Univ., Diss.--Uppsala, 2007.

NC, Univ. of North Carolina, Dep. of Economics, Diss.--Chapel Hill, 2005. / Kopie, ersch. im Verl. UMI, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Additional advisors: Ada Elgavish, Vithal Ghanta, Hui-Chen Hsu, Thane Wibbels. Description based on contents viewed June 11, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 17, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, [Department of] Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2002--Aachen.

<p>Luminescent semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) offer attractive characteristics as a new class of fluorescent probes for molecular, cellular and in vivo imaging. While traditional cadmium-containing QDs have been widely used in biomedical research, diagnostics, and drug delivery, the cytotoxicity arising from the release of Cd2+ ions caused by the degradation of the surface coating is deemed to be a shortfall of cadmium-based QDs for long-term cellular and in vivo imaging. Here we report a direct synthesis of silver-doped zinc selenide QDs in water with near-infrared tunable fluorescence emissions, coinciding with the biological window of transmission to offer high signal-to-noise for fluorescence imaging of cells and small animals. Glutathione, which carries both carboxyl and amino groups, serves as a stabilizing ligand and offers the flexibility of decorating the surface of the QDs with moieties such as proteins, peptides and DNA. The cytotoxicity of the as-synthesized QDs was evaluated on macrophage (RAW 264.7) cells and human mesenschymal stem cells using MTS cell viability assay. The results indicated that the silver- doped ZnSe QDs possess low cytotoxicity. In vivo biodistribution study shows that these bare QDs are different from conventional QDs, it traversed through systemic route and could accumulate in the stomach of nude mice. These QDs were conjugated to monoclonal CD44v6 antibody and tested with human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS). The results indicated the feasibility of modifying the surface properties of these QDs for efficient targeting applications. The QDs were also conjugated to heparin and used to formulate nanocomplexes with chitosan to encapsulate tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Quantitative imaging analysis revealed in vivo trafficking kinetics of the nanocomplexes to the lymph nodes after subcutaneous administration into nude mice. This study demonstrates the potential of incorporation of near-infrared-emitting QDs in nanocarrier drug delivery that allows in vivo trafficking of the biodistriution events and will be of greatly improve the development new drug nanocarrier formulations.</p> / Dissertation

A presente tese embasa-se na concepção de que a obtenção e a manutenção da estabilidade de preços na economia brasileira dependem não apenas da adoção de medidas pontuais de curto prazo, como também da contemplação da inflação, ao lado do crescimento econômico, como objetivos correlacionados no contexto de um projeto de desenvolvimento atinente a um horizonte ampliado de tempo. Em termos de políticas conjunturais de controles de preços, evidencia-se que, dado a inflação brasileira não consubstanciar-se em um fenômeno precipuamente de demanda, outras medidas, que não a mera elevação da taxa básica de juros, revelam-se necessárias; ademais, clarifica-se que aumentos nos juros, por seus significativos impactos contracionistas sobre a atividade econômica, comprometem a própria estabilidade futura de preços, consistindo, portanto, em uma conduta anti-inflacionária deveras ineficiente. No que tange ao longo prazo, argumenta-se que a inflação brasileira apresenta especificidades que a tornam variável dependente do processo de desenvolvimento econômico, social e institucional do País. Em assim sendo, entende-se que a dinâmica inflacionária brasileira vincula-se significativamente ao comportamento de determinados atributos intrínsecos ao setor produtivo nacional. Evidências empíricas obtidas neste trabalho a partir da estimação de um modelo SVAR concernente ao período que se segue a dezembro de 2009 mostram a existência de uma relação negativa entre inflação e produtividade na indústria de transformação, revelando-se tal relação, entretanto, inelástica, o que esclarece que o empresariado brasileiro tende a converter a maior parte dos ganhos de produtividade em expansões de mark-up, em vez de repassá-los primordialmente aos preços. Assim, constata-se que os problemas inflacionários enfrentados pela economia brasileira se mostram deveras complexos, e que sua resolução não depende apenas de vontade política. Desse modo, salta aos olhos a ineficiência do simplismo inerente ao Regime de Metas de Inflação no que tange à persecução da estabilidade de preços no Brasil. / The present thesis is based on the idea that obtaining and maintaining price stability in the Brazilian economy depends not only on the adoption of short-term measures, but also on the contemplation of inflation, alongside economic growth, as correlated objectives in the context of a development project related to an extended horizon of time. In terms of the cyclical policies of price control, it is evident that, given that Brazilian inflation is not mainly consubstantiated in a demand phenomenon, alternative measures, other than the mere increase of the benchmark interest rate, are necessary; in addition, it is clarified that increases in interest rates, due to their significant contractionary impacts on economic activity, jeopardize the future price stability, thus constituting an inefficient anti-inflationary behavior. With regard to the long-term, it is argued that Brazilian inflation shows specificities that make it a variable dependent of the economic, social and institutional development process of the Country. Accordingly, it is understood that the Brazilian inflationary dynamics is significantly linked to behavior of certain attributes intrinsic to the national productive sector. Empirical evidence obtained in this work from the estimation of a SVAR model concerning to the period after December 2009 shows the existence of a negative relationship between inflation and productivity in the manufacturing industry, revealing this relationship, however, inelastic, what clarifies that Brazilian businessmen tend to convert most of their productivity gains into mark-up expansions, instead of passing them along primarily to prices. So, it can be seen that the inflationary problems faced by the Brazilian economy are very complex, and that their resolution depends not only on political will. Therefore, the inefficiency of the simplicity inherent to the Inflation Targeting Regime in relation to the pursuit of price stability in Brazil is quite clear.

