Bakgrund: Om ett barn föds för tidigt kan följden bli att barnet vårdas på en intensivvårdsavdelning. Dessa barn kan utsättas för många livsnödvändiga men smärtsamma procedurer under vårdtiden. Smärta är en negativ upplevelse för individen både på kort och på lång sikt. För att smärtlindra på ett optimalt sätt krävs smärtskattning med ett adekvat och validerat smärtskattningsinstrument. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka sjukvårdspersonalens inställning gällande smärtskattning av de för tidigt födda barnen samt sjukvårdspersonalens inställning till smärtskattningsinstrumentet ”Neonatal Pain, Agitation and Sedation Scale” (N-PASS). Studien syftade även till att undersöka relationen mellan sjukvårdspersonalens utbildningsnivå, år av yrkeserfarenhet på en neonatalavdelning och sjukvårdspersonalens inställning till smärtskattning och smärtskattningsinstrumentet N-PASS. Metod: En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie med kvalitativt inslag utfördes. En webbenkät administrerades till 144 barnskötare/undersköterskor, grundutbildade sjuksköterskor, specialistutbildade sjuksköterskor/barnmorskor och läkare. Sjuttioen enkäter besvarades varav 69 svar (48 %) inkluderades. Deskriptiva-, sambands- och gruppskillnadsanalys gjordes. Öppna frågor analyserades med hjälp av kondensering och kategorisering. Resultat: Sjukvårdspersonalen var överlag mycket positiv till att smärtskatta för tidigt födda barn samt något mindre positiva till smärtskattningsinstrumentet N-PASS. Ingen signifikant skillnad mellan yrkeskategorier och inställning till smärtskattning respektive smärtskattingsinstrumentet N-PASS påvisades. Resultatet kunde heller inte påvisa något signifikant samband mellan antal år inom neonatalvård och inställning till smärtskattning respektive smärtskattningsinstrumentet N-PASS. Konklusion: Studien visade att inställningen hos sjukvårdspersonalen på den studerade neonatalavdelning är mycket positiv till att smärtskatta för tidigt födda barn samt något mindre positiv till det validerade smärtskattningsinstrumentet N-PASS som användes på neonatalavdelningen. / Background: When children are born prematurely, they may need treatment in an intensive care unit. During such hospitalization the children may be exposed to many life supportive but painful experiences. Pain is negative for the child both in the short- and long-term perspective. To relieve pain in an optimal way rating of pain with an adequate and validated instrument for estimating pain is required. Aim: To investigate the attitude of health care personnel towards estimating pain in premature neonates and using the instrument for estimating pain “Neonatal Pain, Agitation and Sedation Scale” (N-PASS). Also, to investigate the relationship between the educational level of the health care personnel, number of professional years within neonatal care and attitude towards estimating pain and N-PASS. Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional study with qualitative components was conducted. A questionnaire was sent to 144 nursing assistants, nurses, midwives and physicians. Seventy- one responded of which 69 (48%) were included. Descriptive, correlative and analyses between groups were conducted. Open questions were analyzed using condensation and categorization. Results: The health care personnel were in general very positive to estimating pain in premature neonates and somewhat less positive to using N-PASS. There was no significant difference between the different health care categories towards estimating pain or using N- PASS. Also, there was no significant correlation between number of professional years within neonatal care and attitude towards estimating pain or using the instrument N-PASS. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the attitude among health care personnel working at the neonatal ward was very positive towards estimating pain in premature neonates and somewhat less positive towards using the validated the instrument for estimating pain N- PASS, which was implemented at the neonatal ward.

