<p>Globally, injury is a major public health problem. The extent of the problem varies considerably by demographic subgroups, regions and national income. The overall objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between injury mortality and economic development, and to discuss its role in the changing patterns of mortality as described in health transition theory.</p><p>By cross-sectional analysis between cause-specific injury-related mortality and income per capita, studies included in this thesis indicated that while unintentional injury mortality (UIM) and homicide rates correlated negatively with GNP per capita for total populations with varying patterns for age-specific mortality, suicide rates increased slightly by nations’ income per capita, especially among women. In age- and cause-specific injury mortality differentials between low-income, middle-income and high-income countries, ageing and injury interplay mutually with regard to health transition; declining rates in child UIM by income level contributes to the ageing process, while increasing UIM among the elderly, in combination with ageing populations boosts the absolute number of injury deaths in this segment.</p><p>Between the income-based country groups, both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses show that injury mortality for all three major causes (i.e. unintentional injury, suicide and homicide) first increase and then decrease with rising income per capita, following an inverted U-shaped curve.</p><p>These results illustrate that injury is not a homogeneous public health phenomenon from a health transition perspective. While child unintentional mortality clearly agrees with ‘diseases of poverty’, unintentional injury in the elderly agrees with ‘diseases of affluence’. Patterns for homicide and suicide are more complex and uncertain. Generally, the strength and direction of injury mortality by economic development vary considerably by age, sex and type of injury.</p><p>Further research on causations, mechanisms, broader indicators and data quality, as well as theoretical developments on health transition taking new findings and parallel frameworks into account, is needed to fully understand the complex relationship between economic development and injury mortality.</p>

Globally, injury is a major public health problem. The extent of the problem varies considerably by demographic subgroups, regions and national income. The overall objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between injury mortality and economic development, and to discuss its role in the changing patterns of mortality as described in health transition theory. By cross-sectional analysis between cause-specific injury-related mortality and income per capita, studies included in this thesis indicated that while unintentional injury mortality (UIM) and homicide rates correlated negatively with GNP per capita for total populations with varying patterns for age-specific mortality, suicide rates increased slightly by nations’ income per capita, especially among women. In age- and cause-specific injury mortality differentials between low-income, middle-income and high-income countries, ageing and injury interplay mutually with regard to health transition; declining rates in child UIM by income level contributes to the ageing process, while increasing UIM among the elderly, in combination with ageing populations boosts the absolute number of injury deaths in this segment. Between the income-based country groups, both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses show that injury mortality for all three major causes (i.e. unintentional injury, suicide and homicide) first increase and then decrease with rising income per capita, following an inverted U-shaped curve. These results illustrate that injury is not a homogeneous public health phenomenon from a health transition perspective. While child unintentional mortality clearly agrees with ‘diseases of poverty’, unintentional injury in the elderly agrees with ‘diseases of affluence’. Patterns for homicide and suicide are more complex and uncertain. Generally, the strength and direction of injury mortality by economic development vary considerably by age, sex and type of injury. Further research on causations, mechanisms, broader indicators and data quality, as well as theoretical developments on health transition taking new findings and parallel frameworks into account, is needed to fully understand the complex relationship between economic development and injury mortality.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are attractive reinforcements for lightweight and high strength metal matrix composites due to their excellent mechanical and physical properties. The present work is an attempt towards investigating the effect of CNT and GNP reinforcements on the mechanical properties of nickel matrix composites. The CNT/Ni (dry milled) nanocomposites exhibiting a tensile yield strength of 350 MPa (about two times that of SPS processed monolithic nickel ~ 160 MPa) and an elongation to failure ~ 30%. In contrast, CNT/Ni (molecular level mixed) exhibited substantially higher tensile yield strength (~ 690 MPa) but limited ductility with an elongation to failure ~ 8%. The Ni-1vol%GNP (dry milled) nanocomposite exhibited the best balance of properties in terms of strength and ductility. The enhancement in the tensile strength (i.e. 370 MPa) and substantial ductility (~40%) of Ni-1vol%GNP nanocomposites was achieved due to the combined effects of grain refinement, homogeneous dispersion of GNPs in the nickel matrix, and well-bonded Ni-GNP interface, which effectively transfers stress across metal-GNP interface during tensile deformation. A second emphasis of this work was on the detailed 3D microstructural characterization of a new class of Ni-Ti-C based metal matrix composites, developed using the laser engineered net shaping (LENSTM) process. These composites consist of an in situ formed and homogeneously distributed titanium carbide (TiC) as well as graphite phase reinforcing the nickel matrix. 3D microstructure helps in determining true morphology and spatial distribution of TiC and graphite phase as well as the phase evolution sequence. These Ni-TiC-C composites exhibit excellent tribological properties (low COF), while maintaining a relatively high hardness.

