Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a serious oncological disease, which ranks among cancers with the worst prognosis and a three-year life expectancy of 10%. Ex-vivo organoid cultures derived from cancer tissue are popular and reliable research models, which reflect the morphology and histology of the original tissue. Genetic background leading to development PDAC confer typical alterations in genes KRAS, TP53, SMAD4 a CDKN2A. The aim of this thesis was to determine mutations present in organoid cultures derived from human PDAC. We used online genomic databases to estimate specific mutations typical for PDAC. Based on that research we designed protocols for the detection of PDAC genetic alterations and optimized those methods using cultured cells. We applied the approach on primary ex- vivo organoids derived from surgical cancer specimens and detected mutations in KRAS, TP53, SMAD4, or deletion of exons in CDKN2A. Alternatively, we proposed improvements for the analysis of genetic background in PDAC. The data obtained within this thesis will be used for the stratification of metabolomics and biochemical analyses further in the project.

Yes / This study investigates peer effects in the online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market using data from a Chinese online lending platform, Renrendai. The empirical results indicate that both the borrowers' success rate in obtaining loans and the default rate after loans are deemed non-coercive among their peers, referred to as the peer effects of lending and peer effects of default, respectively. The peer effect of lending is more pronounced in high-risk cities, whereas the peer effect of defaulting is more pronounced for borrowers with more difficulty obtaining loans, indicating ex-ante selection and ex-post learning mechanisms, respectively. The peer effects of lending promote P2P lending market efficiency, and the peer effects of defaulting inhibit market efficiency. Collectively, our results suggest that both lenders and borrowers follow peer effects to reduce information asymmetry in P2P lending markets. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 22 June 2025.

Votive traditions have existed in virtually every society and culture during the last five thousand years. This traditions' 'longevity and universal appeal has led to diverse vow systems, numerous pilgrimages, and captivating ex-votos. The tradition is still vibrant today, particularly in the Northeastern areas of Brazil where thousands of pilgrims are avid believers. This thesis focuses on several aspects of Brazilian ex-votos, including cultural and economic contexts, visual aesthetics, folk religion and medicine, and how the tradition has evolved in the last three hundred years. An important aspect of this research includes deciphering why these objects are still being created in the twenty-first century and how they related to Brazil's current health care system, which is presently unable to support all of its citizens. The roots of this tradition in Brazil are deeply grounded in economics. However, ex-voto practices also have European, African, and indigenous influences that run deep beneath the Brazilian core. Folk customs, medicinal practices, and subconscious ways in which ex-votos heal participants are discussed in this thesis. A significant effort is also made to compare votive traditions among different cultures in order to understand these religious medical miracles from a global approach.

Prisoner reentry is becomingly increasingly recognised as a significant societal problem. Almost all prisoners will be released will reenter the community and many will reoffend. Internationally, imprisonment rates continue to rise, compounding the challenge to the criminal justice system that the current system of incarceration and reentry creates. Gaps remain in our understanding of the reentry process and the challenges faced by released prisoners. Previous reentry research has tended to focus on specific issues such as accommodation or employment or have used prisoner interviews as the data source. The gaps in reentry literature are compounded by conflicting definitions of 'successful' reentry. Research was undertaken to examine the definition of 'successful reentry' and to determine the most important variables deemed to affect successful prisoner reentry. Semi structured interviews were conducted with twenty-four stakeholders with a variety of roles in prisoner reentry in Western Australia. Additional data was collected from published government reports, policy documents, research reports and academic literature. The interview findings determined that accommodation, employment, social networks and education and treatment programs were deemed to have the most significant impact on prisoner reentry. One of the most significant findings to emerge is the significance of social networks. This study has found evidence that the value of social networks has been neglected in reentry policy. One of the core issues examined throughout this process was the definition of 'successful reentry'. The term 'successful reentry' requires clarification, alongside elucidation of related goals and measurements. Measures of reentry 'success' need to be developed further or ameliorated by additional criterion as successful reentry is a more complex problem than existing recidivism measures can address. This thesis challenges the existing understanding of the needs of prisoners reentering the community and suggests strategies for improving the reentry process and related outcomes. Future reentry policy needs to give greater weight to the value of social networks and establish mechanisms to facilitate the development and maintenance of these networks, which will in turn, assist prisoners to secure accommodation and employment opportunities.