Esse trabalho propõe testar a presença de hysteresis na demanda por importações e no repasse cambial para o preço das importações, no período de 1996 a 2008 no Brasil, utlizando dados em painel para 29 setores industriais. Os testes para a presença de hysteresis baseiam-se no conceito de hysteresis forte fornecido pelo modelo de Preisach (1938), captadas a partir de variáveis representativas do fenômeno calculadas a partir do algoritmo de Piscitelli et al (2000). As estimações utilizam a metodologia convencional em painel, bem como métodos de estimação considerando a possibilidade de cointegração entre as variáveis. Os resultados evidenciaram a presença de hysteresis no preço e no quantum importados. Como teorizou Dixit (1989), o grau de pass-through reduz na presença do fenômeno histerético. Além disso, obtivemos que o grau de repasse cambial para o preço das importações diminuía sob a presença de hysteresis, conforme proposto por Dixit. / This research proposes to test the hysteresis hypothesis on the Brazilian import demand and the exchange rate pass-through from 1996 to 2008 in a panel from 29 industrial sectors. The hysteresis test is based on the strong hysteresis concept from Preisach model, measured by algorithm from Piscitelli et al (2000). The methodology focus on the traditional panels method and the cointegration relationship. The results indicate the presence of hysteresis at both equations. Besides, the exchange rate pass-through estimated reduced in the presence of hysteresis as proposed by Dixit (1989).

Strong demands for smaller, cheaper, and multifunction wireless systems have put very stringent requirements on passive devices, such as inductors and capacitors. This is especially true considering the size and weight of most radio frequency (RF) transceivers are mainly due to passives. RF micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) passives are addressing this issue by offering lower power consumption and losses, higher linearity and quality (<i>Q</i>)-factors, potential for integration and miniaturization, and batch fabrication. These advantages position RF MEMS passives as good candidates to replace conventional passives. Further, they also open an opportunity for using the passives as building blocks for lumped element-based RF circuits (e.g. Flters, couplers, etc.) which could replace the more-bulky distributed-element circuits.<p> This thesis presents the design, simulation, fabrication using the deep X-ray lithography process, and testing of thick-metal RF inductors and their applications to lumped-element low-pass Filter (LPF) circuits. The 70-um tall single-turn loop inductors are structurally compatible to a pre-existing RF MEMS capacitor concept and allow the two device types to be fabricated together. This compatibility issue is crucial if they would be used to construct more complex RF circuits.<p> At a 50-Ohm inductive reactance point, test results show <i>Q</i>-factors of 17- 55, self-resonant frequencies (SRF) exceeding 11 GHz, and nominal inductances of 0.4- 3 nH for 1-loop inductors and <i>Q</i>-factors of 11- 42, SRFs of 4- 22 GHz, and inductances of 0.8- 5.5 nH for 2-loop inductors. Further, test results reveal that high conductivity metals improve the <i>Q</i>-factors, and that low dielectric-constant substrates increase the SRFs.<p> In terms of LPFs, measurements show that they demonstrate the expected third-order Chebyshev response. Two nickel Filters on a quartz glass substrate show a 0.6-dB ripple with 3-dB frequencies (<i>f</i>-3dB) of 6.1 GHz and 11.9 GHz respectively. On an alumina substrate, they exhibit a 1.4-dB ripple with <i>f</i>-3dB of 5.4 GHz and 10.6 GHz respectively. The filters are 203- 285 um tall and feature 6- 6.5 um wide capacitance air gaps. These dimensions are different than the original designs and the filter performances were shown to be somewhat sensitive to these discrepancies. Compared to a distributed approach, the lumped-element implementations led to an area reduction of up to 95%.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied in the fall has been shown to increase emissions of N2O a GHG (Nyborg et al. 1997). Applying N fertilizer in the spring is a management technique Saskatchewan grain and oilseed producers can use to reduce N2O emissions. The hypothesis of this thesis is that fall application of N fertilizer is more profitable than spring application. Factors to consider in the timing of fertilizer application include, the level of information available, input cost, input efficiency, and application cost. The key objective of this thesis is to determine the financial impact of switching to spring N application from fall N application. Stochastic variables include fall subsoil moisture, winter precipitation, growing season precipitation, input costs, and output prices. Expected utility theory for two representative farms at two locations is used to determine optimal N fertilizer rates and the value of spring subsoil moisture information and the value of spring output price forecasts. The fixed and variable operating costs are calculated for three seeding systems. The results show that it is optimum for producers to purchase N fertilizer in the fall and apply N fertilizer in the spring. Spring subsoil moisture information, and spring output price forecasts have little value to producers committed to continuous cropping. One pass (seed and fertilize in the spring) seeding systems have lower variable and fixed costs than two pass seeding systems for producers applying large amounts of fertilizer.

