The Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model, which is based on the New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) theoretical framework, has become the workhorse of macroeconomic analysis in academia, research institutes and monetary authorities since the 1980s. The dominating popularity of the DSGE type of models can be witnessed by their extensive use by central banks, such as the Bank of England (BoE), the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve (FED) and other central banks. One of the most important and attractive advantages of the DSGE model is its compatibility with a variety of micro- and macro- economic foundations, including short-run nominal rigidities in the goods and services markets, heterogeneities in production, monetary policy and a rich set of exogenous shocks; not that there are no problems with these aspects of the DSGE model as discussed in this thesis. Although a lot of efforts have been made in DSGE modelling in industrialized economies, literature of DSGE modelling in emerging market economies is still at an early stage. The DSGE models especially designed for the economic and social features of these economies are hard to find. In this thesis, we develop a new DSGE model with special consideration of the economic and social features of emerging market economies, and account for some of the DSGE problems. The major development and innovation of this thesis is the heterogeneities not only on the supply side but also in terms of households. Additionally, the housing market and real estate assets are explicitly introduced into our model. Thirdly, we introduce a financial sector into our final model. In this sector, financial frictions are included and entrepreneurs are no longer riskless. Financial intermediates take deposits from households and then lend them to entrepreneurs at an interest rate, which is higherthanthedepositrate. Armed with these developments and improvements,the complete model in this thesis is expected to produce better empirical results and thereby more accurate explanation of economic movements in emerging market economies. Based on these models and data samples, we are able to make empirical analysis on the target economies, namely Brazil, China and India. In conclusion, the models developed in this thesis, based essentially on the DSGE type, can be the pioneer dynamic macroeconomic models for emerging market economies such as Brazil, India, and China. Based on these models, we conduct empirical analyses on data from China, Brazil, and India. We use the Bayesian estimation methodology to identify parameters in our model. The empirical results of these newly developed models show a good coherence with our theoretical hypotheses. Additionally, the performance of these models is consistent with the observed samples and the stylized facts in Brazil, China and India in terms of economic features, such as standard deviations of important economic variables including GDP and fixed asset investment. The results are promising, indicating that our DSGE type of model successfully captures the major economic features and dynamics in these countries with improved accuracy and explanatory power.

Vid tidigare forskning inom redovisningsområdet har det framkommit att individers (ekonomers) bedömningsförmåga påverkas av effektivitetsmotiverat resonerande. Det innebär att personen ifråga gör en mental avvägning mellan att utföra arbetet för att uppnå bästa effekt eller på det effektivaste sättet under press. Bedömningsförmågan påverkas i negativ men även i positiv riktning av olika faktorer. Tidspress har visat sig ha negativ inverkan. Detta resulterar i att personens bedömning, exempelvis i en granskningssituation kan vara genomförd på ett snabbt och tillräckligt sätt enligt gällande regler, men inte nödvändigtvis vara utförd på bästa sättet. Etiska riktlinjer och erfarenhet har i olika studier visat sig ha en positiv inverkan på medarbetares beteende respektive bedömningsförmåga. Studien avser att testa dessa effekter och syftet är att undersöka om bedömningsförmågan försämras av tidspress och om erfarenhet och etiska riktlinjer förbättrar densamma. Detta sker med hjälp av en enkät som via e-post skickats till 976 redovisningskonsulter anslutna till SRF, med en reviderad svarsfrekvens på 13,83 %. Konsulterna fick bedöma relevansen för påståenden av negativ och positiv karaktär, om hur internkontrollen sköts på ett fiktivt företag. En del av respondenterna fick även frågor relaterade till etiska riktlinjer. Resultatet från studien kan inte påvisa någon påverkan av tidspress, men en tendens att etiska riktlinjer och erfarenhet kan ha en dämpande effekt på effektivitetsmotiverat resonerande noterades. / Previous research within the auditing field has found individuals to be influenced by Efficiency Motivated Evaluation (EME). Meaning that the economists’ assessment ability is affected and their ability to evaluate information is deteriorated by different pressure factors, such as time pressure, resulting in their accounting evaluations being implemented in an effective, but not necessarily an efficient way. Other studies also indicates that ethical guidelines and work experience has a positive effect on work performance under pressure. This study intends to test these effects with the aim to investigate if the assessment ability is deteriorated by time pressure and if experience and ethical guidelines improves the assessment ability. The method used was a questionnaire, sent out to 976 authorized accounting consultants, with a response rate of 13, 83 %. The participants responded to assertions about internal control and ethical guidelines. The result from the study shows no significance for influence of time pressure. Although a tendency of calming effect from ethical guidelines and experience was noticed.

