Les maladies altérant le processus de la déglutition sont multiples, affectant la qualité de vie du patient et sa capacité de fonctionner en société. La nature exacte et la gravité des changements post/pré-traitement dépendent de la localisation de l’anomalie. Une réadaptation efficace de la déglutition, cliniquement parlant, dépend généralement de l’inclusion d’une évaluation vidéo-fluoroscopique de la déglutition du patient dans l’évaluation post-traitement des patients en risque de fausse route. La restriction de cette utilisation est due au fait qu’elle est très invasive, comme d’autres moyens disponibles, tels que la fibre optique endoscopique. Ces méthodes permettent d’observer le déroulement de la déglutition et d’identifier les lieux de dysfonctionnement, durant ce processus, avec une précision élevée. "Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir" est le principe de base de la médecine en général. C’est dans ce contexte que se situe ce travail de thèse pour la télésurveillance des malades et plus spécifiquement pour suivre l’évolution fonctionnelle du processus de la déglutition chez des personnes à risques dysphagiques, que ce soit à domicile ou bien en institution, en utilisant le minimum de capteurs non-invasifs. C’est pourquoi le principal signal traité dans ce travail est le son. La principale problématique du traitement du signal sonore est la détection automatique du signal utile du son, étape cruciale pour la classification automatique de sons durant la prise alimentaire, en vue de la surveillance automatique. L’étape de la détection du signal utile permet de réduire la complexité du système d’analyse sonore. Les algorithmes issus de l’état de l’art traitant la détection du son de la déglutition dans le bruit environnemental n’ont pas montré une bonne performance. D’où l’idée d’utiliser un seuil adaptatif sur le signal, résultant de la décomposition en ondelettes. Les problématiques liées à la classification des sons en général et des sons de la déglutition en particulier sont abordées dans ce travail avec une analyse hiérarchique, qui vise à identifier dans un premier temps les segments de sons de la déglutition, puis à le décomposer en trois sons caractéristiques, ce qui correspond parfaitement à la physiologie du processus. Le couplage est également abordé dans ce travail. L’implémentation en temps réel de l’algorithme de détection a été réalisée. Cependant, celle de l’algorithme de classification reste en perspective. Son utilisation en clinique est prévue. / The diseases affecting and altering the swallowing process are multi-faceted, affecting the patient’s quality of life and ability to perform well in society. The exact nature and severity of the pre/post-treatment changes depend on the location of the anomaly. Effective swallowing rehabilitation, clinically depends on the inclusion of a video-fluoroscopic evaluation of the patient’s swallowing in the post-treatment evaluation. There are other available means such as endoscopic optical fibre. The drawback of these evaluation approaches is that they are very invasive. However, these methods make it possible to observe the swallowing process and identify areas of dysfunction during the process with high accuracy. "Prevention is better than cure" is the fundamental principle of medicine in general. In this context, this thesis focuses on remote monitoring of patients and more specifically monitoring the functional evolution of the swallowing process of people at risk of dysphagia, whether at home or in medical institutions, using the minimum number of non-invasive sensors. This has motivated the monitoring of the swallowing process based on the capturing only the acoustic signature of the process and modeling the process as a sequence of acoustic events occuring within a specific time frame. The main problem of such acoustic signal processing is the automatic detection of the relevent sound signals, a crucial step in the automatic classification of sounds during food intake for automatic monitoring. The detection of relevant signal reduces the complexity of the subsequent analysis and characterisation of a particular swallowing process. The-state-of-the-art algorithms processing the detection of the swallowing sounds as distinguished from environmental noise were not sufficiently accurate. Hence, the idea occured of using an adaptive threshold on the signal resulting from wavelet decomposition. The issues related to the classification of sounds in general and swallowing sounds in particular are addressed in this work with a hierarchical analysis that aims to first identify the swallowing sound segments and then to decompose them into three characteristic sounds, consistent with the physiology of the process. The coupling between detection and classification is also addressed in this work. The real-time implementation of the detection algorithm has been carried out. However, clinical use of the classification is discussed with a plan for its staged deployment subject to normal processes of clinical approval.

