The purpose of our study was to examine the relationship between the volatility of price multiples and the volatility of stock prices in the Swedish market from 2003 to 2012. Our focus was on the price-to-earnings ratio and the price-to-book ratio. Some previous studies showed a link between the price multiples and the volatility of stock prices, this made us question whether there should be a link between the volatility of the price multiples and the volatility of the stock prices. The importance of this subject is accentuated by the financial crisis, as we provide investors with information regarding the movements of price multiples and stock prices. Moreover, we test if the volatility of the price multiples can be used to create a prediction model for the volatility of stock prices. Also we fill the gap in the previous researches as there is no previous literature about this topic. We conducted a quantitative research using statistical tests, such as the correlation test and the linear regression test. For our data sample we chose the Sweden Datastream index. We first calculated the volatility using the GARCH model and then continued with our statistical tests. The results of our tests showed that there is a relationship between the volatility of the price multiples and the volatility of the stock prices in the Swedish market in the past ten years. Our findings show that the correlation coefficients vary across industries and over time in both strength and direction. The second part of our tests is concerned with the linear regression tests, mainly calculating the coefficient of determination. Our results show that the volatility of the price multiples do explain changes in the volatility of stock prices. Thus, the volatility of the P/E ratio and the volatility of the P/B ratio can be used in creating a prediction model for the volatility of stock prices. Nevertheless, we also find that this model is best suited when the economic situation is unstable (i.e. crisis, bad economic outlook) as both the correlation coefficient and the coefficient of determination had the highest values in the last five years, with the peak in 2008.

Over the past years, the total assets under management among hedge funds and equity mutual fundshave increased significantly. The question from an investor point of view iswhich investment vehicle can provide the greatest return adjusted for risk. The purpose of this study involves an analysis on the historical net asset values todetermine and evaluate what one can except from actively managed hedge andequity mutual funds. It supports the determination of the most profitable asset, adjusted for risk, as part of a diversified portfolio. The performance is measured net of fees and costs with the inclusion of potential performance fees individual hedge funds may apply. Hedge funds practice different investment approaches depending on what strategy is applied and hence, return levels can vary dramatically. The study is designed to answer questions by comparing net returns and risk-adjusted returns for respective investments and the different hedge fund strategies. With a deductive research approach, the analysis is conducted by applying existing models and theories as the Fama-French three-factor model through time-series regressions measuring excess returns (alpha), risk-adjusted performance measures as Sharpe ratio, M-squared and the Sortino ratio. The results show that hedge funds outperform equity mutual funds in all examined aspects and produce positive monthly net alphas,on average. Equity mutual funds are unable to provide investors with positive excess returns and subsequently fail the purpose of an actively managed fund by providing returns lower than the return of the market. The results are increasingly strengthened with both time-series regressions and performance measures showing homogenous results and reaching the equal conclusions. From the conclusions that hedge funds provide the most profitable investment compared to equity mutual funds, the hedge fund strategy CTA/managed futures strategies perform best in both net and risk-adjusted terms.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-22T12:17:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor Vasconcelos Miranda.pdf: 1797186 bytes, checksum: 377d0c5524611a073b9d53302b46d98f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T12:17:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Victor Vasconcelos Miranda.pdf: 1797186 bytes, checksum: 377d0c5524611a073b9d53302b46d98f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work aims to analyze the formation process of the ratio decidendi, as well as its applicability in Brazilian's civil procedural law from the introduction of the binding judicial precedents system fixed in the CPC/2015. The core of this study is focused on the construction of the ratio decidendi, through the establishment of its meaning in Brazilian law, as well as the settlement of parameters which we understand as necessary to its construction. In order to do this, we introduced the structuring vectors of the formation of the ratio decidendi. It is made, from these chosen vectors, a review of the leading opinion of the judgment and the decision-making process, in order to highlight the prominence of a dialogal and convergent relation between the argument of the judges to the establishment of a universalizable decision pattern. It has also analyzed the guidance of the courts in the delimitation of the ratio decidendi and the continuous process of redefinition of the ratio decidendi's incidence field and even its content. Furthermore, it has examined the problem of 'summarysme' in Brazilian law and how it is impossible to understand the complete spectrum of operation of the ratio decidendi based only on the summary. Finally, we have highlighted the operational dynamics of judicial precedents, analyzing the application process of the precedent through a dialogical relation between the litigants and the judge, with the intensification of the judgment recital in the analytical -rather than merely syllogistic or reductionist- use of the precedents system / O trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o processo de formação da ratio decidendi e sua aplicabilidade no direito processual civil brasileiro a partir da introdução do sistema de precedentes judiciais vinculantes previstos no CPC/2015. O cerne do estudo está consubstanciado na construção da ratio decidendi, mediante o estabelecimento de seu significado no direito brasileiro, assim como com o firmamento de parâmetros que reputamos necessários à sua construção. Para tanto, apresentamos os vetores estruturantes à formação da ratio decidendi. Faz-se, a partir dos vetores eleitos, uma releitura do voto condutor do acórdão e do processo decisório, a fim de se destacar a proeminência de uma relação dialogal e convergente de argumentos dos julgadores para o estabelecimento de um padrão decisório universalizável. Trabalhou-se também sobre o dirigismo dos tribunais na delimitação da ratio decidendi e o contínuo processo de ressignificação do campo de incidência e mesmo do conteúdo da ratio decidendi. Abordou-se, também o problema do ementismo no direito brasileiro e a inviabilidade de se depreender todo o espectro de atuação da ratio decidendi a partir da ementa. Por fim, destacamos a dinâmica operacional dos precedentes judiciais, abordando o processo de aplicação do precedente mediante uma relação dialógica das partes e do julgador, com o recrudescimento da fundamentação na utilização do sistema de precedente, de forma analítica e não simplesmente silogística e reducionista. PALAVRAS-CHAVES: precedentes judiciais – ratio decidendi – vetores estruturantes

Introdução: O adenocarcinoma pancreático é responsável pela maioria das neoplasias pancreáticas e está associado a um prognóstico extremamente pobre tanto devido à alta taxa de diagnósticos em estágio avançado quanto ao elevado índice de recidiva mesmo nos pacientes submetidos à ressecção com intenção curativa. Uma ferramenta que possa predizer adequadamente o prognóstico da doença é fundamental para uma melhor estratificação de risco. Evidências tem mostrado que a resposta inflamatória sistêmica está associada ao prognóstico de diversos tipos de câncer, sendo que a razão neutrófilos/linfócitos (NLR) e suas adaptações e a razão plaquetas/linfócitos (PLR) tem se mostrado promissores para este fim. Objetivo: O objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar o valor prognóstico das razões NLR, NLR derivada (dNLR) e PLR determinados por exames coletados no momento da internação e após tratamento quimioterápico paliativo numa população de pacientes com diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma pancreático, analisando ainda qual o valor de ponto de corte mais adequado para cada parâmetro. Além disso, pretendemos investigar se essas razões podem ter algum valor como fator preditivo de ressecabilidade no adenocarcinoma pancreático. Métodos: Foram coletados dados de pacientes com diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma pancreático confirmado por exame histopatológico atendidos no Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre entre 2003 e 2013. As razões estudadas foram determinadas com base nos hemogramas coletados na internação dos pacientes e após dois ciclos de quimioterapia naqueles que foram submetidos a tratamento paliativo. Resultados: Na análise combinada de todos os pacientes incluídos no estudo, NLR basal, dNLR basal e PLR basal não mostraram evidência de ter impacto prognóstico na sobrevida (P= 0,394, P= 0,152, P= 0,177 respectivamente). No subgrupo de pacientes submetidos a quimioterapia paliativa, NLR, dNLR e PLR calculados pelos exames realizados após 2 ciclos de tratamento mostraram-se fatores prognósticos para sobrevida global (P=0,003, P=0,009 e P=0,001 respectivamente). Os pontos de corte mais adequados encontrados foram 4,11 para NLR (sensibilidade 83% e especificidade 75%), 362 para PLR (sensibilidade 91% e especificidade 62,5%) e 2,8 para dNLR (sensibilidade 87% e especificidade 62,5%). Nenhuma das razões se mostrou estatisticamente significativa como preditor para ressecabilidade (NLR, P=0,88; dNLR, P=0,99; PLR, P=0,64). Conclusões: As razões NLR, dNLR e PLR são úteis como marcadores prognósticos de sobrevida global em pacientes com adenocarcinoma pancreático submetidos a quimioterapia paliativa. Seu uso como preditor de ressecabilidade das lesões pancreáticas não foi demonstrado. / Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is responsible for most of the pancreatic neoplasias and it is associated to an extremely poor prognosis due to diagnosis in advanced stage and the recurrence even among patients treated with curative intention. A prognostic tool is essential for a better risk stratification. Evidence has shown that systemic inflammatory response is associated to the prognosis of a variety of cancers and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and adaptations and the platelet/lymphocyte (PLR) ratio seem promising for this purpose. Objetive: The objective of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of NLR, derived NLR (dNLR) and PLR determined by blood counts collected at hospital admission and after palliative chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, analyzing the ideal cutoff value for each parameter. Also, we intend to investigate if those ratios have some role in predicting the resectability of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: Data were collected of patients who had diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma confirmed by histopathologic exam in Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre between 2003 and 2013. The studied ratios were determined by blood counts collected at hospital admission and after two cycles of chemotherapy in patients submitted to palliative treatment. Results: In the combined analysis including all patients, basal NLR, dNLR and PLR did not have prognostic impact in overall survival (P=0,394, P=0,152, P=0,177 respectively). In subgroup analysis of patients submitted to palliative chemotherapy, NLR, dNLR and PLR determined by blood count collected after two cycles of chemotherapy were prognostic for overall survival (P=0,003, P=0,009, P=0,001 respectively). The ideal cutoff values found were 4,11 for NLR (sensibility 83%, specificity 75%), 2,8 for dNLR (sensibility 87%, specificity 62,5%) and 362 for PLR (sensibility 91%, specificity 62,5%). None of these ratios has shown to be able to predict resectability (NLR, P=0,88; dNLR, P=0,99; PLR, P=0,64). Conclusions: NLR, dNLR and PLR are useful as prognostic markers of overall survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma submitted to palliative chemotherapy. Its use as resectability predictor could not be demonstrated.

Submitted by (edna.saturno@ufrpe.br) on 2017-02-07T16:15:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrea Carla Lira dos Santos.pdf: 1934014 bytes, checksum: e310b95a7aeab6a66aacfa421b42a846 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-07T16:15:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andrea Carla Lira dos Santos.pdf: 1934014 bytes, checksum: e310b95a7aeab6a66aacfa421b42a846 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The dolphinfish, Coryphaena hippurus, an oceanic pelagic species with circumtropical distribution, is an important fishery resource around the world. The Archipelago of St Peter and St Paul plays an important role in the migratory route of several species of high commercial value, including the dolphinfish. In this context, studies of reproductive biology may help conservation and management of these stocks by providing essential information, such as the size at first sexual maturity and spawning season. In this study, a total of 861 individuals were examined, 811 of which were sexed (279 female and 532 male). Of these, the stage of sexual maturity was identified in 565 specimens. The fork length (FL) of specimens ranged between 27 and 150 cm, with a sex ratio of 1 male to 1.9 females. The distribution of average monthly Gonadal Index of adults ranged between 0.58 and 3.73 for males and between 3.22 and 34.90 for females. Size at first sexual maturity (L50) was estimated at 68.8 cm FL, for males, and 67.7 cm FL, for females. The results suggest that the period of greatest reproductive activity occurs between April and June. / O dourado, Coryphaena hippurus, é uma espécie pelágica e oceânica com distribuição circumtropical, que representa um importante recurso pesqueiro em todo o mundo. O Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo se encontra na rota migratória de várias espécies de elevado valor comercial, entre elas o dourado. Diante desse contexto os estudos de biologia reprodutiva representam uma ferramenta útil para o auxílio da conservação e gestão desses estoques através do aporte de informações, como, por exemplo, tamanho de primeira maturação sexual e época de desova. Nesse trabalho, 861 indivíduos de dourado foram examinados, dos quais 811 foram sexados (279 machos e 532 fêmeas), tendo sido identificados os estágios de maturação gonadal de 565. O comprimento zoológico dos exemplares variou entre 27 e 150 cm, com proporção sexual de 1 macho para 1,9 fêmeas. A distribuição da média mensal do Índice Gonadal dos indivíduos adultos variou entre 0,58 e 3,73 para os machos e entre 3,22 e 34,90 para as fêmeas. O comprimento de primeira maturação sexual (L50) foi estimado em 68,8 cm de Comprimento Zoológico (CZ), para os machos, e 67,7cm de CZ, para as fêmeas. Os resultados sugerem que o período de maior atividade reprodutiva ocorre entre abril e junho.

Dans un contexte de limitation de l'utilisation des pesticides, une voie de recherche prometteuse porte sur le déterminisme environnemental actionnant les mécanismes de défense de la plante, entre autres, la production de métabolites secondaires. L'objectif de mon travail de thèse a été d'étudier le compromis entre croissance et défense (métabolisme primaire vs. secondaire) dans les tissus de la plante saine ou attaquée par différents bioagresseurs, sous différentes conditions de disponibilité en ressources. Pour cela, nous avons mesuré différents paramètres de croissance, les ratios C/N des tissus, les concentrations en principaux métabolites primaires (glucides simples, amidon) et en composés de défense (acide chlorogénique, rutine, kaempferol-rutinoside et tomatine) dans différents organes de tomate en culture hydroponique en serre ou phytotron. Nous avons observé que les variations des ratios C/N total et de ressources sont positivement corrélées à celles de nombreux composés de défense quelle que soit leur composition en N et C. De plus, nous avons montré qu'en présence d'un bioagresseur, les concentrations des composés primaires et secondaires ne suivent pas la même évolution selon leur nature. La synthèse de caffeoyl putrescine est fortement induite lors de l'attaque par P. syringae alors que la concentration en acide chlorogénique est diminuée. L'inoculation de P. syringae réduit les concentrations en glucose et fructose alors que P. corrugata stimule leur synthèse. Enfin, nous avons observé qu'une faible disponibilité en azote altère le développement de P. syringae, P. corrugata et Tuta absoluta mais favorise le développement de Botrytis cinerea. Nos résultats ont montré que le ratio C/N est un indicateur fiable du compromis croissance/défense dans le cas d'une plante saine. Dans le cas d'une plante attaquée, la répartition des ressources entre les différents métabolites varie en fonction du bioagresseur. Et chaque bioagresseur réagit de façon différente aux variations de disponibilité en azote de la plante. La maîtrise des conditions de culture apparaît comme un levier agronomique pertinent pour raisonner la lutte contre les bioagresseurs même s'il est difficile d'appliquer des règles générales sur l'interaction plante/environnement/bioagresseurs / Nowadays, limiting the use of pesticides is mandatory. A promising way for research deals with the environmental determinism of plant defence mechanisms, among others, production of secondary metabolites. The aim of my PhD work was to study the trade-off between growth and defence (primary vs. secondary metabolism) in healthy plant tissues or attacked by different pests, under different conditions of resources availabilities. We measured different growth parameters, C:N ratios of tissue, concentrations of main primary metabolites (simple carbohydrates, starch) and defence metabolites (chlorogenic acid, rutin, kaempferol-rutinoside and tomatine) on healthy or attacked tomato plant grown in hydroponic culture in greenhouse or phytotron. We observed that variations of total and resources C:N ratios were positively correlated to that of several defence compounds whatever their composition in carbon and nitrogen. Moreover, we showed that, during pests attack, concentrations of primary and secondary metabolites did not follow the same evolution, depending on their nature. Caffeoyl putrescine synthesis was strongly induced by P. syringae inoculation whereas chlorogenic acid concentration decreased. Inoculation of P. syringae induced a strong decrease of concentration of glucose and fructose whereas inoculation of P. corrugata enhanced their synthesis. We observed that a low N availability alters the development of P. syringae, P. corrugata and Tuta absoluta but promotes the development of B. cinerea. Our results showed that C:N ratio is a reliable indicator of the trade-off between growth and defence in the case of healthy plant. In attacked plant, the resources allocation between different metabolites varies with pests. And each pests reacts specifically to changes of N availability for the plant. Control of culture conditions appears to be a relevant agronomic tool to monitor the control of pests even if it is difficult to apply general rules to the interaction plant/environment/pests

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Jämfört med andra branscher har fastighetsmarknaden låg avkastning på totala tillgångar, de utnyttjar istället en hävstångsstrategi för att skapa mer effektiv utväxling på eget kapital. Det finns många riskvariabler kopplat till fastighetsbranschen och flera sätt att differentiera sig från den osystematiska risken. De kommunala fastighetsbolagen har en finansieringskälla Kommuninvest, som enbart vänder sig till allmännyttiga bolag och inte privata aktörer. Syftet med uppsatsen är att historiskt analysera hur risk och avkastning genererats av kommunala och privata fastighetsbolag. Metoden är kvantitativ, kombinerat med en deduktiv metod och som har en förklarande ansats. Utifrån teori har vi formulerat tre hypoteser för att undersöka om vi kan finna indikatorer på hur kommunala och privata fastighetsbolag skiljer sig till från varandra. För att genomföra undersökningen har uppsatsen utgått från en kvantitativ metod och statistiska test har gjorts för att kunna analysera utfallen. Resultaten indikerar på att det finns en signifikant skillnad mellan kommunala och privata fastighetsbolag i två av hypoteserna. Hur undersökningen är genomförd beskrivs i den empiriska metoden. Från de resultat som blivit har det fastställts att det finns mer att undersöka och nya förslag på fortsatt forskning har utformats. / Compared to other industries, real estate markets have historically low return on total assets, instead they use a leverage strategy to create a more efficient ratio on return on equity. There are many risk variables associated with real estate and several ways for real estate firms to differentiate themselves from the unsystematic risk. The municipal property firms have a funding source Kommuninvest, only turning to public utilities and not private actors. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the historical risk and return generated by municipal and private property firms. The method is quantitative, combined with a deductive theory, which has an explanatory approach. Based on theory we have formulated three hypotheses to explore and see if we can find indicators of how differences between municipal and private property is. To conduct the survey, the thesis has a quantitative method and statistical tests to analyze the outcomes. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in two of the hypotheses between municipal and private property. How the survey is conducted is described in the empirical method. From the results determined, the intention shows that there is more to explore, and new suggestions for further research have been suggested.

Empirical likelihood, which was pioneered by Thomas and Grunkemeier (1975) and Owen (1988), is a powerful nonparametric method of statistical inference that has been widely used in the statistical literature. In this thesis, we investigate the merits of empirical likelihood for various problems arising in ratio estimation. First, motivated by the smooth empirical likelihood (SEL) approach proposed by Zhou & Jing (2003), we develop empirical likelihood estimators for diagnostic test likelihood ratios (DLRs), and derive the asymptotic distributions for suitable likelihood ratio statistics under certain regularity conditions. To skirt the bandwidth selection problem that arises in smooth estimation, we propose an empirical likelihood estimator for the same DLRs that is based on non-smooth estimating equations (NEL). Via simulation studies, we compare the statistical properties of these empirical likelihood estimators (SEL, NEL) to certain natural competitors, and identify situations in which SEL and NEL provide superior estimation capabilities. Next, we focus on deriving an empirical likelihood estimator of a baseline cumulative hazard ratio with respect to covariate adjustments under two nonproportional hazard model assumptions. Under typical regularity conditions, we show that suitable empirical likelihood ratio statistics each converge in distribution to a 2 random variable. Through simulation studies, we investigate the advantages of this empirical likelihood approach compared to use of the usual normal approximation. Two examples from previously published clinical studies illustrate the use of the empirical likelihood methods we have described. Empirical likelihood has obvious appeal in deriving point and interval estimators for time-to-event data. However, when we use this method and its asymptotic critical value to construct simultaneous confidence bands for survival or cumulative hazard functions, it typically necessitates very large sample sizes to achieve reliable coverage accuracy. We propose using a bootstrap method to recalibrate the critical value of the sampling distribution of the sample log-likelihood ratios. Via simulation studies, we compare our EL-based bootstrap estimator for the survival function with EL-HW and EL-EP bands proposed by Hollander et al. (1997) and apply this method to obtain a simultaneous confidence band for the cumulative hazard ratios in the two clinical studies that we mentioned above. While copulas have been a popular statistical tool for modeling dependent data in recent years, selecting a parametric copula is a nontrivial task that may lead to model misspecification because different copula families involve different correlation structures. This observation motivates us to use empirical likelihood to estimate a copula nonparametrically. With this EL-based estimator of a copula, we derive a goodness-of-fit test for assessing a specific parametric copula model. By means of simulations, we demonstrate the merits of our EL-based testing procedure. We demonstrate this method using the data from Wieand et al. (1989). In the final chapter of the thesis, we provide a brief introduction to several areas for future research involving the empirical likelihood approach.