The United States film industry is controlled by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its six signatories--the major productions studios (Sony, Warner Brothers, Universal, Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Time Warner), and through this joint-partnership they have monopolized prime production, distribution, exhibition and classification of the U.S film market. The objective of this project is to shed light on biases present in the MPAA rating system's treatment of sex and violence under the X/NC-17 rating in order to demonstrate the lack of viability of the system in today's world.

Credit risk represents one of the most significant risks which a bank must face, and therefore, its intention is effectively manage and measure this risk. However, management and measurement methods are supervised and influenced by national regulators. Banking regulatory supervision plays a significant role among others in determining minimum capital requirements that serve as buffer against losses stemming from credit risk. This thesis provides theoretical foundation of regulatory approaches - standardized and internal rating based (IRB) approach - used for quantification of regulatory capital to credit risk as well as empirical application of such approaches on created portfolio of corporate loans. As a part of IRB method I suggested a model composed of financial ratios estimating probability of default using logistic regression. I founded out that rather the use of combination of financial ratios from different groups of ratios with slight dominance of profitability ratios forms final model. Therefore, superiority of solvency ratios in modelling cannot be proved on my portfolio. After estimating and determining necessary parameters I quantified the minimum regulatory capital requirements to credit risk under standardized and IRB approaches prescribed by Basel III. In the end, the results are...

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-08-06T13:55:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cibele Bossa Antoniolli.pdf: 9171264 bytes, checksum: 4ec50cbb40d81c6087647a9bc589f54c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-06T13:55:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cibele Bossa Antoniolli.pdf: 9171264 bytes, checksum: 4ec50cbb40d81c6087647a9bc589f54c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-26 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / PROSUP - Programa de Suporte à Pós-Gradução de Instituições de Ensino Particulares / UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos / A indústria da construção civil em geral apresenta elevado impacto ambiental. É considerada a maior consumidora de recursos naturais, na maior parte, não-renováveis, além de gerar significativo volume de resíduos. Os selos de certificação ambiental surgem como uma ferramenta de projeto, execução e desempenho (pós-ocupação), indicando diretrizes voltadas à diminuição de impactos ambientais. Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar resultados de critérios pontuados no programa de certificação LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environment Design) durante a pós-ocupação de um prédio comercial, buscando reconhecer também o papel e percepção do usuário. O trabalho foi realizado através de um estudo de caso que utilizou informações disponibilizadas nos documentos de certificação, projeto e informações de consumos de energia e água. Para investigar o papel e a percepção do usuário, foi considerada a comparação entre o “Prédio A" (com certificação ambiental) em relação ao “Prédio B" (sem certificação ambiental). De forma geral, os resultados apontam que o consumo medido de água ficou 31% abaixo dos parâmetros do LEED, porém 199% acima dos parâmetros de projeto. Já o consumo medido de energia ficou 12% acima dos parâmetros do LEED e 32% acima dos parâmetros de projeto. Quanto ao papel do usuário, foi detectado que o uso de bicicletas/vestiários, uso de dispositivos economizadores de água, uso de escada ao invés de elevador, o descarte adequado de resíduos e a conscientização quanto à fumaça de cigarro são ações praticadas e reconhecidas pelos usuários. Quanto à percepção do usuário, em comparação a um prédio sem certificação ambiental, o conforto térmico, a maior transparência e a vista para o exterior são as estratégias de projeto entendidas como mais efetivas. / The construction industry in general has a high environmental impact. It is considered as the largest consumer of natural resources, mostly non-renewable, and it generates a significant volume of waste. The environmental certification arise as a tool for design, implementation and performance (post-occupancy), indicating guidelines for the environmental impacts reduction. The present study aims to analyze the performance of the scored criterias in the certification program, during the post-occupation of a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environment Design) commercial building, seeking also to recognize the user’s role and perception. The study was conduct through a study case that considered the information that was available in the certification documents, design information and energy and water consumption. To investigate the user’s role and perception, a comparison between "Building A" (with environmental certification) in relation to the "Building B" (without environmental certification) was considered. Overall, the results showed that the measured consumption of water was 31% below the LEED parameters, but 199% above the design parameters. The measured consumption of energy was 12% above the LEED parameters and 32% above the design parameters. As for the user’s role, it was found that the use of bicycles/changing rooms, the use of water saving devices, the use of staircases instead of elevators, the proper disposal of waste and awareness of the cigarette smoke are practiced and recognized actions by users. As for the user’s perception compared to a non-certificate building, the thermal comfort, greater transparency and exterior views were aspects seen as the most effective design strategies.

