm med och utan färgat overlay (p=0,008). Läshastigheten ökade med 4,7 ± 9,1 ord/min med färgat overlay. Slutsats: Läshastigheten på papper och datorskärm är ungefär densamma. Man kan öka läshastigheten på datorskärm genom att placera ett färgat overlay över texten. / Purpose: To investigate reading speed on a computer screen and if it can be improved by using coloured overlays, and also if there is any difference in reading speed on printed paper and computer screen. Methods: The participants (n=30) read a Wilkins rate of reading test translated into Swedish, where the number of words read out loud in one minute was compared when reading on a paper without overlay and on a computer screen with and without an overlay. This study was performed on students aged 18-31 years. Results: This study shows that there is no significant difference in reading speed between reading on a printed paper and on a computer screen (p=0.508). The participants read 1.6 ± 13.3 words/min more on the computer screen than on the paper. A significant difference however was found in reading on a computer screen with and without coloured overlay (p=0.008). The reading speed increased with 4.7 ± 9.1 words/min with a coloured overlay. Conclusions: The reading speed on paper is similar to the reading speed on computer screen. The reading speed on the computer screen can be increased by placing a coloured overlay in front of the text.

S ohledem na skutečnost, že více než polovina uskutečněných fúzí a akvizic je považována za neúspěšnou, realizovala jsem výzkum, který sleduje proces fúzí a akvizic v České republice a hodnotí jejich úspěšnost s ohledem na vývoj odvětví. Ve své disertační práci se zabývám vývojem fúzí a akvizic uskutečněných českými subjekty od roku 1997 až do 1. poloviny roku 2008 a hodnotím tento vývoj z několika hledisek tak, abych mohla posoudit úspěšnost transakčního procesu českých podnikatelských subjektů. Dospěla jsem k závěru, že akviziční společnosti mají před i po akvizici většinou velmi dobré finanční výsledky. Fúzované společnosti jsou naopak v době transakce pod průměrem České republiky, avšak v po transakčním vývoji se jejich finanční výsledky vyvíjejí ve srovnání s odvětvím velmi pozitivně. I když je potřeba zohlednit individuální charakter každé transakce, konstatuji, že v období 1997 až 2007 převažovaly v České republice úspěšné fúze a akvizice. Další závěry: - Transakční aktivita na území České republiky vykazuje klesající trend. - Nejčastěji probíhají fúze a akvizice mezi českými společnostmi navzájem. České společnosti nejčastěji kupují ze zahraničních subjektů slovenské společnosti. Naopak české společnosti jsou předmětem zájmu německých a amerických společností. - Některá průmyslová odvětví zaznamenávají klesající trend zájmu o transakce. - Hodnota transakce v období 1997 až 1. polovina roku 2008 v České republice klesá. - Nejčastějším způsobem úhrady kupovaného podílu je hotovost. - Nejčastěji se kupují společnosti, kde lze získat stoprocentní podíl nebo alespoň majoritu.

Abstract The resilience of trade balances of the major industrialised economies such as the US and Japan to changes in their exchange rates following the switch from fixed to floating exchange rate regimes, triggered interest in the exchange rate pass-through relationship. Because of the importance of the pass-through issue particularly in economic policy formulation, a sizeable literature has developed over recent years. Comprehensive surveys of this literature include Menon (1995), Goldberg and Knetter (1997) and McCarthy (2002). However, not much attention has been paid to the comparison of the methodologies for estimating exchange rate pass-through. This research report aims to address this imbalance by comparing some of the exchange rate pass-through estimation methodologies via a Monte Carlo simulation study, based on the South African data set. The econometric results reported in this research report suggest that the Johansen type VECMs are superior to polynomial distributed lag models, exchange rate pass-through to South Africa’s import prices is incomplete (around 78%) and that the speed of adjustment to long-run equilibrium is low, about 7 per cent of disequilibrium in the previous month is corrected in the current month. We conclude that if we are not sure about the unit root properties of the data (as is normally the case), then the ARDL precedure is the appropriate model for empirical work.

Abstract This paper presents a simple and transparent framework for the monetary transmission mechanism of the South African economy based on the model by Rudebusch and Svensson (1999). This model is extended to consider the long rate and the credit channel in the transmission mechanism. Firstly, we find that the credit channel plays a significant role in the transmission mechanism. Secondly, despite the backward looking nature of the model, impulse responses reveal that the term spread predicts output and inflation in the South African economy.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / Could not copy abstract