This project’s origin lies in the clash of translucency and opacity in relation to color, knit and the body. This clash is explored through manipulated knitwear. By manipulating knitwear the interaction between opacity, translucency and the body inside becomes the vital core of this collection work. The main tool to manipulate the knit and to push the effect of translucency is the textile printing technique „devoré“.

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As financial intermediaries, banks are "special" because they play an important role in transferring funds from surplus spending units to deficit spending units and serve as a channel of monetary policy. Therefore, the safety and soundness of banks is essential to the financial stability and economic development. This study investigates how bank governance mechanisms, namely, executive compensation and board of directors, affect bank safety. Given the unique nature that bank assets are opaque, bank governance is expected to be different from corporate governance of industrial firms. This study also investigates how the opaqueness nature of bank assets affects the compensation design of bank executives. Chapter 1 investigates the association between asset opacity and CEO pay-performance sensitivity of bank holding companies (BHCs). Contrary to the monitoring cost hypothesis according to which when information asymmetry is high firms rely more heavily on equity-based compensation, I find that when the share of opaque assets in total assets increases, pay-performance sensitivity in BHCs declines. This finding supports the view that when the share of opaque assets increases, managers can pursue risky projects to a greater extent in the interests of shareholders but at the expenses of bondholders, and, hence, the optimal compensation structure in BHCs with larger share of opaque assets has a lower pay-performance sensitivity to restrain managerial risk-taking incentives, reducing the conflicts of interests between shareholders and bondholders. The negative effect of asset opacity on pay-performance sensitivity is robust after accounting for the endogeneity of asset opacity and using various compensation measures. In addition, I find that higher pay-performance sensitivity generally leads to a greater share of opaque assets in total assets. The results of this study suggest that asset opacity is an important determinant of compensation structure in the banking industry. BHCs should use caution when using stocks and options to promote prudent risk taking under bank asset opacity conditions because opaque bank assets make risk-shifting behaviors induced by equity-based compensation difficult to monitor, threatening the bank stability. Regulators should also account for this opacity effect. Chapter 2 investigates the relationship between insolvency risk and executive compensation for BHCs over the 1992-2008 period. I employ CEO compensation sensitivity to risk (vega) and pay-share inequality between the CEO and other executives as measures of compensation and employ a simultaneous equation model to account for the endogeneity problem between vega and risk. Five main results are obtained. First, CEO compensations in BHCs have risen in response to deregulation to resemble those of the industrial firms. Second, higher vegas lead to greater bank instability. Third, the association between bank stability and managerial compensation is bi-directional; higher vegas induce greater risk and vice versa. Fourth, BHCs in the next to the largest-size group increase CEO vegas the most and have the strongest potential to create instability in the financial industry, such as the one witnessed in 2007-2009. Fifth, increased pay-share inequality has effects opposite to those of the increase in vega; greater pay-share inequality is associated with greater bank stability. Implications of executive compensation effects on instability for depositors, deposit insurers and regulators are drawn. Chapter 3 investigates the association between the structure of board of directors and risk taking of bank holding companies. I use the number of directors on the risk committee and the frequency of its meetings to measure the strength of risk management exercised by bank boards. Several interesting findings are obtained. First, banks with stronger risk committees, namely risk committees with a greater number of directors and more frequent meetings, are associated with more diversified loan portfolios, greater amounts of safer loans, less mortgage-backed securities, and lower market risk. These results continue to hold even after controlling for the possible endogeneity problem using the dynamic panel GMM estimator. Overall, these results suggest that stronger risk management by bank boards has a positive and significant impact on banks' safety and soundness. Second, the percentage of banks having a risk committee has been increasing steadily since 1999, suggesting bank boards have gradually taken a greater role in risk management and their fiduciary duties have expanded beyond shareholders to include depositors. However, less than half of bank boards have a risk committee before 2007, suggesting weak risk management at the top level and the possibility that bank boards may have failed to control the excessive risk-taking in the banking industry leading to the recent financial crisis. Finally, the percentage of banks with a risk committee is still less than 60% after the crisis, suggesting that depositors and bank supervisors could enhance the stability of banks by further improving the effectiveness of internal risk control at bank boards. / Business Administration/Finance