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied in the fall has been shown to increase emissions of N2O a GHG (Nyborg et al. 1997). Applying N fertilizer in the spring is a management technique Saskatchewan grain and oilseed producers can use to reduce N2O emissions. The hypothesis of this thesis is that fall application of N fertilizer is more profitable than spring application. Factors to consider in the timing of fertilizer application include, the level of information available, input cost, input efficiency, and application cost. The key objective of this thesis is to determine the financial impact of switching to spring N application from fall N application. Stochastic variables include fall subsoil moisture, winter precipitation, growing season precipitation, input costs, and output prices. Expected utility theory for two representative farms at two locations is used to determine optimal N fertilizer rates and the value of spring subsoil moisture information and the value of spring output price forecasts. The fixed and variable operating costs are calculated for three seeding systems. The results show that it is optimum for producers to purchase N fertilizer in the fall and apply N fertilizer in the spring. Spring subsoil moisture information, and spring output price forecasts have little value to producers committed to continuous cropping. One pass (seed and fertilize in the spring) seeding systems have lower variable and fixed costs than two pass seeding systems for producers applying large amounts of fertilizer.

Strong demands for smaller, cheaper, and multifunction wireless systems have put very stringent requirements on passive devices, such as inductors and capacitors. This is especially true considering the size and weight of most radio frequency (RF) transceivers are mainly due to passives. RF micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) passives are addressing this issue by offering lower power consumption and losses, higher linearity and quality (<i>Q</i>)-factors, potential for integration and miniaturization, and batch fabrication. These advantages position RF MEMS passives as good candidates to replace conventional passives. Further, they also open an opportunity for using the passives as building blocks for lumped element-based RF circuits (e.g. Flters, couplers, etc.) which could replace the more-bulky distributed-element circuits.<p> This thesis presents the design, simulation, fabrication using the deep X-ray lithography process, and testing of thick-metal RF inductors and their applications to lumped-element low-pass Filter (LPF) circuits. The 70-um tall single-turn loop inductors are structurally compatible to a pre-existing RF MEMS capacitor concept and allow the two device types to be fabricated together. This compatibility issue is crucial if they would be used to construct more complex RF circuits.<p> At a 50-Ohm inductive reactance point, test results show <i>Q</i>-factors of 17- 55, self-resonant frequencies (SRF) exceeding 11 GHz, and nominal inductances of 0.4- 3 nH for 1-loop inductors and <i>Q</i>-factors of 11- 42, SRFs of 4- 22 GHz, and inductances of 0.8- 5.5 nH for 2-loop inductors. Further, test results reveal that high conductivity metals improve the <i>Q</i>-factors, and that low dielectric-constant substrates increase the SRFs.<p> In terms of LPFs, measurements show that they demonstrate the expected third-order Chebyshev response. Two nickel Filters on a quartz glass substrate show a 0.6-dB ripple with 3-dB frequencies (<i>f</i>-3dB) of 6.1 GHz and 11.9 GHz respectively. On an alumina substrate, they exhibit a 1.4-dB ripple with <i>f</i>-3dB of 5.4 GHz and 10.6 GHz respectively. The filters are 203- 285 um tall and feature 6- 6.5 um wide capacitance air gaps. These dimensions are different than the original designs and the filter performances were shown to be somewhat sensitive to these discrepancies. Compared to a distributed approach, the lumped-element implementations led to an area reduction of up to 95%.

