Arterial hypertension is one of the major treatable cardiovascular risk factors (1). It is associated with elevated mortality and the incidence of heart insufficiency, myocardial infarcts, and apolex (2). Elevated blood pressure in highperformance athletes is one of the most significant risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (3). Exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise testing is commonly regarded as a predictor of developing overt hypertension (4, 5). However, findings in adults are inconsistent (6), and no commonly accepted upper limits indicative of increased risks have been defined so far (7). There are only a few recommendations for tolerable upper blood pressure limits in exercise testing (8, 9). In the Guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), it states that an exceeding systolic blood pressure (SB) of 210 mmHg in men and 190 mmHg in women has been termed “exercise hypertension” (7). In the American Heart Association (AHA) guideline for exercise testing (10) a limit of 214 mmHg (based on the 90th percentile calculated from >27,000 treadmill tests (11) is reported beyond which the risk of developing hypertension appears particularly increased (7). Compared to adults, the prevalence of elevated blood pressure in children and adolescents is clearly lower. However, there is a correlation between elevated blood pressure in children and relation to obesity. In contrast to the recommended upper blood pressure limits in adults, the definition of arterial hypertension in children and adults is based on body height and age-dependent limits. These blood pressure limits are determined in healthy children and adolescents. However, such blood pressure limits do not exist for young highperformance athletes, who are exposed to frequent exerciseinduced blood pressure increase. There is only limited data available in which the effects of exercise-induced blood pressure elevation have been investigated in children and adolescents. Furthermore, very little is known about the exercise-induced blood pressure response in children. The study by Wanne et al. (12) investigated the blood pressure response under maximal dynamic movement in 497 healthy 9 to 18-year-old on a treadmill in young non- athletes. They described higher systolic values in postpuberty youths than in prepuberty. Szmigielska et al. (13) examined 711 (age 10– 18 y) young athletes (training load 7.62 h ± 4.2 h per week). In the maximal testing on the bike ergometer, the SBP was significantly higher in boys than in girls (183.2 ± 27.9 mmHg vs. 170.9 ± 21.4 mmHg, p = 0.03). Description of normative response to physical exercise in healthy children and adolescents in terms of percentiles was just recently given by Sasaki et al. and Clark and al. In the study by Clarke and collegues normative percentiles of blood pressure response on a treadmill for healthy children and adolescents were described (14) in contrast to resting blood pressure and individual height which was not considered in the study by Sasaki et al. (15) Although exercise testing in young elite athletes is frequently performed during preparticipation screenings, very little is known about the “normal” magnitude and distribution of exercise-induced blood pressure in this cohort. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the magnitude and determinants of blood pressure response to dynamic exercise testing in young elite athletes.

This paper aims to explore the limits of play using Goffman's frame theory when creating a humoristic card game set in a hospital. Multiple playtests were conducted with students at the University of Skövde and Hospital personnel. The results show that the game did not break the boundaries on the limits of play in the sense of being too insensitive, éven when sensitive subjectmatter was touched upon in the game's objectives. The game instead seemed to entertain the participants. Further research would need to be conducted on larger target groups for a more concrete conclusion.

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master of Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / Background: Poor balance is a risk factor for injury in adolescent sport including soccer. Despite the rapid growth in female adolescent soccer especially in South Africa, the association between balance and injury in this population has not been fully explored. This study aimed to determine the relationship between injury and balance. Static and dynamic balance was monitored as sway index (SI) and limits of stability direction control (LOSDC). Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the body mass index of adolescent female soccer players; to determine the prevalence of injury in adolescent female soccer players; to determine static balance as revealed by the sway index (SI); to determine dynamic stability as revealed by limits of stability direction control (LOSDC) and to correlate body mass index (BMI) to sway index and limits of stability. Method: Eighty adolescent female soccer players, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, were recruited through convenience sampling from schools in the eThekwini district of KwaZulu-Natal. After obtaining informed consent and assent, participants completed questionnaires and were scheduled for the balance and BMI assessments. The objective data for each participant consisted of height, weight, Sway Index (SI) and Limits of Stability Direction Control (LOSDC) readings, measured using a stadiometer, electronic scale and Biodex Biosway Balance System (Biodex Medical Systems Inc., Shirley, New York) respectively. The subjective and objective data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Ill, USA). Statistical tests included descriptive statistics using frequency and cross-tabulation. Inferential statistics using t-tests and Pearson’s correlations at a significance level of 0.05 was also incorporated. The testing of hypotheses was performed using Fisher’s Exact tests for nominal data and ordinal data. A p value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The statistical analysis also included Odds Ratio calculations. Results: The mean body mass index of the injured participants was 23.54±3.56 kg/m2 and the mean body mass index of the uninjured participants was 23.00±4.63. Only 27.5% of the participants sustained an injury. Injured participants performed poorly on average in the SI assessment involving their eyes open when standing on a soft surface. The results were similar for the LOSDC in the overall, right, left, backward-right and backward-left directions. However, there were no significant correlations calculated. Significant relationships existed between BMI and the SI assessments in the injured participants which involved standing on a firm surface with their eyes open (p = 0.05), their eyes closed when also standing on a firm surface (p = 0.05), their eyes open when standing on a soft surface (p = 0.02), and their eyes closed when standing on a soft surface (p = 0.04). A significant relationship also existed between BMI and LOS right direction control (p = 0.02). Conclusion: This research paper revealed that the body mass index as investigated in this study is similar to other studies involving female adolescents; soccer injury as investigated in this study is similar to other studies involving female adolescents; poor static and dynamic balance is not associated with injury in adolescent female soccer players and lastly, body mass index is linked to the balance of an individual.