Interstellar extinction and reddening are inescapable sources of uncertainty in the study of astronomical objects. Many creative ways to measure its effects have been developed, two of them being evaluated in this study. I apply two recently improved methods to estimate extinction toward individual stars, one based on interstellar absorption of sodium and the other based on opacity maps of the interstellar medium. The methods are applied to 14 stars in the local neighborhood, all within a distance of 250 pc from the Sun, and their results are compared. I find that both methods have severe limitations and large uncertainties, but can still be useful under the right conditions. I also provide suggestions on how the methods can be improved. / Interstellär extinktion och rödfärgning är oundvikliga osäkerhetskällor i studiet av astronomiska objekt. Många kreativa sätt att mäta dess effekter har utvecklats, av vilka två utvärderas i denna studie. Jag tillämpar två nyligen förbättrade metoder för att uppskatta utsläckning mot enskilda stjärnor, en baserad på interstellär absorption av natrium och den andra baserad på opacitetskartor över det interstellära mediet. Metoderna tillämpas på 14 stjärnor i solens närområde, alla inom ett avstånd av 250 pc, och deras resultat jämförs. Jag finner att båda metoderna har allvarliga begränsningar och stora osäkerheter, men ändå kan vara användbara under rätt förutsättningar. Jag ger också förslag på hur metoderna kan förbättras.

A estabilidade de cor é crucial para o sucesso de qualquer tipo de restauração estética, pois a alteração de cor das resinas é o maior motivo para as trocas das restaurações anteriores. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar similaridade de cor, sua estabilidade e opacidade de três compósitos diretos (TPH - Dentsply; Charisma - Heraus Kulzer; Concept - Vigodent) protegidos com selantes de superfície (Fortify e Biscover - Bisco) e cianoacrilato (Super Bonder - Loctite Henkel). Para cada compósito foram obtidos 40 corpos-deprova que foram divididos em 4 grupos, segundo o tipo de proteção recebida:Grupo 1 - sem selantes (controle); Grupo 2 - cianoacrilato; Grupo 3 - selante Fortify e Grupo 4 - selante Biscover. Os corpos-de-prova tiveram sua cor e opacidade avaliadas (Espectrofotômetro PCB 6087 BYK GARDNER) sendo, em seguida, submetidos a envelhecimento artificial acelerado (EAA - Sistema C-UV, Comexim) por 384 horas. Após esse período, foram feitas as medidas finais de cor e opacidade. Foram realizadas análises em Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV - Jeol JSM 7500 - SII, Sony, Tokyo, Japan) para verificação da modificação superficial dos corpos-de-prova, antes e após envelhecimento. Verificou-se que os compósitos não apresentaram os mesmos valores para as coordenadas L*, a* e b*, antes do EAA. Todos os compósitos, independentes da cobertura de superfície, apresentaram alteração de cor após o EAA considerada clinicamente inaceitável (ΔE>=3,3). A alteração na opacidade foi pequena para os grupos protegidos, sendo que os melhores resultados foram conseguidos com o selante Fortify. As superfícies analisadas por MEV protegidas com selantes de superfície apresentaram maior lisura superficial que quando protegidas com cianoacrilato, tanto antes quanto após EAA. Concluiu-se que matizes iguais de compósitos não apresentaram similaridade de cor entre as marcas comerciais avaliadas. Além disso, selantes de superfície comerciais não foram efetivos na manutenção da cor dos compósitos, entretanto auxiliam na manutenção da opacidade. / The color stability is crucial for the success of any type of aesthetic restoration because color alteration of composite resins is the main reason for the replacement of restorations in anterior teeth. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the color similarity, stability and opacity of three direct resin composites (TPH - Dentsply; Charisma - Heraus Kulzer; Concept - Vigodent) protected with surface sealant (Fortify and Biscover - Bisco) and cyanoacrylate (Super Bonder - Loctite Henkel). Forty specimens were done for each composite and divided into 4 groups (n=10) according to the surface protection: G1 - without sealant; G2 - cianoacrilate; G3 - Fortify and G4 - Biscover. The specimens had their color and opacity evaluated by reflection spectrophotometry (Spectrophotometer PCB 6087 BYK GARDNER) and were sequentially submitted to the accelerated artificial aging (AAA - C-UV System, Comexim) for 384 hours. After this period, final color and opacity measurements were made. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM - Jeol JSM 7500 - SII, Sony, Tokyo, Japan) were accomplished to verify the specimens\' alteration before and after the artificial aging. It were verified that composites did not present the same values for L*, a* and b* coordinates before AAA. All composites, regardless of the surface coat, presented color alteration after AAA considered clinically unacceptable (ΔE>3.3). The opacity alteration was small for the protected groups, and the best results were achieved with Fortify sealant. The surfaces analyzed by SEM protected with sealant displayed higher superficial smoothness than those protected with cyanocrylate before and after the AAA. It were concluded that composite resins of the same shade did not present color similarity among the testes products. Besides, surface sealants were not effective in maintaining composite color, but aid to maintain the opacity.