[pt] Este trabalho testa e encontra evidência de que as taxas de juros de empréstimos bancários respondem mais a aumentos do que a quedas na taxa básica de juros (Selic). A assimetria sobrevive a uma análise de evento, na qual a disponibilidade de uma base com dados diários é explorada com o objetivo de isolar o choque de política monetária sobre os juros. Dentre as potencias teorias que racionalizam essa assimetria, duas são consideradas. A primeira refere-se à existência de poder de mercado, o que permite aos bancos coordenarem um menor repasse como forma de aumentar os lucros de curto prazo. A segunda argumenta que a presença de forte seleção adversa no mercado de crédito diminui o incentivo à concorrência na dimensão preço, reduzindo o repasse de quedas no custo de captação. Como as duas hipóteses produzem implicações empíricas similares em forma reduzida, o artigo propõe e estima um modelo estrutural a fim de testar qual dos dois modelos melhor se ajusta aos preços e quantidades observados no mercado de crédito para pessoa física. / [en] This paper tests and find evidence that support the view that credit interest rates respond more to increases than to decreases in the Central Bank basic interest rate (Selic). This asymmetry is robust to an event analysis, in which the availability of a dataset containing daily information is explored in order to isolate monetary policy shocks on interest rates. Among the possible explanations for this asymmetry, two are considered in the article. The first one refers to the existence of market power, which allows banks to coordinate on a smaller pass-through in order to increase profits in the short run. The second refers to the potential existence of severe adverse selection issues in the credit market, which diminishes the incentives to compete on the interest rate dimension and consequently the pass-through from decreases in the cost of funds. Since the two theories present similar empirical implications in reduced forma analysis, the article proposes and estimates a structural model in order to test which of the competing theories better fits the observed data on prices and quantities for household credit in Brazil.

Esse trabalho propõe testar a presença de hysteresis na demanda por importações e no repasse cambial para o preço das importações, no período de 1996 a 2008 no Brasil, utlizando dados em painel para 29 setores industriais. Os testes para a presença de hysteresis baseiam-se no conceito de hysteresis forte fornecido pelo modelo de Preisach (1938), captadas a partir de variáveis representativas do fenômeno calculadas a partir do algoritmo de Piscitelli et al (2000). As estimações utilizam a metodologia convencional em painel, bem como métodos de estimação considerando a possibilidade de cointegração entre as variáveis. Os resultados evidenciaram a presença de hysteresis no preço e no quantum importados. Como teorizou Dixit (1989), o grau de pass-through reduz na presença do fenômeno histerético. Além disso, obtivemos que o grau de repasse cambial para o preço das importações diminuía sob a presença de hysteresis, conforme proposto por Dixit. / This research proposes to test the hysteresis hypothesis on the Brazilian import demand and the exchange rate pass-through from 1996 to 2008 in a panel from 29 industrial sectors. The hysteresis test is based on the strong hysteresis concept from Preisach model, measured by algorithm from Piscitelli et al (2000). The methodology focus on the traditional panels method and the cointegration relationship. The results indicate the presence of hysteresis at both equations. Besides, the exchange rate pass-through estimated reduced in the presence of hysteresis as proposed by Dixit (1989).

This research is about the development of a photocatalytic reactor design, Honeycomb, for in-situ groundwater remediation. Photocatalysis, typically a pseudo first order advanced oxidation process, is initiated via the illumination of UVA light on the catalyst, i.e. titanium dioxide (TiO2). In the presence of oxygen, highly reactive oxidising agents are generated such as superoxide (O2-), hydroxyl (OH.-) radicals, and holes (hvb+) on the catalyst surface which can oxidise a wide range of organic compounds. The target contaminant is methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE), a popular gasoline additive in the past three decades, which gives the water an unpleasant taste and odour at 20 μg L-1, making it undrinkable. This research consists of three major parts, i.e. (i) establishing a suitable catalyst immobilisation procedure, (ii) characterisation and evaluation of reactor models and (iii) scale up studies in a sand tank. TiO2 does not attach well onto many surfaces. Therefore, the first step was to determine a suitable immobilisation procedure by preparing TiO2 films using several potential procedures and testing them under the same conditions, at small scale. The coatings were evaluated in terms of photocatalytic activity and adhesion. The photocatalytic activity of the coatings was tested using methylene blue dye (MB), which is a photocatalytic indicator. A hybrid coating, which comprises a sol gel solution enriched with Aeroxide TiO2 P25 powder, on woven fibreglass exhibited the best adhesion and photocatalytic activity among samples