Denna studies syfte är att testa om det finns ett statistiskt samband mellan det nominella aktiepriset och ex-dagseffekten på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Ett tydligt samband skulle därmed vara ett ytterligare motiv till företagens beslut om genomförandet av aktiesplit för att revidera aktiens nominella pris. Studiens hypotes lyder därför att det finns ett negativt samband mellan det nominella aktiepriset och ex-dagseffekten, som visats i tidigare studie på den amerikanska börsen NYSE. Studien har genomförts i positivistisk tradition genom statistiska analyser och tester för att klargöra ett eventuellt samband mellan den beroende variabeln ex-dagseffekten och den oberoende variabeln nominella priset. All empirisk data har hämtats från databasen Thomson Reuter Datastream, sammanställts i Excel kalkylblad, analyserats i statistikprogrammet MiniTab och redovisats i två uppsättningar. Studiens resultat visar inget samband mellan det nominella priset och ex-dagseffekten under perioden 2011 till 2015. Nollhypotesen kan inte förkastas och resultaten indikerar försumbar korrelation och förklaringsgrad genom regression. Resultatet är annorlunda från en tidigare studie som konstaterat ett tydligt samband mellan samma variabler på börsen i USA. Det teoretiska bidraget består främst av besvarandet av studiens syfte där det nominella prisets betydelse ter sig annorlunda på den svenska marknaden mot den amerikanska. Det praktiska bidraget från studien ger företagsledare för börsnoterade bolag samt fondbolag och aktörer på den finansiella marknaden en utökad kunskap om rådande förhållanden på marknaden för att förbättra beslutsunderlaget vid eventuella aktiesplittar eller investeringar. Som förslag till fortsatt forskning uppmuntras det att undersöka huruvida det nominella prisets betydelse skiljer sig mellan olika marknader. Förslagsvis kan framtida studier mäta effektiviteten på stockholmsbörsen på dagen för aktiesplit som också i teorin är en mätbar händelse på de finansiella marknaderna under rätt förutsättningar. / The aim of this study is to test for a correlated connection between the nominal stockprice and the price-drop-to-dividend ratio on the Swedish stock market Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. A strong correlated connection would be another motive for company managers to implement a stock split to reduce the nominal stock price. Therefore the hypothesis of the study is that there is a negative correlation between the two variables, just as shown in a recent study on the American stockmarket NYSE. This study has been computed with a positivistic approach through statistical tests and analysis to discover an eventual correlated connection between the dependent variable price-drop-to-dividend ratio and the independent variable nominal price. All empirical data was collected from Thomson Reuter Datastream, compiled in Excel worksheet, analyzed with statistical software MiniTab and presented in two sets of data. The result of this study shows no correlated connection between the nominal stock price and the pricedrop-to-dividend ratio during the period of 2011 to 2015. The null hypothesis can not be rejected and the results of the analysis indicate negligible correlation and coefficient of determination through regression, regardless which sets of data observed. The result is different to a recent study which has shown a significant correlated connection between the same two variables on the American stock market NYSE. The theoretical contribution comprises foremost of answering the aim of the study where the nominal prices impact acts differently on the Swedish stock market compared to the American. Also a presenting of the mean value of price-fall-to-dividend ratio for the period examined is a theoretical contribution. The practical contribution from this study give managers for listed companies along with fund managers and operators on the financial markets an increased knowledge about current influences on the market which improves their ability to make decisions about stock split and future investments. For future studies we suggest to do more research on how the impact of nominal prices differ among markets. Tentatively future research can measure the stockholm market efficiency on the day of stocksplit which according to theory is another measureable event on the financial markets under the right circumstances.