Este trabalho teve como finalidade testar a validade da teoria sobre flutuações na estrutura a termo da taxa de juros – a Hipótese das Expectativas – que estabelece em linhas gerais, que a taxa de juros de longo prazo é formado como uma média das taxas de juros de curto prazo esperadas para o futuro mais um prêmio de risco invariente no tempo; desde a adoção do sistema de Metas para Inflação, com base na estrutura elaborada por Campbell e Shiller (1987, 1991). Apesar de problemas potencias, este exercício possui relevância na medida em que as análises em sua maioria corroboram com os fundamentos pelo que se conclui de forma favorável a validade do modelo. As Evidencias empíricas sugerem que a adoção da estrutura de Metas para Inflação tem apresentado um efeito amortecedor de choques na taxa de juros sobre a estrutura a termo. Com base nos resultados obtidos fica evidente que existe algum grau de antecipação das ações de política monetária pelos participantes de mercado e que, portanto, mudanças na meta para a taxa de juros de curto prazo podem ser previstas e são incorporadas as taxas de juros de mercado, ao menos parcialmente. / The aim of this study was to test the expectation theory of term structure of interest rate to the Brazilian economy under the model developed by Campbell and Shiller (19987, 1991). The Expectation Hypothesis (EH) of term structure of interest rate define that the long-term rate is determined by market’s expectation for the shortterm rate plus a constant risk premium. I found that the forecasting decline with the increasing of maturity spectrum but, a causality test granger provide ambiguous results in some test. Under the Inflation Targeting structure the result show that the agents foresee, at least partially, the monetary policy’s decisions. In general way the results support EH theory for Brazilian data.

O objetivo desta tese será o de contribuir com o desenvolvimento do Sistema de Metas para a Inflação no Brasil. Implantado em 1999, o atual regime monetário brasileiro vem conseguindo manter a evolução dos preços e as expectativas de inflação dos agentes econômicos em conformidade com as metas estabelecidas na maior parte do tempo. Entretanto, existem diversas questões que apresentam espaço para a investigação, tanto teórica, quanto aplicada à realidade brasileira, contexto no qual este trabalho buscou sua justificativa. Primeiramente, é realizado um capítulo teórico que trata dos principais elementos que fundamentam o Regime de Metas de Inflação. Na seqüência, discute-se o papel de regras sub-ótimas no regime e são estimadas funções de reação para o Banco Central do Brasil e para o mercado futuro de juros local. Os resultados permitem observar que há um comportamento compatível com uma Regra de Taylor, tanto por parte da autoridade monetária brasileira, quanto do mercado de juros, sendo esse muito sensível a surpresas nas decisões do Comitê de Política Monetária (COPOM). O terceiro capítulo discute um dos temas mais importantes numa economia sob um sistema de metas: a taxa natural de juros. Seu comportamento é estimado por meio de um modelo macroeconômico simplificado e seus resultados confrontados com outras medidas comumente encontradas na literatura, como filtros estatísticos e uma medida de juros real implícita nas decisões do COPOM, que refutam a idéia de excesso de conservadorismo na condução da política monetária no período avaliado. Por fim, é apresentado um trabalho que discute o papel das instituições como elemento contributivo na condução da política monetária. Mais especificamente, é verificada a existência de ganhos econômicos com a independência dos bancos centrais que adotam o regime de metas. / This thesis aims to contribute to the development for Inflation Targeting System in Brazil. Implanted in 1999, the current Brazilian Monetary Structure has been able to maintain the price evolution and the expectations of the economic agent’s inflation in accordance with the established goals most of the time. However, there are several issues to be argued about, not only theoretical matters but also the ones applied to the Brazilian reality, context in which this work is based. First, a theoretical chapter on the main elements, which base the Inflation Targeting System, was written. Then, the role of sub-optimal rules in the system is discussed and the reaction functions are estimated for the Brazilian Central Bank and for the domestic interest future market. The results allow us to observe that there is a compatible behavior with Taylor’s Rule on the Brazilian monetary authority’s side, and the interest market as well, being this very sensitive to surprises in the Committee for Monetary Policy (COPOM) decisions. The third chapter discusses one of the most important issues in an economy under a goal structure: the natural interest rate. Its behavior is estimated through a simplified macroeconomic model and the results are confronted with other measures – commonly found in the literature-, such as statistical filters and a real interest measurement implicit in COPOM’s decisions, which refute the idea of excess of conservatism in the monetary policy management in the studied period. Finally, a work that discusses the role of the institutions as a contributive element in the monetary policy management is presented. More specifically, the existence of economic earnings from independence of central banks that adopt the Inflation Targeting System is verified.

The main subject of the thesis is to determine customer satisfaction with the Kia Motors Czech company cars. In the theoretical part of the thesis is explained the issues of the situational analysis, which is primary used to profit from information, needed for the correct application of the decision-making process of the company's senior management. Part of the situational analysis is market research, which includes the area of market segmentation and the definition of the concepts of targeting and positioning. The situational analysis is in the theoretical part of the work mainly focused on the analysis of the customers, where is defined loyalty and customer satisfaction, customer expectations, fidelity and designed ways of long-term care for the customers of the company. The practical part of the thesis is focused on the monitoring of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the selected company. Part of the work is to select the appropriate system for the measurement of results, which is applied to the selected company. By using a half structured questionnaire is collected data to identify customers, their preferences and requirements for the product, and the evaluation carried out the strengths and weaknesses of the product according to the opinion of the customers of the company. Using the comparison of internal company data and research is carried out a survey of current situation on the market. The conclusion is made a summary of the results achieved and making recommendations for the improvement of the marketing activities of the company and for the streamlining of the company's communication with the customers.