Ratingsysteme sind ein zentraler Bestandteil der Kreditrisikomodellierung. Neben der Bonitätsbeurteilung auf der Ebene der Kreditnehmer und der Risikoquantifizierung auf der Ebene der Ratingklassen spielt dabei die Bildung der Ratingklassen eine wesentliche Rolle. Die Literatur zur Ratingklassenbildung setzt auf modellfreie, in gewisser Weise willkürliche Optimierungsverfahren. Ein Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, stattdessen ein parametrisches statistisches Modell zur Bildung der Ratingklassen einzuführen. Ein geeignetes Modell ist im Bereich der Bruchpunktschätzung zu finden. Dieses Modell und die in der mathematischen Literatur vorgeschlagenen Parameter- und Intervallschätzer werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit dargestellt und gründlich diskutiert. Dabei wird Wert auf eine anwendungsnahe und anschauliche Formulierung der mathematisch-statistischen Sachverhalte gelegt. Anschließend wird die Methodik der Bruchpunktschätzung auf einen konkreten Datensatz angewendet und mit verschiedenen anderen Kriterien zur Ratingklassenbildung verglichen. Hier erweist sich die Bruchpunktschätzung als vorteilhaft. Aufbauend auf der empirischen Untersuchung wird abschließend weiterer Forschungsbedarf abgeleitet. Dazu werden insbesondere Konzepte für den Mehrklassenfall und für abhängige Daten entworfen. / Rating systems are a key component of credit risk modeling. In addition to scoring at borrowers’ level and risk quantification at the level of rating classes, the formation of the rating classes plays a fundamental role. The literature on rating classification uses in a way arbitrary optimization methods. Therefore, one aim of this contribution is to introduce a parametric statistical model to form the rating classes. A suitable model can be found in the area of split-point estimation. This model and the proposed parameter and interval estimators are presented and thoroughly discussed. Here, emphasis is placed on an application-oriented and intuitive formulation of the mathematical and statistical issues. Subsequently, the methodology of split-point estimation is applied to a specific data set and compared with several other criteria for rating classification. Here, split-point estimation proves to be advantageous. Finally, further research questions are derived on the basis of the empirical study. In particular, concepts for the case of more than two classes and for dependent data are sketched.

In this research work is analyzed a problem of violence in media effects on juveniles and its prevention. The main purpose of the work is to analyze media effects on juvenile's character, and to provide possible ways for its prevention considering media as one of a necessary attribute in modern life. In the work the author analyzes some theories of scholars in the world and Lithuania. Generalizing the results of the criminology research, the author draws some conclusions: effects of media violence undoubtedly exists. The topic of prevention is divided into two parts and dealing with a problem of macrosocial (at national lewel) and microsocial level (family or school) ambience. There are also analyzed rating systems of some foreign countries.

In diesem Beitrag werden zwei verschiedene Skalen zur Durchführung von Teilnehmerbewertungen in Ideenwettbewerben auf ihre Validität untersucht. Dafür werden diese mit einer unabhängigen, validierten Expertenbewertung verglichen. Auf Basis von Kreuztabellen wird gezeigt, dass eine einfache binäre Skala („Go“ oder „No Go“) eine höhere Übereinstimmungsvalidität besitzt als ein komplexes, mehrdimensionales Bewertungsformular. Auf Basis dieser Untersuchung werden konkrete Gestaltungsempfehlungen für die Praxis abgeleitet sowie zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf aufgezeigt.

xii, 145 p. : ill. (some col.), maps. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In an effort to confront global warming and the increasing scarcity of resources, the preservation community began several years ago to adopt sustainable and green building practices and metrics for historic rehabilitation projects. As a result, there is an ever growing number of rehabilitated historic buildings in the United States not only incorporating sustainable building designs but also achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Most of these are large, architect-designed buildings in urban settings rehabilitated for cultural and commercial uses. This thesis explores the application of the LEED 2009 New Construction and Major Renovation Rating System for the development of a sustainable rehabilitation plan for the modest vernacular 1897 Jeff. Smith's Parlor Museum in Skagway, Alaska. The goal of this research is to demonstrate how the LEED rating system might be applied to the rehabilitation of this building and other historic vernacular buildings. / Committee in Charge: Donald L. Peting, Chair; Grant Crosby, NPS Historical Architect