共一冊，約四萬餘字分五章十三節 第一章：緒論 第一節：研究動機與目的 第二節：有關文獻探討 第二章：研究架構與方法 第一節：研究架構 第二節：研究設計 第三節：研究方法 第四節：研究限制 第三章：資本結構理論與決策分析 第一節：傳統資本結構理論 第二節：NI與NOI 資本結構理論 第三節：MM資本結構理論 第四章：實證研究 第一節：實證流程 第二節：資料特性與統計分析 第三節：因素分析與迴歸分析建立與檢定 第五章：結論：研究結果及其在財務管理上之涵義

<p>Brownian motion has met growing interest in mathematics, physics and particularly in finance since it was introduced in the beginning of the twentieth century. Stochastic processes generalizing Brownian motion have influenced many research fields theoretically and practically. Moreover, along with more refined techniques in measure theory and functional analysis more stochastic processes were constructed and studied. Lévy processes, with Brownian motionas a special case, have been of major interest in the recent decades. In addition, Lévy processes include a number of other important processes as special cases like Poisson processes and subordinators. They are also related to stable processes.</p><p>In this thesis we generalize a result by S. Chandrasekhar [2] and Edward Nelson who gave a detailed proof of this result in his book in 1967 [12]. In Nelson’s first result standard Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes are studied. Physically this describes free particles performing a random and irregular movement in water caused by collisions with the water molecules. In a further step he introduces a nonlinear drift in the position variable, i.e. he studies the case when these particles are exposed to an external field of force in physical terms.</p><p>In this report, we aim to generalize the result of Edward Nelson to the case of α-stable Lévy processes. In other words we replace the driving noise of a standard Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process by an α-stable Lévy noise and introduce a scaling parameter uniformly in front of all vector fields in the cotangent space, even in front of the noise. This corresponds to time being sent to infinity. With Chandrasekhar’s and Nelson’s choice of the diffusion constant the stationary state of the velocity process (which is approached as time tends to infinity) is the Boltzmann distribution of statistical mechanics.The scaling limits we obtain in the absence and presence of a nonlinear drift term by using the scaling property of the characteristic functions and time change, can be extended to other types of processes rather than α-stable Lévy processes.</p><p>In future, we will consider to generalize this one dimensional result to Euclidean space of arbitrary finite dimension. A challenging task is to consider the geodesic flow on the cotangent bundle of a Riemannian manifold with scaled drift and scaled Lévy noise. Geometrically the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process is defined on the tangent bundle of the real line and the driving Lévy noise is defined on the cotangent space.</p>