En France, les rénovations énergétiques en résidentiel, et ceci tout particulièrement pour les maisons individuelles, font peu l'objet après réalisation d'une évaluation ex-post permettant de quantifier la performance atteinte.Cette thèse se propose donc d'effectuer une évaluation ex-post de l'efficacité de solutions de rénovation énergétique en résidentiel, à partir de données (environ 100 cas par échantillon étudié) provenant d'enquêtes menées auprès de ménages, propriétaires occupants de maison individuelle, ayant participé à des opérations de maîtrise de la demande en énergie conduites à l'échelle régionale dans le nord-est et le sud-est de la France. Une approche statistique tant descriptive que de modélisation est principalement employée pour aborder ce travail.Le premier volet de l'évaluation ex-post consiste en une quantification des économies unitaires obtenues associée à un calcul d'incertitude. Pour chacune des opérations, la modélisation statistique de la consommation énergétique après travaux permet l'étude de l'influence des actions elles-mêmes mais aussi de certains facteurs tels que le changement de la gestion du chauffage ou l'utilisation après travaux de la climatisation.Le second volet de cette évaluation ex-post a pour but d'identifier les causes des écarts entre les consommations observées et celles simulées par un modèle de calcul ex-ante (dit d'ingénieur). Ainsi, nous étudions l'évolution des écarts des états avant à après travaux. Tout d'abord, une quantification et une modélisation statistique des écarts en situation avant travaux est réalisée. Puis, les écarts en situation après travaux sont à leur tour quantifiés et modélisés statistiquement en intégrant notamment l'erreur commise initialement (avant travaux). Les différences entre économies d'énergie observées et simulées sont également étudiées.Enfin, dans la dernière partie de la thèse, sur la base des sources d'écart identifiées, nous proposons des pistes de perfectionnement du modèle de calcul d'ingénieur utilisé. Plus largement, à partir d'un retour critique quant aux limites des modèles statistiques établis pour étudier les causes des écarts, des pistes sont avancées pour permettre de les améliorer.

Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-04-01T15:10:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Genivalda Cândido.pdf: 14101984 bytes, checksum: 6b41f506818bc712362ae23e0e58cf25 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-04-08T17:48:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Genivalda Cândido.pdf: 14101984 bytes, checksum: 6b41f506818bc712362ae23e0e58cf25 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-08T17:48:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação de Genivalda Cândido.pdf: 14101984 bytes, checksum: 6b41f506818bc712362ae23e0e58cf25 (MD5) / FAPESB / A pesquisa intitulada de “Abordagens e discussões sobre o espaço museal, a patrimonialização e a comunicação cultural no estudo comparativo entre o museu e a sala de milagres do Santuário do Bomfim, Salvador, Bahia”, teve como objetivo realizar um breve panorama histórico a partir do período que abrange a chegada de Theodózio Rodrigues de Faria a Salvador, e o surgimento do Santuário do Bomfim, que transcorreu no século XVIII, especificamente nos anos de 1740 até 1770. Tendo como foco primeiro no contexto histórico, mudanças sociais, urbanas, econômico-social que corroboraram de certa forma para a construção da Basílica do Bomfim. Em Segundo momento procuramos tecer uma ligação aos itens que contribuíram para toda a discussão presente nos referidos ambientes, como a religiosidade, a estética, o espaço e a comunicação. Itens estes primordiais no desenvolvimento das análises realizadas. A pesquisa também objetivou analisar como as práticas ex-votivas, presentes nos dois espaços, se vinculou à cultura popular dos pagadores de promessa, inerentes as classes sociais que transitam livremente pela sala de milagres, e os objetos ex-votivos que são museografados no Museu dos Ex-votos, local onde não é permitido ao crente, a colocação de ex-votos. Assim, então, se fez necessário a interpretação e elucidação das novas dimensões e significados culturais da arte e da religiosidade popular, e a retratação do ex-voto como um documento integrante do patrimônio cultural do Santuário do Bomfim. The research titled "Approaches and discussions on the museum space, the patrimonial and cultural communication in a comparative study of museum or room of miracles in Bomfim Church in Salvador, Bahia", aimed to make a brief historical overview from the period covers the arrival of Theodózio Rodriguez de Faria from Salvador, and the emergence of the Sanctuary of Bomfim, which takes place in the eighteenth century, specifically the years between 1740 to 1770. With the first focus social, urban changes, the historical context, economic and social that corroborated in a way for the construction of Bomfim's Cathedral. Weaving a link to items that corroborate all this discussion in these environments, such as religion, aesthetics, space and communication. These primary items in the development of the analysis. A priori the project aimed to analyze how former votive practices, present in the Sanctuary of Bomfim, is linked to the popular culture of the promise of paying inherent social classes who freely move around the miracles of room, and the former votive objects that are museographic in Ex-votos of the Museum, which is not allowed, by the believer, the placement of exvotos. So, then, if the interpretation and elucidation of new dimensions and cultural meanings of art and popular religiosity was necessary, and the retraction of the ex-votos as an integral document of the cultural heritage of the Sanctuary of Bomfim.