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:56:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlexandreGO.pdf: 6124426 bytes, checksum: 389b880174773cea0368c6ef235f37ee (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-08 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Nowadays, evaluation methods to measure thermal performance of buildings have been developed in order to improve thermal comfort in buildings and reduce the use of energy with active cooling and heating systems. However, in developed countries, the criteria used in rating systems to asses the thermal and energy performance of buildings have demonstrated some limitations when applied to naturally ventilated building in tropical climates. The present research has as its main objective to propose a method to evaluate the thermal performance of low-rise residential buildings in warm humid climates, through computational simulation. The method was developed in order to conceive a suitable rating system for the athermal performance assessment of such buildings using as criteria the indoor air temperature and a thermal comfort adaptive model. The research made use of the software VisualDOE 4.1 in two simulations runs of a base case modeled for two basic types of occupancies: living room and bedroom. In the first simulation run, sensitive analyses were made to identify the variables with the higher impact over the cases? thermal performance. Besides that, the results also allowed the formulation of design recommendations to warm humid climates toward an improvement on the thermal performance of residential building in similar situations. The results of the second simulation run was used to identify the named Thermal Performance Spectrum (TPS) of both occupancies types, which reflect the variations on the thermal performance considering the local climate, building typology, chosen construction material and studied occupancies. This analysis generates an index named IDTR Thermal Performance Resultant Index, which was configured as a thermal performance rating system. It correlates the thermal performance with the number of hours that the indoor air temperature was on each of the six thermal comfort bands pre-defined that received weights to measure the discomfort intensity. The use of this rating system showed to be appropriated when used in one of the simulated cases, presenting advantages in relation to other evaluation methods and becoming a tool for the understanding of building thermal behavior / Atualmente, m?todos de avalia??o do desempenho t?rmico e energ?tico de edifica??es t?m sido desenvolvidos com o intuito de otimizar o conforto t?rmico em edifica??es e reduzir o consumo de energia com sistemas de condicionamento ativo. Entretanto, em pa?ses desenvolvidos, os crit?rios utilizados para avaliar o desempenho t?rmico e energ?tico de edifica??es t?m demonstrado limita??es quando aplicados em edifica??es naturalmente ventiladas em climas tropicais. A presente pesquisa teve como principal objetivo propor um m?todo para avalia??o do desempenho t?rmico de edifica??es residenciais unifamiliares no clima quente e ?mido, atrav?s da simula??o computacional. O m?todo foi desenvolvido a fim de gerar um sistema de classifica??o adequado na avalia??o destas edifica??es, usando como crit?rios de an?lise a temperatura interna do ar e um modelo adaptativo de conforto t?rmico. A pesquisa utilizou o aplicativo VisualDOE 4.1 em duas s?ries de simula??es de um caso base, caracterizado por duas ocupa??es t?picas: quarto e sala. Na primeira s?rie foram realizadas an?lises de sensibilidade para identificar as vari?veis de maior impacto sobre o desempenho t?rmico dos casos. Al?m disso, os resultados tamb?m permitiram a elabora??o de recomenda??es de projeto para o clima tropical visando melhorias no desempenho t?rmico de edifica??es residenciais em situa??es semelhantes. Os resultados da segunda s?rie de simula??es foram utilizados para identificar o chamado Espectro de Desempenho T?rmico (EDT) para os dois tipos de ocupa??o, no qual reflete a varia??o de desempenho t?rmico considerando o clima local, tipologia da edifica??o, materiais construtivos escolhidos e ocupa??es analisadas. Essa an?lise serviu de base para o desenvolvimento de um ?ndice nomeado de IDTR - ?ndice de Desempenho T?rmico Resultante, que foi configurado como um sistema de classifica??o de desempenho t?rmico. Esse associa o desempenho t?rmico com o n?mero de horas em que a temperatura interna do ar encontra-se em cada uma das seis faixas de conforto t?rmico pr?-definidas que receberam pesos a fim de ponderar a intensidade de desconforto t?rmico. A aplica??o desse sistema mostrou-se apropriado quando aplicado a um dos casos simulados, apresentando vantagens em rela??o a outros m?todos de avalia??o existentes e se tornou uma ferramenta para o entendimento do comportamento t?rmico de edifica??es

This study examines the LEED-ND pilot rating program created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the Congress for New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 2007. The rating system is evaluated based on its application as a broad set of national standards meant to encourage green neighborhood development. The main case study is a master planned community in semi-rural Paso Robles, California. Among other things, the study discovers problems related to the application of the rating system in semi-rural and rural regions of the Western United States. Both the standards used by the rating system and the certification process itself were considered through a case study methodology.

In diesem Beitrag werden zwei verschiedene Skalen zur Durchführung von Teilnehmerbewertungen in Ideenwettbewerben auf ihre Validität untersucht. Dafür werden diese mit einer unabhängigen, validierten Expertenbewertung verglichen. Auf Basis von Kreuztabellen wird gezeigt, dass eine einfache binäre Skala („Go“ oder „No Go“) eine höhere Übereinstimmungsvalidität besitzt als ein komplexes, mehrdimensionales Bewertungsformular. Auf Basis dieser Untersuchung werden konkrete Gestaltungsempfehlungen für die Praxis abgeleitet sowie zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf aufgezeigt.