evaluated. Thus, it was used to produce immobilised catalyst for this research. Consequently, the immobilisation procedure was scaled up to synthesize TiO2 coatings for the potential photocatalytic reactor design. The photocatalytic activity of the coatings produced from the scaled up immobilisation procedure were reasonably comparable to that produced at small scale. Due to the UVA irradiation and mass transfer limitations, photocatalytic reactors are typically compact in order to maximise their efficiency to accommodate high flows, particularly in water and wastewater treatment. In the case of groundwater, however, the treatment area can span up to meters in width and depth. Groundwater flow is significantly lower than that of water treatment, as the reactor design does not need to be compact. Considering both factors, a photocatalytic reactor design of hexagonal cross-section (Honeycomb) was proposed, in which the structures can be arranged adjacent to each other forming a honeycomb. A model was constructed and tested in a 4 L column (cylindrical) reactor, using the MB test to characterise the reactor performance and operating conditions. This was followed by a hydraulic performance study, which encompasses single and double pass flow studies. The single pass flow study involves the photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of MB and MTBE, while the double pass flow study was focused on the PCO of MTBE only. The double pass can simulate two serially connected reactors. Single pass flow studies found that the critical hydraulic residence time (HRT) for the PCO of MB and MTBE is approximately 1 day, achieving up to 84 % MTBE removal. Critical HRT refers to the minimum average duration for a batch of contaminant remaining in the reactor in order to maintain the potential efficiency of the reactor. Double pass studies showed the reactor can achieve up to 95 % MTBE removal in 48 hours, and that reactor performance in the field of serially connected reactors can be estimated by sequential order of single pass removal efficiency. In groundwater, there are likely to be other impurities present and the effects of groundwater constituents on the reactor efficiency were studied. The MTBE PCO rate is affected by the presence of organic compounds and dissolved ions mainly due to the competition for hydroxyl radicals and the deactivation of catalyst surface via adsorption of the more strongly adsorbed organic molecules and ions. Despite the presence of organic compounds and dissolved ions, the reactor achieved about 80 % MTBE removal in 48 hours. A double pass flow study showed that the overall efficiency of the photocatalytic reactor in the field can be estimated via sequential order of its efficiency in a single pass flow study using the actual groundwater sample in the laboratory. A sand tank was designed for the simulation of the clean up of an MTBE plume from a point source leakage using the 200 mm i.d. Honeycomb I prototype. Honeycomb I achieved up to 88.1 % MTBE removal when the contaminated groundwater flowed through (single pass) at 14.6 cm d-1. The critical HRT for Honeycomb I was also approximately 1 day, similar to that in the column reactor. The response of MTBE removal efficiency towards flow obtained in the column reactor and sand tank was generic, indicating that the reactor efficiency can be obtained via testing of the model in the column reactor. The presence of toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene (TEo-X) decreased the MTBE removal efficiency in both the sand tank and column reactor. The same set of catalyst and 15 W Philips Cleo UVA fluorescent lamp was operated for a total of about 582 h (24 d) out of the cumulative 1039 h (43 d) sand tank experiments, achieving an overall MTBE removal efficiency of about 76.2 %. The experiments in the column reactor and sand tank exhibited the reliability of the immobilised catalyst produced in this research. This research demonstrates the potential of Honeycomb for in-situ groundwater remediation and also proposes its fabrication and installation options in the field.

This work is focused on econometric analysis of inflation in the Czech Republic, there is also reported an analysis of inflation in Austria and continuity of both countries to the dominant German economy. The inflation with its forms and possibilities of measuring is described in the first part of this work. There is also mentioned the influence of Czech national bank on the inflation. Next, there is shown the impact of foreign exchange rates and inflation. Consequently there are described characteristics of time series, which are important from viewpoint of construction of econometric models. Next, there is described theory of econometrics analysis, focused on ordinary least squares method and method of instrumental variables. The empirical part contains econometric analysis of inflation itself, using models described in theoretical part. Moreover, this work includes other models, coming out of economic hypothesis. Firstly, it analyses inflation in Germany as the reference country. Secondly, further analysis performs inflation in the Czech Republic and Austria. Finally, an analysis based on ERPT (exchange rate pass-through) models is given. In conclusion, the results are well summarized and compared.