This thesis examines the effectiveness of macroprudential policies on reducing housing price growth in the international database of 56 countries with the use of GMM and fixed effects between 2000 and 2017. The macroprudential index is added to the dynamic panel data model where the housing price index is regressed on housing price determinants as the economic growth or unemployment rate. The analysis is also conducted on the sample of countries with a higher market share of owners with a mortgage as there is a higher opportunity to control the housing market through the credit channel. Nevertheless, results show that we do not have enough evidence to state that macroprudential policies curb house price booms. Contrarily, the effect seems to work in the opposite direction which is probably caused by a reverse causality between the growth of real estate prices and the implementation of macroprudential tools. The debt-to-income restriction is the only tool that decreases housing price growth according to the fixed effects model. Detailed counterfactual analysis of the Czech market proposes only a slight impact of the loan-to-value measure on the apartment price development according to one out of four predictions. 1

The study aims to investigate the impact of natural resource wealth on the shadow economy. The theoretical section provides the basis of understanding the nature of two phenomena and discusses the possible transmission channels through which natural resources might influence the shadow economy. Consequently, the key determinants of the shadow economy are examined by static and dynamic models. Natural resource abundance is proxied by natural resource rents. We employ a panel data set for 109 countries for the period from 1996 to 2006. The results reveal that resource wealth is associated with the decrease of the shadow economy. This result is robust for different resource types (durable and non-durable), and the effect is more profound for countries with a low income level. JEL Classification C33, E26, O13 Keywords natural resources, shadow economy, dynamic panel data models, system GMM estimator Title Natural Resource Curse and Shadow Economy: Empirical Evidence

A major objective of policy makers is to achive targeted economic growth. Given the role of financial institutions and banks in today´s economy several researchers studied the relationship between economic growth and profitability of banks. This tackles an important policy question, in order to understand the financial markets to prevent a crisis it is relevant for policy makers to understand the contribution of banks´profits in the economic growth. Can proftibale banks contribute to higher economic growth? This thesis aims to test the relationship between the profitability of banks and economic growth for countries within the European Union. To test this relationship this study uses panel data over 25 countries in the EU during the time interval 2010-2020. The used method is an econometric analysis where two regressions will be executed, an Ordinary Least Square regression and a regression that applies the use of a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. The results that the study demostreates are consistent with earlier literature, it presents evidence of a positive and statistically significant relationship between the profitability of banks (ROA) and economic growth. However, the results shows an uncertainty of the lagged value of the profitability of banks as insignificant results were obtained in both regressions.

La présente recherche propose de revisiter cinq modèles d’évaluation d’actifs, soit ceux de Sharpe (1964), Carhart (1997), de Jagannathan et Wang (1996), de Ferson et Harvey (1999) et de Kraus et Litzenberger (1976). Afin de mettre l’accent sur le côté économétrique, les modèles sont évalués indépendamment selon deux méthodes, soit la régression de Fama et Macbeth (1973) et la méthode des moments généralisée de Hansen (1982). Par la suite, l’étude propose l’évaluation empirique d'un modèle multifactoriel conditionnel à moments supérieurs pour évaluer les rendements moyens en coupe transversale, nommé CAPM-ACS. Ce modèle est une tentative de combiner les principaux éléments des cinq modèles précédents. L’évaluation de ces modèles est portée sur les rendements provenant d’un échantillon de 80 portefeuilles de titres américains classés par anomalies de marché et par industrie sur la période du 1er janvier 1972 au 1er décembre 2014. Nos résultats supportent le conditionnement des bêtas des facteurs de marché, des moments supérieurs et du capital humain plutôt que le conditionnement des alphas. Les modèles conditionnels performent mieux que les modèles traditionnels et empiriques tels que Fama et French (1993), mais le facteur de momentum de Carhart (1997) persiste en présence de l’ensemble des facteurs testés dans ce mémoire.À cet effet, nos résultats soulignent un lien entre le facteur d’asymétrie et le facteur de momentum, pouvant être expliqué par le caractère asymétrique des portefeuilles de titres perdants et gagnants. De plus, l’ajout du capital humain améliore significativement la performance des modèles à capturer les variations de rendements des portefeuilles classés par industrie. Par rapport aux outils économétriques, nous observons un impact significatif des méthodes sur l’inférence statistique. Plus précisément, les mesures d’inférences sont plus conservatrices lorsque l’approche du GMM de Hansen (1982) est utilisée.