In history there are numerous examples of strong market-leaders who have lost everything through the emergence of a new breakthrough technology which has replaced the existing one. That could be the reason why Christensen received such high attention when he presented his famous work about disruptive technologies in 1997. In his work, and in many following studies, several aspects of this phenomenon have been investigated. However, the key point for the market leaders, the ability of identifying a market disruption before it happens, ex ante, is still a field that has not reached a definedstate of the art. In this work one of Christensen's original ideas of disruption, driven by changes incustomer demand, is highlighted as a possible improvement for the ex ante methodology. In this thesis a selected existing holistic prediction model is extended explicitly with this aspect of need change. The purpose of this work is thus to evaluate if including the property of shifting customer needs in an existing holistic model would improve the ex ante prediction of disruption and lead to a simple, practical but yet rich model. With a literature review of the existing types of ex ante methods a fitting base model for the holistic approach to disruptive prediction is found. A second literature review is performed with the focus on disruption and its link to changes in need, as expressed by customer demand. This serves as a starting point for the extension of the base ex ante model into a methodology that look also upon the aspect of shifting customer demand. To validate and use the proposed extended ex ante model a qualitative approach is selected. It consists of two studies within the automotive industry. One is a history analysis of a known disruptive case to validate the extension, the entry of Japanese car manufacturers into the US market. One is a case-study of a present potentially disruptive case to apply the extended method as a genuine ex ante method for final evaluation at a post-disruption stage. It investigates the effects of electric vehicles on the Chinese automotive market. Through the analysis of the two studies the conclusion is reached that a qualitative improvement of the prediction has been obtained. Additionally it is shown that the analysis of customer need change can provide an increased understanding of the underlying drivers of the disruption.

This thesis is about the life chances and trajectories of ex-combatant and other youth in post-war Monrovia, Liberia. In it I present the results of a qualitative inquiry into the relationship between shifting structural conditions and youth agency in the aftermath of 14 years of civil war. Much of the literature concerned with ex-combatant “reintegration” remains a-theoretical and fails to situate their experience within the contours of transition from structures in armed groups to structures in post-war society. It is rife with normative assumptions about how ex-combatants should “return” to civilian life. The ex-combatant trajectories detailed in this study challenge this literature reflecting neither “reintegration” nor “return.” Instead, they highlight how ex-combatants negotiate a complex environment in which structural norms, values, and relationships converge and conflict after war. To demonstrate this, the thesis presents an analysis of the relationships between structural constraints and youth agency among youth who fought, and others who did not. In so doing, it provides a situated analysis of post-war society which is often missing in the literature concerned with ex-combatants. The empirical material shows the significance of interdependent relationships at the level of the family and the household. It is “wealth in people” at this proximate level that supports survival and enables socio-economic mobility, with implications for social respect. Without patronage through family and kin, socio-economic possibilities diminish significantly. This means that options available to many ex-combatants are limited after war, as they are often unable or unwilling to be incorporated into families and former communities. Their navigation of the post-war social terrain reflects efforts to survive and maintain respect through patrimonial relationships within and outside of their structured networks from war. Some retain the status and respect they achieved in war through relationships maintained from their years of conflict. Others were able to survive and achieve respect through new or renewed relationships with families and extended kin. Life chances and trajectories emerge from embedded positions within structured social relations that are produced and reproduced in the aftermath of conflict. With this work, I argue that social processes are vital to any theorisation about life after war.

This thesis explores women's experiences from participation in armed groups, and their subsequent reintegration into civil society within the Colombian context. The study is based on two months of fieldwork, and nine interviews with female ex-combatants from the FARC, the ELN and the AUC currently enrolled in the reintegration process. Most research focus on women in specific armed groups, and tend to portray women in terms of either empowerment or oppression. This thesis criticizes such tendencies, through the exploration of the complex and gendered processes of de/militarization. The study shows that the women's lives have always - before, during and after their participation in armed groups - been marked by insecurity and exposure to violence. Sporadic incidents of direct physical violence were not always found as most distressing, rather daily stressors including factors like poverty and psychological stress, had larger impact on the women. Further, the women experienced liminality, both as members of an armed group and as participants in the reintegration program, which offered both possibilities and hindrances. In the armed groups established power hierarchies were altered and gendered norms were transgressed, at the same time as the women's reproductive rights were severely constrained. In their quest to become a part of civil society, conforming to conventional femininity became a central strategy for hiding their past. However, the burden of being the primary parent posed challenges for the process of reintegrating.