AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

Bibliography: leaves 180-199. / xvii, 199, [68] leaves, [1] leaf of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Primary aim was to determine whether levels of the endogenous peptide substance P (SP) would parallel and reflect the reported increased levels of the trophic agent nerve growth factor which is associated with the development of sympathetic hyperinnervation (and ultimately hypertension) in the genetic animal model for hypertension, the spontaneously hypertensive rat. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, 1995

Pour les panneaux de grande hauteur soumis à un fort gradient thermique associé à l’incendie, ils subissent des déplacements hors plan importants qui, du fait de l’excentrement du poids propre qui en résulte, vont engendrer des efforts de flexion venant s’ajouter aux efforts de compression déjà existants. Un tel changement de géométrie, d’autant plus prononcé que le panneau est de grande hauteur, combiné à une dégradation simultanée des propriétés de résistance des matériaux sous l’effet de l’élévation de température, peut conduire à un effondrement de la structure sous poids propre. L’évaluation de la résistance au feu d’éléments de structures de grandes dimensions, repose sur la théorie du calcul à la rupture, appliquée d’une part à la détermination d’un diagramme d’interaction au feu caractérisant la résistance du panneau en chacune de ses sections, d’autre part à l’analyse de la ruine globale du panneau dans sa configuration déformée. Le programme comporte deux volets complémentaires. Le premier volet concerne l’approche expérimentale. Un mur de 9 mètre a été testé sur le grand équipement Vulcain afin de valider le modèle de calcul d’une part, qui est en cours du développement, et à identifier des phénomènes locaux éventuels non accessibles par la modélisation d’autre part. Le deuxième volet concerne le développement d’outils de modélisation et de calcul performants. Basées sur une approche cinématique, des procédures itératives qui se reposent sur la méthode de perturbation ont été construit pour chercher une solution analytique pour prédire la configuration déformée d’une plaque soumis à un fort gradient thermique. Ensuite, des méthodes numériques fondées sur la discrétisation en éléments finis du panneau déformé, traité comme une coque à faible courbure, et l’utilisation de techniques d’optimisation non-linéaires, qui ont connu récemment des progrès importants, devront pouvoir être développées et appliquées à ce problème / High rise reinforced concrete walls under fire exhibit important out-of-plane displacements, which in turn lead to an eccentricity of the self-weight with respect to the initial undeformed configuration, resulting in supplementary bending moments. This geometrical change, combined with the degradation of the stiffness and strength properties of reinforced concrete due to severe temperature increase, may lead to the failure of walls under fire.Investigation on fire resistance of reinforced concrete walls will be based on the yield design approach in order to analyze the global stability of high rise walls, taking into account the geometry changes induced by the thermal loading.The program consists of two parts.Firstly, a 9-meter high reinforced concrete wall has already been tested under fire with the equipment Vulcan. This full size experiment aims at validating the modeling of plates under large out-of-plan displacement and identifying potential local phenomenon which has not been considered in the model.Secondly, a yield design approach will carried out to analyze the stability of reinforced concrete walls. By using the perturbation method, a recursive analytical procedure based on a kinematic approach is proposed to find the deformed configuration of reinforced concrete walls under fire. The deformed configuration will be later modeled as a shallow shell, on which a yield design procedure will be performed by a non-linear optimization

The question many investors ask is whether or not it is possible to beat the market andearn money by being active on the stock market. In efficient markets this should not be possible, but several researches have come up with strategies that prove the opposite. There are certain market movements that cannot be explained by the arguments of the traditional efficient market hypothesis and such market movements are in the standard finance theory called anomalies. Two well-known anomalies are the P/E effect and the small firm effect. The P/E effect means that portfolios with low P/E stocks attain higher average risk-adjusted returns than portfolios with high P/E stocks. Similarly, the small firm effect means that companies with small market capitalization earn higher return than those with large market capitalization. Even though these anomalies were discovered in the US, they occur on other markets as well. However, most of the studies regarding these have focused on developed markets. Therefore, the focus in this study has been on emerging markets, more specifically the Baltic market. The problem we aimed to answer with this study is whether or not it is possible to attain abnormal returns on the Baltic stock market by using the P/E effect or the small firm effect. Further on, we found it interesting to investigate which one of the two anomalies that is the best investment strategy. By doing this, we have also been able examine if the Baltic market is efficient or not. The study investigates all listed firms (both active and dead) with available data on Nasdaq OMX Baltic between the years 2000-2014. There are two different samples, a P/E sample and a market capitalization sample. The firms in the samples are ranked and grouped into portfolios and then tested to see if there is significant evidence of the existence of the P/E effect and the small firm effect. The results of the tests show that the Baltic market is not completely efficient, since statistical support was found for the small firm effect. This implies that it is possible to attain abnormal returns on the Baltic market by investing in small capitalization stocks. However, the tests showed no significant evidence of the P/E effect. For this reason, with the assumptions made, we recommend the small firm effect as an investment strategy on the Baltic stock market.

One could argue that the most discussed topic in finance is whether or not it is possible to “beat the market”. Even though many people claim to do this, there is little evidence to support the idea that one can consistently beat the market over a long period of time. There are indeed several examples of investors who have managed to outperform the market consistently for a long time, but the efforts of these individuals or institutions could by many be considered to be pure luck. One of the many strategies that have been evaluated by several researchers and is said to generate a risk adjusted return greater than that of the market, is one based on the P/E-effect. This strategy is based on the financial ratio P/E – price divided by earnings – and used by constructing portfolios consisting of stocks with low P/E ratios. Several studies have confirmed the existence of the P/E-effect on various stock markets around the world and over different time periods. On the Swedish market, however, few studies have generated the same results. Most of these studies can be considered to be insufficient with regards to sample sizes and methods, spawning a need for more extensive studies. We have examined the P/E strategy on the Swedish Stock Exchange (SSE) between 2004 and 2012. The sample included 358 companies (excluding financial companies) with available necessary data. The stocks were divided into five portfolios based on their yearly P/E ratios (low to high), upon which the monthly returns of the individual stocks were calculated using a logarithmic formula. The returns were also risk adjusted using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), followed by a regression analysis to see if possible abnormal returns could be considered to be statistically significant for the examined time period. The results of our study indicate that the P/E effect is not present on the Swedish Stock Exchange during the examined time period, and we therefore conclude that it was not possible to utilize a strategy based on the P/E effect between 2004 and 2012 in order to achieve an abnormal return. The results can be used to argue that the Swedish stock market is more efficient than for example the U.S. stock market where the P/E effect has been found to exist.