Ce travail de recherche porte sur l’œuvre de la Vénitienne Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757), qui connut un succès international grâce à ses portraits et à sa maîtrise exceptionnelle du pastel. Cependant, il serait réducteur de parler de Rosalba Carriera uniquement en tant qu’artiste.En effet, cette dernière rédigea une vaste correspondance, plusieurs textes en relation avec la société de son époque, écrivit un petit traité sur le pastel et fut dans le même temps poète et diariste.Le but de cette recherche consistera donc – sans oublier son travail de peintre –à mettre en lumière l’autre facette de l’artiste, à savoir, la femme de Lettres en prise avec son temps dont elle fut un témoin attentif.Dans cette double perspective, l’accent est mis, en premier lieu, sur la peinture et les femmes peintres en Europe et à Venise au XVIIIe siècle, avec une mention particulière pour la formation artistique de Rosalba Carriera. Dans un second temps, sont analysés ses écrits, parmi lesquels sa vaste correspondance ainsi que ses journaux qui révèlent ses qualités d’épistolière et de diariste ainsi que le vaste réseau qu’elle avait su se constituer en Europe, tout particulièrement en France et, dans une moindre mesure, en Angleterre. Enfin, Rosalba Carriera sera présentée comme poète, mais également comme témoin social et historique de son temps au travers de plusieurs écrits de natures diverses, au nombre desquels on compte le traité sur le pastel, Maniere diverse per formare i colori, dans lequel elle apparaît comme une remarquable pédagogue et spécialiste en la matière.Ces différentes facettes de Rosalba Carriera composant le portrait d’une artiste et femme de Lettres dans l’Europe des Lumières. / This thesis is about the work of the Venetian Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), who knew an international success thanks to her portraits and her exceptionnal mastery of pastel painting. However, Rosalba Carriera was not only an artist. In effect, she wrote many letters, texts in relation with the society of her century and she wrote a little essay about the pastel and she was also a letter writer, a poet and wrote diaries. Without forgetting her identity of artist,we will stress on her profile of woman of Letters, witness of her century. First of all, we will speak about the painting and the women painters in Europ and in Venice in the 18th century and we will insist on the artistic formation of Rosalba Carriera.In a second time, we will analyse the writings of Rosalba: her letters and diaries that reveal her qualities of letter writer and diarist and also the large network she especially developed in France and a little bit in England. Finally, we will introduce Rosalba as a poet, as a social and historical witness of her time thanks to many texts and thank to her essay on the pastel painting, Maniere diverse per formare i colori, where she appears as an educationalist and specialist. These differents facets of Rosalba Carriera will make up the portrait of an artist and a woman of Letters in the Enlightenment Europ.

Master of Veterinary Clinical Studies / Summary Canine Neural Angiostrongyliasis (CNA) is caused by the obligatory neural migration of Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae in dogs. Characteristically, cases are juvenile dogs with progressive CNS dysfunction characterised by hyperaesthesia and often associated with eosinophilic pleocytosis of the CSF. In Australia, most cases occur between March and June. The rat lungworm, A cantonensis was first described by Chen in 1935 in Canton, China. While initially called Pulmonema cantonensis the parasite was later reclassified as A cantonensis. A disease diagnosed as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis was first described in 1944 in Taiwan. The same disease was reported in 1948 in the East Caroline Islands but it was not until 1961 that A cantonensis was confirmed as the aetiological agent when a patient in a Hawaiian mental institution, who had died of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, had A cantonensis larvae recovered from the brain and spinal cord. The first reports of animals infected with A cantonensis were made by Mason in 1976 when he described a syndrome occurring in puppies in the Brisbane area, characterised by urinary incontinence, hind limb paresis and hyperaesthesia, often associated with eosinophilic pleocytosis of the CSF. Reports of infection in other species followed including macropods, bats, horses, primates and birds. Twenty-two cases of suspected CNA were collected prospectively to compare with those previously described, including 37 cases published by Mason in 1983, and to examine the accuracy of an ELISA used to diagnose human neural angiostrongyliasis in Australia. Samples were collected from two control populations in an attempt to validate the ELISA results. In the prospective series of cases, there was a significantly older subpopulation of dogs in addition to “classical” young dogs, suggesting that this syndrome can occur at any age and should be considered a differential in any dog with progressive neurological disease. The mortality rate in the prospective group was lower than in the published group, which is a reflection of the severity of the disease in younger animals as is the case with human patients. Definitive diagnosis of neural angiostrongyliasis in human patients has been achieved by identifying A cantonensis larvae within the CSF or aqueous humour. In dogs, the only definitive way to diagnose CNA has been via necropsy. While many cases of CNA are characteristic and presumptive diagnosis can be made based on typical history, signalment, clinical signs, CSF analysis and response to glucocorticoids, there appear to be an increasing number of cases occurring in older dogs, that displaying focal, atypical clinical signs or that develop permanent sequelae. Serology has been a useful tool in diagnosing neural angiostrongyliasis in humans. In its current form the ELISA is not sensitive or specific enough to allow a definitive diagnosis of CNA to be made using serum but is useful when applied to CSF specimens. Further refinement of the antigen or using monoclonal rather than polyclonal antibodies may improve the accuracy of the serology. Alternatively, methods such as Western Blot, Immuno-PCR or dot-blot ELISA, which have been successfully used to diagnoses angiostrongyliasis in humans, may be worthy of investigation The major differential diagnosis for CNA is neosporosis. Other differential diagnoses include idiopathic eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, parasitic infections including Toxoplasma gondii, Taenia solium, Gnathostoma spinigerum, visceral larval migrans (Toxocara canis) and schistosomiasis, fungal, bacterial, viral and rickettsial infections as well as neoplasia, trauma, drug reactions and toxicities. Treatment of CNA has been limited to glucocorticoids, however there may be adjunct therapies including anthelmintices, cyclosporine, and matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors. In Mason’s series of cases the use of anthelmintics significantly worsened the clinical outcome for patients. It does not appear, however, that the use of these agents in species other than the dog exacerbates clinical signs. Acquired immunity is short lived in rats and mice, which would suggest the same is true in dogs. Routine heartworm and intestinal parasite prophylaxis appears to have no influence on the occurrence of CNA.