Sapere Aude: Plus que jamais, l’injonction de l'Âge des Lumières s’applique à notre monde globalisé qui traverse un moment décisif de son histoire. L’internationalisation de la Chine bouleverse les règles du jeu et les enjeux géopolitiques entre la Chine, l’Europe et les États-Unis. En contrepoint des effets positifs de la globalisation, apparaissent désormais des conséquences néfastes : économie illicite et non-transparence des structures financières. Cette opacité mondiale est le vecteur de la montée économique de la Chine et favorise les répercussions géopolitiques – donc non exclusivement économiques – des investissements chinois et permet à la Chine de poursuivre sa stratégie hégémonique. Chine, UE et États-Unis jouent au fond leur va-tout. L'enjeu géopolitique actuel n'est donc pas seulement lié au glissement du pouvoir mondial de l'Ouest vers l'Est et aux scénarii d'un monde G1, G2 ou bien G20, mais bien à la compétition politico-économique croissante que se livrent deux conceptions du monde opposées : démocratie vs pouvoirs autoritaires. Par sa conception l'UE est un acteur géopolitique avant-gardiste et essentiel à la promotion de la vision d'un monde de coopération. L'audace visionnaire des gouvernements européens, le leadership franco-allemand, le dépassement des intérêts nationaux et la création d'une vraie identité européenne (d'après la vision de Jacques Ancel) constituent autant de vecteurs pour construire un monde de coopération seul capable d’ouvrir sur une nouvelle gouvernance globale, elle-même adossée aux valeurs fondamentales de l’UE. Une gouvernance globale dans laquelle la liberté, la démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme représentent des fondements intangibles. / Sapere Aude: More than ever the injunction of the Age of Enlightenment applies to our globalised world reaching a crossroads. The internationalisation of China has changed the rules of the geopolitical stakes between China, the European Union and the United States. In addition to the positive effects of the globalisation now appear the harmful consequences of the illicit economy and the non-transparent financial structures. The worldwide opacity is one of the essential vectors of Chinas economic increase and favours not only the economic but the geopolitical repercussions of Chinese investments in the world. Thus China easily pursues its hegemonic strategy. The current geopolitical stake is not only linked to a global shift in powers from West to East or to the world scenarios G1, G2 or G20 but to the increasing political and economic competition between two opposing world scenarios: democracy versus authoritarian regimes. Due to its structure, the EU is an avant-garde and pioneering global actor who is essential in promoting the vision of the world of cooperation. The dare and boldness of the EU leaders, especially those of France and Germany, the surpassing of the national interests and the creation of a profound European identity (according to the vision of Jacques Ancel) are essential vehicles to build a world of cooperation - the unique vision of the new global governance backed by the fundamental values of the EU, a global governance in which freedom, democracy and Human Rights are inviolable values.