Dans ce mémoire, je me propose d’analyser la question des limites du langage; d’examiner la place et le rôle de l’indicible dans la philosophie de Wittgenstein. La notion d’indicible suppose un critère pour saisir les limites du langage. Dans le Tractatus, le critère nous est donné par la structure logique de l’image. Or, en laissant tomber cet accord de forme entre le langage et le monde, suggéré par la théorie picturale, l’indicible ne semble plus se montrer dans les écrits postérieurs au Tractatus. Du moins, avec la notion de « jeux de langage », le critère pour saisir les limites du langage n’est plus aussi clairement défini et les règles qui déterminent les usages légitimes du langage ne sont plus aussi strictes. Enfin, en concevant la signification comme « usage », la nature du langage est appréhendée comme le fait d’une forme de vie, et dans une perspective pragmatique, arrimée à une position minimaliste, une conception déflationniste de la vérité peut se développer, évitant ainsi la réification de faits superlatifs associés à l’indicible et à l’ineffabilité des critères sémantiques. Par conséquent, l’indicible et l’ineffable ne seraient plus associés avec une posture mystique à l’égard du réel, et le quiétisme philosophique de Wittgenstein, toujours inspiré par le nihilisme thérapeutique, demeure l’avenue privilégiée pour neutraliser le discours métaphysique et le contraindre définitivement au silence. / I propose to analyze the question of the limits of language. My intent is to examine the place and role of what is account to be unsayable in Wittgenstein's philosophy. This notion presupposes a criterion to grasp the limits of language. In the Tractatus, the criterion is given by the logical structure of the proposition. However, after he rejects this agreement of the logical form between language and reality, suggested by the pictorial theory, what’s taken to be unsayable does not seem to show up in the later writings after the Tractatus. At least with the notion of “language games”, the criterion to grasp the limits of language is no longer as clearly defined and the rules that determine the legitimate uses of language are not as strict. Finally, designing meaning as "use", the nature of language is seen as the result of a form of life, and from a pragmatic perspective, but under a minimalist position, a deflationary conception of truth can be established, avoiding the reification of superlative facts associated with the reality of what is unsayable. Therefore, the ineffable truth would no longer be associated with a mystical attitude toward reality, and Wittgenstein’s quietism, inspired by the therapeutic nihilism, remains the best avenue to neutralize the metaphysical discourse.

Since the introduction of motor vehicles, the number of fatalities and accidents has been a concern for society.The number of fatalities on roads is amongst the most common causes of mortality worldwide (WHO, 2015).Even in industrialized countries the number of fatalities remains unacceptable. Therefore, in the last decades, anumber of approaches have emerged to support and boost traffic safety towards a system free from fatalities andserious impairment outcomes. ‘Sustainable Safety’ and ‘Vision Zero’ are well-known examples aiming to avoidfatalities within the traffic system and reduce injury severity when a traffic accident is inevitable. However, thenumber of fatalities and seriously injured accidents are still relatively high. More specifically, vulnerable roadusers remain involved in fatal and serious accidents even in industrialized countries. Therefore, further advancesin traffic safety studies are needed. This thesis aims at evaluating the impact of road characteristics, traffic rulesand information provision towards a safer traffic system. The thesis is composed of five scientific papers whichsummarizes the main contributions of this work. / <p>QC 20161109</p>

En retraçant le parcours intellectuel de l’historien, moraliste et critique américain Christopher Lasch, ce mémoire vise à mettre en exergue la pertinence et les subtilités de sa pensée politique. Sur la base d’une analyse de ses principaux textes, nous démontrerons, qu’au-delà du pessimisme et du catastrophisme qui lui sont généralement attribués, Lasch porte un regard fécond sur la singularité de l’époque contemporaine. Nous soutiendrons que ses critiques acerbes sur la société et l’individu sont faites, avant tout, dans le but de remédier aux carences morales et sociétales qui auraient engendré un certain idéal libéral progressiste. Selon Lasch, le déploiement continu et illimité de cet idéal est en dissonance avec le caractère essentiellement contingent et conflictuel de la condition humaine. Parallèlement, nous présenterons les incidences psychiques qui se traduisent par une « culture du narcissisme » suscitée notamment par diverses composantes de la société contemporaine. À travers une relecture de la condition humaine, Lasch préconise un correctif idéologique qui est axé sur les notions de limites et d’espoir et qui se trouve au sein de la tradition agraire populiste américaine du 19e siècle. Nous démontrerons ainsi comment ce retour en arrière est entamé dans le but de susciter un renouveau politique et identitaire au sein de la société. L’étude se conclura par une discussion sur la plausibilité de l’idéal populiste, tel que l’entend Lasch, à l’ère du 21e siècle. / By retracing the intellectual journey of the historian, moralist, and American critic Christopher Lasch, this paper aims to highlight the relevance of his critical thought. Based on an analysis of his main texts, it is demonstrated that, rather than the pessimism and catastrophism that is often identified with him, Lasch has a fruitful perspective on the uniqueness of the modern era. His trenchant criticisms of contemporary society and of the individual in it address, first and foremost, the moral and social deficiencies that he believes has been caused by the progressive ideal of liberalism. According to Lasch, the assertion of this ideal is incompatible with the essentially contingent and conflicting nature of the human condition. In parallel, the psychological effects which result from what Lasch calls the “culture of narcissism” will be examined as will Lasch’es alternative, which is based on the notions of limits and hope found in the American agrarian populist tradition of the 19th century. Lasch believes that we must engage in this turn to the past in order to bring out a political renewal of society. The study concludes with a discussion of the plausibility of the populist ideal in the 21st century.