Master of Veterinary Clinical Studies / Summary Canine Neural Angiostrongyliasis (CNA) is caused by the obligatory neural migration of Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae in dogs. Characteristically, cases are juvenile dogs with progressive CNS dysfunction characterised by hyperaesthesia and often associated with eosinophilic pleocytosis of the CSF. In Australia, most cases occur between March and June. The rat lungworm, A cantonensis was first described by Chen in 1935 in Canton, China. While initially called Pulmonema cantonensis the parasite was later reclassified as A cantonensis. A disease diagnosed as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis was first described in 1944 in Taiwan. The same disease was reported in 1948 in the East Caroline Islands but it was not until 1961 that A cantonensis was confirmed as the aetiological agent when a patient in a Hawaiian mental institution, who had died of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, had A cantonensis larvae recovered from the brain and spinal cord. The first reports of animals infected with A cantonensis were made by Mason in 1976 when he described a syndrome occurring in puppies in the Brisbane area, characterised by urinary incontinence, hind limb paresis and hyperaesthesia, often associated with eosinophilic pleocytosis of the CSF. Reports of infection in other species followed including macropods, bats, horses, primates and birds. Twenty-two cases of suspected CNA were collected prospectively to compare with those previously described, including 37 cases published by Mason in 1983, and to examine the accuracy of an ELISA used to diagnose human neural angiostrongyliasis in Australia. Samples were collected from two control populations in an attempt to validate the ELISA results. In the prospective series of cases, there was a significantly older subpopulation of dogs in addition to “classical” young dogs, suggesting that this syndrome can occur at any age and should be considered a differential in any dog with progressive neurological disease. The mortality rate in the prospective group was lower than in the published group, which is a reflection of the severity of the disease in younger animals as is the case with human patients. Definitive diagnosis of neural angiostrongyliasis in human patients has been achieved by identifying A cantonensis larvae within the CSF or aqueous humour. In dogs, the only definitive way to diagnose CNA has been via necropsy. While many cases of CNA are characteristic and presumptive diagnosis can be made based on typical history, signalment, clinical signs, CSF analysis and response to glucocorticoids, there appear to be an increasing number of cases occurring in older dogs, that displaying focal, atypical clinical signs or that develop permanent sequelae. Serology has been a useful tool in diagnosing neural angiostrongyliasis in humans. In its current form the ELISA is not sensitive or specific enough to allow a definitive diagnosis of CNA to be made using serum but is useful when applied to CSF specimens. Further refinement of the antigen or using monoclonal rather than polyclonal antibodies may improve the accuracy of the serology. Alternatively, methods such as Western Blot, Immuno-PCR or dot-blot ELISA, which have been successfully used to diagnoses angiostrongyliasis in humans, may be worthy of investigation The major differential diagnosis for CNA is neosporosis. Other differential diagnoses include idiopathic eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, parasitic infections including Toxoplasma gondii, Taenia solium, Gnathostoma spinigerum, visceral larval migrans (Toxocara canis) and schistosomiasis, fungal, bacterial, viral and rickettsial infections as well as neoplasia, trauma, drug reactions and toxicities. Treatment of CNA has been limited to glucocorticoids, however there may be adjunct therapies including anthelmintices, cyclosporine, and matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors. In Mason’s series of cases the use of anthelmintics significantly worsened the clinical outcome for patients. It does not appear, however, that the use of these agents in species other than the dog exacerbates clinical signs. Acquired immunity is short lived in rats and mice, which would suggest the same is true in dogs. Routine heartworm and intestinal parasite prophylaxis appears to have no influence on the occurrence of CNA.