摘要 利率期間結構是指各種零息債券的殖利率與剩餘期間的對應關係，研究利率行為對資產管理及資產訂價都有非常重要的意義。在一般的資產訂價過程中，可以區分成兩股力量，一是”normal” diffusion，代表的是連續的新資訊導致資產的邊際改變。另一股力量則是”rare” jump，指的是少數的重要的資訊，是在間斷的時點釋放，造成一個超越邊際變動的影響。本論文探討的是，在政府貨幣政策所發出的跳動訊息下，對利率期間結構所產生的影響，並利用Duffie and Kan於1996年所提出的仿射利率期間結構(Affine term structure)，加入跳躍過程下，利用一般化動差法(GMM, Generalized Method of Moments)，估計模型的參數，進而預測未來利率的走勢。 在第一章中我們將說明整個利率期間結構理論的演進，從利率期間結構的三大理論：預期理論(the expectation hypothesis)、期間偏好理論(the preferred habitat theory)、市場區隔論(the segmented markets theory)，到近二十年來發展的連續隨機利率模型。 而第二章主要在介紹加入跳躍過程的仿射利率期間結構(Affine term structure)，並對政府貨幣政策的行為做一個模型設定，以便之後的參數估計。 在第三章我們可以知道詳細的一般化動差法(GMM, Generalized Method of Moments)估計方式，運用在本論文模型上的用法。第四章則真正利用由1994年(民83年)11月24日，至2001年2月1日，共1738筆央行重貼現率，及180天期CP2的日資料，來估計模型的參數。當模型參數得知後，代入求解出的零息債券方程式，來估計利率期間結構。

This thesis focuses on the relationship between crime and education, as well as macroeconomic and demographic factors such as police efficiency, GDP per capita, employment rate, population density, age and sexual composition of the society. We use the data of fourteen regions of the Czech Republic from 2000 to 2012. First, we apply the fixed-effect model in the data analysis, and further we use GMM for the estimation of new dynamic panel dataset. In addition, taking the possible time effects into account, we also add the time dummies in both regression models. Our finding finds the unexpectedly positive effects of secondary education with A-level exam, GDP per capita and the proportion of population aged 30-59 years old on most of criminal offences. On the other hand, the male ratio in population and the clearance rate are found to influence crimes negatively. Higher education and employment rate are also found to be related negatively with economic crimes. JEL Classification A14, E69, I21, I23, I25, I29, J19, R19 Keywords education, crime, employment, GDP, gender ratio, age, the Czech Republic, panel data, fixed-effect, GMM Author's e-mail cindy1114@livemail.tw Supervisor's e-mail brizova.ies@seznam.cz

The relationship between politicians and firms has attracted a considerable amount of research, especially in developing countries, where firms' political links are a widespread phenomenon. However, existing literature offers contradicting views about this relationship, espicially regarding the impact of firms' political connections on firms' market-performance. Furthermore, there is limited evidence on the impact of firms' political connections on some of the important corporate decisions, including firms' investment- and dividend-policies. Therefore, this thesis seeks to fill these gaps by offering three empirical essays with Jordan as a case study. The first essay examines the impact of firms' political links on their values by controlling for macroeconomic conditions. Also, in the extended models, by specifying three major events which occurred after 2008, namely, the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Global Financial Crisis, and the Arab Uprisings, we investigate the effects of these events on the relationship between firms' political ties and their value. The findings of this essay indicate that politically-connected firms have higher values compared to their non-connected counterparts in Jordan. Moreover, it is found that firms with stronger political-ties have higher values than firms with weaker ties. Furthermore, the positive effect of political connections continues, even after controlling for the macroeconomic conditions, though the latter are considered to be more important than political connections for firm valuation due to their impact on the share price. Interestingly, findings show that the events occurring after 2008 do not seem to have affected the relationship between political connections and firm value since the significant positive impact of political-ties on firm value persists during the post-event period. The second empirical essay studies the role of political connections in mitigating firms' financing-constraints. Moreover, it investigates the effect of the strength of political connections in alleviating these constraints. Finally, it looks at the impact of the above-mentioned three events which occurred after 2008, notwithstanding the new banking Corporate Governance Code issued in 2007. Findings of this essay reveal that firms' political connections are important in mitigating their financing-constraints. Furthermore, the results show that stronger political connections seem to reduce financing-constraints more than weaker connections. Finally, findings show that the impact of firms' political connections has diminished during the post-event period (2008 - 2014). The third essay examines how a firm's political connections can affect its dividend-policy. It also considers the impact of the strength of political connections on dividend-policy. Finally, we extend the empirical analysis by investigating any shift in the relationship between political connections and dividends due to the events of the Global Financial Crisis, the Arab Uprisings, and the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Results of this essay reveal that a firm's political connections have a significant positive impact on both the propensity to pay dividends and the dividend-payout ratio. Regarding the impact of the strength of political connections on dividends, it is found that firms with weaker political connections pay out more in dividends than firms with stronger connections. In terms of the impact of the events which occurred after 2008 on the relationship between political connections and dividends, the findings show that the impact of these connections on dividends is eliminated.