Cette thèse étudie l’impact des stress tests bancaires sur les différents acteurs du marché. Le premier chapitre analyse comment les actionnaires et les détenteurs d’obligations bancaires réagissent à l’information transmise par les stress tests durant une période de crise. Il s’appuie sur le test de résistance conduit en 2011 par l’Autorité Bancaire Européenne (ABE) au moment de la crise de la dette souveraine. Une étude économétrique de nature événementielle révèle que les actionnaires réagissent davantage aux informations spécifiques à chaque banque alors que les détenteurs d’obligations ont en général des réactions de nature plus macroéconomique et sont plus influencés par l’impact global de la crise financière. Cependant, si on va plus loin dans l’analyse, en prenant en compte différentes catégories d’obligations, on montre que le comportement des détenteurs de dette subordonnée tend à rejoindre celui des actionnaires. Cette réaction spécifique des actionnaires et des créanciers qui en sont les plus proches démontre que ce sont les acteurs les plus à même d’exercer une discipline de marché en période de crise financière. Le second chapitre prend en compte les stress tests bancaires menés en Europe et aux Etats-Unis et analyse leur contenu informationnel à partir de leur impact sur le cours des actions bancaires. L’objectif est de déterminer si cet impact est fonction du degré d’opacité des banques. On montre tout d’abord que le marché réagit significativement à l’annonce des résultats des stress tests à la fois pour les banques testées et les banques non testées. On met ensuite en évidence une relation non linéaire entre le degré d’opacité des banques et l’impact des stress tests, indiquant que les tests ont un contenu informatif pour les banques moyennement opaques mais pas pour celles qui sont déjà très transparentes ou au contraire très opaques. Le troisième chapitre étudie l’impact de la publication des résultats des stress tests sur les divergences de notations à l’émission des obligations bancaires. On met l’accent sur les notations de Moody’s et de Standard & Poor’s concernant les obligations émises par les banques ayant participé aux différents stress tests européens et américains. L’analyse de l’évolution des divergences de rating sur les périodes avant et après chaque stress test montre que la publication des résultats peut globalement accroître ou réduire ces divergences selon le test considéré. Les agences de notation peuvent donc interpréter les résultats détaillés des stress tests différemment et leur impact n’est donc pas univoque, pouvant même provoquer plus de divergences. Cependant, dans des périodes fortement troublées, telles que celle de la crise de la dette souveraine européenne, où le marché est confronté à beaucoup d’incertitudes et à un fort besoin d’information, les résultats des stress tests conduisent à une plus grande convergence des agences sur leurs notations des obligations bancaires. / This dissertation studies the impact of banks’ stress tests on the different market players. The first chapter analyzes how stockholders and bondholders react to the information disclosed in the financial market during crisis periods. We consider the 2011 EBA stress test as it discloses detailed information about banks and it is conducted during the European sovereign debt crisis. We use an event study methodology and find that stockholders’ reaction is more specific to the information disclosed, while bondholders have generally macro reaction and are more sensible to the financial crisis. However, when we go further in our analysis by considering the different categories of bonds, we find that the behavior of subordinated bondholders tends to be closer to the behavior of stockholders. This specific reaction of stockholders during financial distress may make them more susceptible to impose market discipline when there is a financial crisis. In a second chapter, we consider European and US banks’ stress tests to analyze the information value of the stress tests using stock market prices. We investigate if the stock market reactions to the stress test results are different according tothe degree of opacity of banks. We find that the stock market reacts significantly to the disclosure of the stress tests’ results on the whole banks (tested and non-tested) meaning that the stress test transparency has an impact not only on tested banks but also on banks that do not participated to the stress test. By separating the sample of banks in less opaque and highly opaque banks, we find a non-linear relation between opacity and market reaction. The third chapter of this thesis investigates the impact of the disclosure of the stress tests results on the credit rating agencies’ split ratings on bonds issued by banks. To calculate the split rating variable, we consider bonds jointly rated by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s and issued by banks that participated to the European and US banks’ stress tests. The analysis of the split ratings on the period before and after each stress test results disclosure in Europe and in the US shows that the stress tests have mixed effect on credit rating agencies. Market participants could interpret the detailed data disclosed by the stress tests differently and these different interpretations may create more disagreements. However, we remark that in periods of distress i.e. during the European sovereign debt crisis, because of the high information need and the greater uncertainty, the stress tests results disclosure tends to decrease the split ratings.