With a great need for new and better cancer treatments, microwaves and gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are increasingly being suggested to be used in radiotherapy. In thisreport, the authors present an investigation of how human tissue,both malignant and healthy, behaves under microwave radiation.Specifically, the focus has been on gradual transitions between healthy and GNP-treated cancerous tissue inside a waveguide.Here, the electromagnetic material property of concern is therelative permittivity. The permittivities of human tissues andGNPs have been modelled using well known analytical models.Furthermore, numerical simulations have been performed usingCOMSOL Multiphysics and the results have been compared to analytical equations suggested to describe the energy absorption in the material. The study shows that the analytical equations are in agreement with the numerical simulations for lower propagating electromagnetic (EM) modes. Some possible electromagnetic resonance has been seen within the GNP treated cancer tissue. Furthermore, the extensive analytical models and numerical software tools created will be of importance for future research of the feasibility of this cancer treatment method. / Med ett stort behov av nya, bättre cancer-behandlingar föreslås mikrovågsstrålning och guldnanopartiklar (GNPs) att användas i strålterapi. I denna rapport presenterar författarna en undersökning av hur mänsklig vävnad beter sig under mikrovågsstrålning. Specifikt har fokus varit på gradvisa övergångar mellan frisk och GNP fylld cancervävnad i en vågledare. Här är den elektromagnetiska egenskapen av intresse den relativa permittiviteten. Permittiviteterna av mänsklig vävnad och GNPs har modellerats med välkända analytiska modeller. Vidare har numeriska simuleringar utförts i COMSOL Multiphysics och resultaten av dessa har jämförts med de analytiska ekvationerna som sägs beskriva absorbtion av energi inuti materialet. Undersökningen visar att de analytiska ekvationerna stämmer överens med de numeriska simuleringarna för lägre propagerande elektromagnetiska (EM) moder. Möjlig elektromagnetisk resonans har setts inom den GNP fyllda cancervävnaden. De omfattande analytiska modellerna och numeriska mjukvaruverktygen som tagits fram kommer vara viktiga för framtida forskning på denna cancerbehandling. / Kandidatexjobb i elektroteknik 2022, KTH, Stockholm

Submitted by Denis Nakazawa (denisnak@hotmail.com) on 2013-06-12T10:02:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fatores Determinantes do Preço de Imóveis (Denis)_vf (pos-banca).pdf: 582940 bytes, checksum: a0fa5f51d08621702a0529597eb29f5f (MD5) / Este estudo tem como objetivo determinar os principais fatores macroeconômicos que influenciam a formação do preço de imóveis, tomando como base o mercado imobiliário residencial da cidade de São Paulo entre os anos de 2001 e 2012. Para capturar o efeito endógeno do PIB, da taxa de juros e da bolsa de valores sobre o preço de imóveis, optou-se por um modelo VAR. Concluiu-se que, dentre as variáveis, o PIB foi o fator mais preponderante na formação do preço, chegando a ter um impacto quase três vezes superior à taxa de juros. Não foram encontradas evidências estatísticas significativas do efeito da bolsa sobre o preço dos imóveis. Constatou-se ainda que choques no PIB e na taxa de juros demoram, no mínimo, um ano para começarem a refletir sobre o preço. Essas conclusões foram mais robustas no período anterior à crise imobiliária americana de 2008. / This article aims to identify the main economic determinants of house prices, based on the Sao Paulo residential market between the years 2001 and 2012. A VAR model was used to capture the endogenous dynamic among GNP, interest rate, equity and house prices. Among the variables, GNP was the most preponderant factor, having an impact almost three times superior than interest rate. No significant statistical evidence was found relating equity to housing price. Furthermore, house prices took at least one year to respond to shocks in the GNP and interest rate. These conclusions were more robust in the period previous to the American subprime mortgage crises of 2008.