Terms of acoustic emission (AE) and electromagnetic emission (EME) designated physical effects and also as diagnostic methods based on these effects. These effects are caused by generated cracks in materials that rank among non-destructive techniques of material diagnostics. The advantage of them is that they do not affect the measured object and give us information about the current dynamic state of a tested material. One disadvantage of these effects is that they provide very low energy of signal emissions and make it difficult for broader usage. It is expected better localization of cracks in non-conductive materials by connecting of these two techniques (diagnostics). There are designed and described new methods for crack detection with usage of AE and EME signals in this work. Also there is description of measuring arrangement intended of crack detection and experimental sample for checking accuracy of methods for crack detection. There was performed comparison of accuracy of methods in crack detection.

Tese de mestrado. Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2012

Electromagnetic emission and acoustic emission are physical phenomena evoked in non-conductive material by the sudden release of energy that generate rising cracks in material structure. The significant is a fact that these emission signals are detected already in stadium of materials loading whereof can be used e.g. at non-destructive diagnostics of building materials and constructions. In the appropriate manner processing of the emitted signals then make possible to obtain valuable informations for study physical properties of cracks. Master’s thesis describes methods designed for important signal data ascertainment in time, frequency even time-frequency domain. It can be e.g. start time, maximum value, dominant frequency in spectrum etc. All these methods are implemented into main program. Next load is formularization of source signal transformation which is given by used measuring circuit. Analytical method is chosen for solving. It means finding out reserve electrical circuit with constant element values. Resultant circuit approaches original circuit with less square error than existing way. The signal transformation is described by differential equation of second order with constant coefficients. MATLAB software is used for all computations and projections.

The value proposition of Personalized Medicine is to deliver the “right drug, to the right patient, at the right time”. Companion diagnostics is the required tool for Personalized Medicine used to aid clinical decision making with the aim to identify patients who are most suitable for a given treatment approach and to avoid adverse effects. However, even 16 years after the first co-approval of a therapeutic drug and an associated diagnostic test (trastuzumab (Herceptin1) from Genentech and the HercepTest1 from Dako), the co-development and co-approval of drug-diagnostic pairs is a challenging task.This study has the aim to identify major challenges for diagnostics companies when developing and commercializing companion diagnostics. This is achieved by (1) a literature research and (2) an empirical case study in form of interviews with diagnostics companies. The collected data is analyzed and discussed with focus on current regulatory and reimbursement frameworks in the USA and European Union. The co-development strategies and business models of companion diagnostics developers are identified.The conclusion of this study is that the major hurdles for companion diagnostics development and commercialization are gaps in scientific evidence and lacking regulatory guidelines for co-development and clinical biomarker studies. Companion diagnostics commercialization is further challenged by poor reimbursement levels. The main strategy of diagnostics companies to address these challenges is the demonstration of a beneficial outcome for patients in form of clinical studies. Small companies with limited resources for clinical research receive funding from academic research grants, patient support groups, pharmaceutical industry, and governmental Innovation agencies.Finally the formation of a new “pharma-diagnostics” sectoral innovation system as a result of the emerging paradigm of stratified medicine has been proposed.

Le but de ce travail est d’étudier le potentiel d’un bitume naturel (BN) extrait en Albanie pour la production des bitumes durs (BD) et des enrobés à module élevé (EME). Pour la production des BD, différentes techniques de raffinage du pétrole existent. Néanmoins, avec certains bruts pétroliers il est impossible de les fabriquer. De plus, les BD de raffinerie comportent souvent des défauts qui limitent leurs applications. Ces raisons, couplées à des questions d’approvisionnement, conduisent à chercher des méthodes de substitution. Dans ce contexte, il est intéressant d’utiliser des BN. Cette étude a montré que le BN d’Albanie donne des BD et des EME en conformité avec la Normalisation Européenne, résistants au vieillissement et performants aux basses températures. Un dosage adéquat permet de formuler des matériaux d’une dureté désirée en réponse des exigences techniques des applications routières visées tout en facilitant la gestion des stocks de bitumes dans les centrales d’enrobages. / The aim of this thesis is to study the potential of a natural bitumen (NB) mined in Albania in the production of hard bitumens (HB) and that of high modulus asphalt concrete (HMAC). Various petroleum refining techniques are available for the production of HB. Nevertheless, this is impossible with some crude oils. In addition, HB from refineries often present shortcomings which limit their applications. These reasons, coupled with practical issues related to HB supply, motivate the research of alternative methods. In this industrial context it is interesting to use NB. This study has shown that the Albanian NB provides HB and HMAC in accordance with European Standards, resistant to aging and relatively performant at low temperatures. The proper dosage of this NB allows the formulation of materials of desired properties, in response to the technical requirements of the considered road applications, facilitating in this way the use of bitumen stocks in asphalt concrete production plants.