This study examines the impact of fiscal deficits on economic growth in developing countries. Based on deduction from the relevant theoretical and empirical literature, the study tests the following hypotheses regarding the impact of fiscal deficits on economic growth. First, fiscal deficits have significant positive or negative impact on economic growth in developing countries. Second, the impact of fiscal deficits on economic growth depends on the size of deficits as a percentage of GDP - that is, there is a non-linear relationship between fiscal deficits and economic growth. Third, the impact of fiscal deficits on economic growth depends on the ways in which deficits are financed. Fourth, the impact of fiscal deficits on economic growth depends on what deficit financing is used for. The study also examines whether there are any significant regional differences in terms of the relationship between fiscal deficits and economic growth in developing countries. The study uses panel data for thirty-one developing countries covering the period 1972- 2001, which is analysed based on the econometric estimation of a dynamic growth model using the Arellano and Bond (1991) generalised method of moments (GMM) technique. Overall, the results suggest the following. First, fiscal deficits per se have no any significant positive or negative impact on economic growth. Second, by contrast, when the deficit is substituted by domestic and foreign financing, we find that both domestic and foreign financing of fiscal deficits exerts a negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth with a lag. Third, we find that both categories of economic classification of government expenditure, namely, capital and current expenditure, have no significant impact on economic growth. When government expenditure is disaggregated on the basis of a functional classification, the results suggest that spending on education, defence and economic services have positive but insignificant impact on growth, while spending on health and general public services have positive and significant impact. Fourth, in terms of regional differences with regard to the estimated relationships, the study finds that, while there are some regional differences between the four different regions represented in our sample of thirty-one developing countries - namely, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa - these differences are not statistically significant. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that fiscal deficits per se are not necessarily good or bad for economic growth in developing countries; how the deficits are financed and what they are used for matters. In addition, the study concludes that there are no statistically significant regional differences in terms of the relationship between fiscal deficits and economic growth in developing countries.

This project aims to develop standards to predict vermillion border shape and appearance - i.e. the outline of the vermillion border and the fullness of lips, based on assessment of an individual dental pattern using a combination of three methods: morphological, cephalometric and GMM. This study tests a hypothesis that the skeletal and dental pattern in antero-posterior and vertical dimensions and the upper and the lower incisor inclinations can predict the morphology of the soft tissue of the lips. This hypothesis was examined by analysing retrospective facial data, which consists of two-dimensional, pre-orthodontic treatment photographs and cephalograms of individuals of four malocclusion classes: Class I, Class II: divisions 1 and 2, and Class III from two sample populations: 56 Scottish and 56 Jordanians, aged 11-14 years. All the Scottish participants had been recipients of treatment at the Dental Hospital at the University of Dundee, and the Jordanian sample were selected from the Orthodontic archive held by Jordan University Hospital. The results reveal that a cephalogram analysis offers a statistically significant correlation differing from one type of malocclusion to another, in addition, analysis of cephalograms showing the value of angles and linear dimensions differed from one type of malocclusion to another. Photographic analysis using GMM afforded a statistically reliable correlation between naso-labial traits, and particularly between the vermillion border outline and malocclusion patterns. Due to their shared ancestry (Caucasian), both Jordanian and Scottish populations showed the same morphological trends for the lips, for example: long lower facial height, a deep philtrum, V-shaped Cupid’s bow, thin upper vermillion border. GMM results suggest that vermillion border variation could be computed, at least when distinguishing between malocclusion classes from the same ethnic group. Morphological, GMM, and cephalograms analyses confirmed that the shape and diversity in the Vermillion XIV border outline differed between malocclusion classes, but few or no differences could be shown between the sexes.