Au Rwanda, d'avril à juillet 1994, les photographes et les cameramen des agences d'information internationales eurent de grandes difficultés à documenter le génocide des Tutsi, recouvert par la guerre civile entre les Forces armées rwandaises et le Front patriotique rwandais et par l'exil massif des civils Hutu dans les camps de réfugiés des pays voisins. Les reporters rencontrèrent de nombreux obstacles pour prendre, envoyer et diffuser leurs images en Occident : avaries techniques, censure militaire et politique, relative indifférence des rédactions, etc. Après l'événement, quelques photojournalistes et cameramen décidèrent de rompre avec le système des mass-médias. Ils ont ainsi entamé une déconstruction de leurs images par la représentation artistique, plus apte à incarner le génocide et à rendre au spectateur l'autonomie de son regard. En parallèle, d'autres artistes ont entrepris d'élaborer la mémoire du génocide des Tutsi, recueillant les visages et les témoignages des rescapés et des génocidaires, filmant ou photographiant les sites de l'extermination devenus mémoriaux. En l'espace de dix-huit années, la somme des représentations du génocide des Tutsi est donc conséquente. S'inscrivant dans une histoire visuelle dont la Shoah constitue le paradigme, ces œuvres entendent poser les jalons d'une réflexion historique, politique et esthétique sur l'extermination des Tutsi et ses conséquences dans la société rwandaise post-génocide. / In Rwanda, from April to July 1994, photographers and cameramen from international news agencies had big difficulties to document the genocide of the Tutsi, blurred by the civil war between the Armed Forces of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and by the exile of the Hutu civilians in the refugee camps of the neighboring countries. Reporters found many impediments on their road, to take, to send and to spread their images in the Western world : technical damages, military and political censoring, lack of interest from editors, etc. Soon after the event, some photojournalists and cameramen decided to break with the mass-media system. They began to deconstruct their images by artistic representation, more suited to incarnate the genocide and to help the viewer recover the primacy of his look. Concurrently, other artists undertook to elaborate the memory of the genocide, collecting faces and testimonies of survivors and perpetrators, filming or photographing the places of the killings that became memorials. Within 18 years, the amount of artistic representations of the Tutsi genocide is important. Placed in a visual history which paradigm is the destruction of the Jews, these works show the way of a historical, political and aesthetical reflection on the extermination of the Tutsi and its consequences in the Rwandan society after the genocide.

Microclimatic gradients may have large influence on individual vital rates and population growth rates of species, and limit their distributions. Therefore, I focused on the influence of microclimate on individual performance and distribution of species. Further, I examined differences in how microclimate affect species with contrasting distributions or different ecophysiological traits, and populations within species. More specifically, I investigated the performance of northern and southern distributed forest bryophytes that were transplanted across microclimatic gradients, and the timing of vegetative and reproductive development among northern, marginal and more southern populations of a forest herb in a common garden. Also, I compared the landscape and continental distributions across forest bryophytes and vascular plants and, thus, their distribution limiting factors at different spatial scales. Lastly, I examined the population dynamics across microclimatic gradients of transplants from northern and southern populations of a forest moss. The effects of microclimatic conditions on performance differed among bryophytes with contrasting distributions. There were no clear differences between northern and southern populations in the timing of development of a forest herb or in the population dynamics of a moss. However, within each region there was a differentiation of the forest herb populations, related to variation in local climatic conditions and in the south also to proportion of deciduous trees. The continental distributions of species were reflected in their landscape distributions and vice versa, in terms of their occurrence optima for climatic variables. The variation in landscape climatic optima was, however, larger than predicted, which limit the precision for predictions of microrefugia. Probably, the distributions of vascular plants were more affected by temperature than the distributions of bryophytes. Bryophytes are sensitive to moisture conditions, which was demonstrated by a correlation between evaporation and the population growth rate of a forest moss. We might be able to predict species’ landscape scale distributions by linking microclimatic conditions to their population growth rates, via their vital rates, and infer larger scale distribution patterns. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p> / EkoKlim