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:26:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:00:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Orientador: Afonso Lopes / Banca: Carlos Eduardo Angeli Furlani / Banca: Gutemberg Pereira Dias / Resumo: Considerando-se o petróleo um recurso natural não-renovável, o Biodiesel apresenta-se como relevante alternativa de combustível, sendo ele renovável, biodegradável e podendo ser produzido a partir de gordura animal ou óleo vegetal transesterificado com álcool anidro, na presença de catalisador. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o desempenho operacional e a opacidade da fumaça de um trator agrícola funcionando com Biodiesel de mamona, em operação de preparo de solo. O ensaio foi conduzido no Departamento de Engenharia Rural da UNESP-Jaboticabal, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em esquema fatorial 6x2, com quatro repetições. O primeiro fator representa seis proporções percentuais de Biodiesel + diesel de B0 (0+100), B5 (5+95), B15 (15+85), B25 (25+75), B50 (50+50) e B75 (75+25) e o segundo representa duas operações de preparo do solo (gradagem e escarificação). Ressalta-se que B75 foi a máxima proporção de mistura, devido ao alto índice de viscosidade do biocombustível, sendo tal característica limitadora para o funcionamento do motor diesel. Os resultados evidenciaram aumento no consumo específico de 19% quando se utilizou B75 em relação a B0. A operação de gradagem teve consumo específico 16% maior em relação à operação de escarificação. Para a opacidade da fumaça, houve redução de 35% de B75 comparado com B0. / Abstract: Considering petroleum as a non-renewable natural resource, Biodiesel presents itself as a relevant fuel alternative, being renewable, biodegradable and can be produced from vegetal oil transesterification with anhydride alcohol in the presence of a catalisator. This work has the goal of analyzing the operational performance and smoke opacity of a agricultural tractor running with mamona Biodiesel in soil tillage operations. The test was done in the Department of Rural Engineering of UNESP-Jaboticabal in design completely randomized, in factorial scheme 6x2, with four repetitions. The first factor represents six percentual proportions of Biodiesel plus diesel B0 (0+100), B5 (5+95), B15 (15+85), B25 (25+75), B50 (50+50) e B75 (75+25) and the second represents two soil tillage operations (harrowing and chiseling). It is important to note that B75 was the maximum mixture proportion due to the high level of biofuel viscosity, this characteristic being not recommended for diesel engines. The results showed that the specific consumption raised by 19% when B75 was used instead of B0. The harrowing operation had specific consumption 16% higher than the chiseling operation. For smoke opacity, it was noted a reduction of 35% of B75 compared to B0. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:26:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:00:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Vidros de óxido de metais pesados dopados com érbio têm sido estudados e utilizados em diversas aplicações. Entretanto, a eficiência de absorção óptica destes vidros em 980 nm é limitada pela baixa secção de choque de absorção, a qual pode ser aumentada pela presença de íons Yb3+ e de nanopartículas metálicas, as quais contribuem significativamente para o aumento da eficiência das emissões de conversão ascendente. No presente trabalho é investigada a influência da presença de nanopartículas metálicas na luminescência de conversão ascendente de freqüência do íon Er3+ em vidros co-dopados com Er3+/Yb3+. Vidros com composição GeO2-PbO e PbO-GeO2-Ga2O3 co-dopados com 0,5% de Er2O3 e diferentes concentrações de Yb2O3 foram produzidos. Para avaliar os efeitos da presença de nanopartículas metálicas na luminescência de conversão ascendente de freqüência, foram também produzidos vidros co-dopados com Er2O3/ Yb2O3 contendo AgNO3, Au2O3 e Cu2O. O aumento nas emissões de conversão ascendente de freqüência na região de visível dos íons Er3+ foi observado para os vidros GeO2-PbO e PbO-GeO2- Ga2O3 co-dopados. Vidros GeO2-PbO co-dopados contendo prata apresentam um aumento substancial nas emissões de CAF influenciado pelo aumento do campo atômico local na vizinhança das nanopartículas. Este efeito não foi observado nos vidros PbO-GeO2-Ga2O3 co-dopados contendo ouro e nem nos vidros GeO2-PbO codopados contendo Cu2O. Todas as medidas de conversão ascendente de freqüência foram realizadas por meio da excitação das amostras por um laser de diodo operando em 980 nm. / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP