The purpose of this thesis is to describe selected methods for estimating potential output. In the first part, methods used for the estimation of potential output are described including the discussion of advantages and disadvantages of their application. Subsequently, the potential output from 1996 to 2016 is estimated based on three selected methods using the data of gross domestic product in the Czech Republic. The methods used are Hodrick-Prescott filter, Kalman filter and Cobb-Douglas production function. In the conclusion, results of those three methods are compared with each other and furthermore compared with results published by the Czech National Bank and the Mistry of Finance.

This thesis is considered with impact of productivity on current account of Czech Republic. It is based on model presented by Glicka, R., and K. Rogoffa "Global versus Country-Specific Productivity Shocks and the Current Account". In this model productivity is distinguished on country specific and global productivity in countries of G-7. Other authors followed this model by extension or revision. In my thesis I was working with several series of productivity based on different data from some sectors of economy. To capture productivity is used Solow residuum of Cobb-Doublas production function. Country specific productivity shock worsen current account as initial model says. Analysis of time series revealed the most suitable series for description of current account behaviour as series of total industry with investment based on gross fixed capital formation.

The purpose of this study is to examine I. M. Pei and his partner Harry Cobb's downtown Dallas architecture within the context of their overall stylistic development. This paper explores the structure of five buildings within the framework of the city, and addresses their possible influence on the city's future architectural direction. The thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter I introduces and states the problem as it discusses the fabric of Dallas architecture. Chapter II outlines a brief biography of I. M. Pei, looking to those who have influenced him, while discussing the key public buildings of his stylistic development. Chapter III is devoted to Pei's first structure in the city, the Dallas Municipal Administration Center. Chapter IV explores the concepts of his planned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. Chapter V outlines a brief biography and focuses on the work of Harry N. Cobb: One Dallas Centre, ARCO Tower, and the Allied Bank Tower. Chapter VI summarizes the contributions of Pei and Cobb by placing them within the context of twentieth century architecture, and pointing out their specific achievements with their additions to the fabric of Dallas architecture.

Title: Evaluation of the effect of conservative approach in the treatment of scoliosis Objective : The purpose of this thesis is to summarize scoliosis issue, natural history, causes, consequences and effectiveness of conservative therapy. Based on the critical literature review there was an intention to evaluate effects of physiotherapy intervention in the treatment of scoliosis and compare individual physical therapy approaches. Methods: This thesis is a descriptive analysis based on a literature review. Results: Based on the research paper only twelve articles met our criteria that address the effect of exercise to influence scoliosis and its consequences. The most commonly used conservative approaches included: Schroth concept, FITS, SEAS, SIR, Klapp-Cotrell concept, Vojta method, program of active self- correction and task- oriented exercise, forward head corrective exercise program, MedX Rotary Torso Machine and LTX 3000. Despite that fact, each approach showed some effect, it is not possible to say which approach is the most effective. Keywords: scoliosis, conservative treatment, Cobb angle, physiotherapy

Orientador: Aparecido Augusto de Carvalho / Resumo: O desvio lateral da coluna e a escoliose alteram o equilíbrio corporal de uma pessoa e a distribuição de seu peso nos pés. Atualmente com o auxílio do baropodômetro é possível medir a distribuição do peso corporal nos pés, trazendo inovação no que concerne sobre os impactos da escoliose nos mesmos. As alterações da coluna vertebral não são visíveis pelo baropodômetro, logo apenas mensurando a pressão dos pés não é possível determinar uma escoliose e seus possíveis ângulos. Dessa forma, adota-se o objetivo de realizar três redes neurais para classificação de escolioses com dados obtidos pelo baropodômetro do Laboratório de Instrumentação e Engenharia Biomédica (LIEB). No desenvolvimento das redes foram observadas vinte e cinco mil redes neurais feitas para cada proposta, sendo a rede neural A dividida em dois grupos que classificam o desvio lateral A1 (0º a 9º) e a escoliose A2 (10º a 20º) , a rede B foi dividida em dois grupos, B1 (10º a 13º) e B2 (14º a 20º) e a rede C1 que abrange o grupos A1, B1 e B2. A rede A (1,2) obteve uma acurácia média de 70,06%, a rede B (1,2) teve uma a acurácia média em 73,6% e a rede C (1,2,3) classificou em média 56,5% dos dados corretamente. Com os resultados obtidos conclui-se que uma classificação entre três grupos é inviável e a rede A e B podem ser utilizadas como métodos para acompanhamento de evolução ao longo do tempo. / Abstract: The lateral deviation of the spine and scoliosis alter a person's body balance and the distribution of his weight in the feet. Nowadays, with the help of the baropodometer, it is possible to measure the distribution of body weight in the feet, bringing innovation in what concerns the impact of scoliosis on them. The changes in the spine are not visible by the baropodometer, so just by measuring the pressure of the feet it is not possible to determine a scoliosis and its possible angles. Thus, we adopted the objective of performing three neural networks to classify scoliosis with data obtained by the Baropodometer of the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering (LIEB). In the development of the networks twenty-five thousand neural networks were made for each proposal, the neural network A being divided into two groups that classified the lateral deviation A1 (0º to 9º) and the scoliosis A2 (10º to 20º), the network B was divided into two groups, B1 (10º to 13º) and B2 (14º to 20º), and the C1 network encompassing groups A1, B1 and B2. The network A (1,2) obtained an average accuracy of 70,06%, the network B (1,2) had an average accuracy of 73.6% and the network C (1,2,3) classified on average 56, 5% of the data correctly. With the results obtained it is concluded that a classification between three groups is not feasible and the network A and B can be used as methods to monitor evolution over time. / Mestre

王俊. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-232). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Wang Jun.

The first essay compares six common models, linear, quadratic, Cobb-Douglas, translog, logarithmic, and transcendental, to estimate wheat yield and area functions for Saudi Arabia. Data cover 1990-2016 for all the variables that affect wheat supply. After testing the models using Box-Cox, multicollinearity, and autocorrelation tests, we decide that the Cobb-Douglas models provide the best fit for both yield and area. We find the price elasticity of wheat is inelastic. Yield price elasticities are more inelastic than area elasticities. The impact of government policy number 335 has a larger effect on area than yield. The cultivated area of wheat, the one-year lag of yield, and the number of machines per hectare are the most influential factors affecting wheat yield. The primary factors influencing the area models are a one-year lag of both cultivated area and yield, as well as the number of machines per hectare. The second essay estimates the residual demand elasticity that rice exporters face in Saudi Arabia. The inverse residual demand methods, as proposed by Reed and Saghaian 2004, are used for rice exporters to Saudi Arabia during the period 1993-2014. Estimation results of the elasticities of the residual demand indicate that Australia, India, and Pakistan enjoy market power, while Egypt faces a perfectly elastic demand curve. We find Thailand and the US had positive inverse residual demand which means they also have no market power. The last essay is about the virtual water trade in Saudi Arabia. Using the concept of virtual water introduced by Allan 1994 and developed by Hoekstra and Hung (2002), we estimate virtual water trade for 20 crops of Saudi Arabia during 2000-2016. Our result shows the average virtual water trade was 12.5 billion m3/year. Saudi has net virtual water imports, with the most significant virtual water imports coming from cereals & alfalfa and vegetables; and there is net virtual water export of fruit. Saudi virtual water trade reduces pressure on water resources by 52%. Distance plays a role in Saudi virtual water export; we found that more than 90% of exports go to neighboring countries, including 45% to GCC countries. More than 30% of virtual water imports come from Europe. A Gravity model is used to investigate whether water scarcity variables influence trade. We compare the OLS, Fixed effects, Random effects, and PPML estimators to get the best model. The AIC, and tests for multicollinearity, and heteroskedasticity assist in determining estimation procedures and the final models. We cluster the errors by distance to improve the specific country effect variables such as economic mass variables. For the cereals and alfalfa group, we find that water-related variables influence virtual water imports of cereals, millet, sorghum, corn, barley, and sesame. Therefore, we suggest that a basic gravity model be applied to the other crops. In the vegetable group, we find that related water variables impact virtual water trade for all crops except marrow. Dates are the only fruit crop that are not influenced by the water-related variables.

The recent economic recession has had a significant impact on residential real estate both nationally and regionally. Our research is focused specifically on Cobb County, Georgia and the impact that the declining economy has had on home buying and property values in this area. Specifically, this research aims to identify changes in the residential market in terms of significant characteristics of housing and their corresponding effect on home values.

發展經濟學理論認為，公共投資有助於整體經濟的成長，同時可以帶動產業的發展，亦是支持國家經濟的重要動力，而在面對全球產業生產模式的轉變以及產業結構變遷的階段中，臺灣地區的產業已朝向生產者服務業擴展之趨勢，為增進國家發展與提高國民生活品質之需，增加公共投資是否有助於達到上述目的值得研究。 惟近年來臺灣正面臨經濟成長萎縮與財政緊縮的窘況，公共投資的面向勢必調整於最具有影響性的產業，同時，在有限的財政資源中，應當選取可以獲得最大效益的公共投資種類作為主要投資方向，因此，本研究以臺灣地區23個縣市為實證範圍，並採自民國75-90年工商普查與都市及區域發展統計彙編之資料，以Cobb-Douglas生產函數作為實證迴歸函數，探討公共投資對製造業與生產者服務業的產出影響，並將生產函數分成未限制、規模報酬遞增固定規模報酬等三項生產模式來作為研究之實證模型。針對公共投資部分，將中央與省政府所投資的重大建設計畫再加上各縣市的決算資料予以分配計算，並依其性質分成總體公共資本、經濟性公共資本與社會性公共資本等三項存量變數作為驗證變數。 基於以上的模型設定和變數整理，本研究所得出之結果為： 1.公共投資對於產業發展是具有正向的影響性，這也驗證Rosenstein-Rodan所提出的大力推動理論，政府必須先於產業之發展而予以投資固定資本，促使產業達到提升產值的經濟效益。 2.只有產業在規模報酬遞增的生產模式中，各項公共資本的投入才會對產業產生正向關聯的影響，且其影響彈性以製造業為最。 3.經濟性公共資本與社會性公共資本的比較方面，社會性公共資本對於產業的挹注效果比較大。 4.我國製造業對於公共投資的敏感性較為顯著，當多投施一單位社會性資本的建設時，則會促使製造業的產值最大可增加0.28單位，而生產者服務業最多亦可增加0.26單位。 5.公共投資需要投注在單一產業，以引發整體經濟的成長，近期即應挹注在製造業這項產業上；在公共投資項目，則應專注於社會性的公共資本支出。

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 31, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.