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The thesis deals with the field of Public Relations with an emphasis on the issue of measurement of the effectiveness of PR activities. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the comparison of methods and instruments of measurement the effectiveness of PR activities in the Czech Republic and abroad. The practical part deals with the mapping of the current approach of the Czech firms implementing PR activities to the field of PR with an emphasis on measurement of the effectiveness of PR activities, together with providing advice to communications and PR agencies how they should further proceed in this topic in the relation of the Czech companies.

Vaccination is one of the most successful public health interventions in history, and is estimated to save lives of 3 million children globally each year. Ongoing surveillance is warranted to identify further evolution of the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases, and to evaluate the effects of vaccines provided. This dissertation aims to explore the impact of vaccines on disease burden, and effectiveness of diagnostic tools for two important infectious diseases; pneumonia and tuberculosis (TB). The first study employed a large electronic health record data, Massachusetts Health Disparities Repository (MHDR), to evaluate impact of 13-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) on all-cause pneumonia among children who receive primary care at Boston Medical Center (BMC). We extracted all-cause pneumonia cases diagnosed at both inpatient and outpatient settings among children younger than 8 years of age. Using interrupted time-series regression analysis monthly rates estimated for years after (2011–2013) implementation of PCV13 were compared to expected rates calculated from pre-PCV13 era (2007–2009). The year of PCV13 introduction (2010) was excluded. We also extracted cases of urinary tract infection and evaluated as control outcome. At the end of 2013 compared to prePCV13 era, among children younger than 2 years of age there was a 35.3% (95% CI 5.4–65.3) reduction in all-cause pneumonia cases. In children with comorbidity, pneumonia declined by 38.8% (95% CI 11.1 to 65.4) in those younger than 2 years of age, and 28.7% (95% CI 2.9 to 54.5) in those 2 to 8 years of age. The results of this study contribute to the growing body of evidence supporting the benefit of indirect protection with conjugated vaccines, and emphasize the importance of high sustainable vaccine coverage rates. The second and the third studies used data from the Tuberculosis Epidemiologic Studies Consortium (TBESC) Study-1, a 10-site collaboration of academic institutions and state and local TB control programs that is funded and administered by the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The second study evaluated the impact of Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination, which continues to be the only vaccine available for prevention of TB, on tuberculin skin testing (TST) results. Using the data collected TBESC Study-1 between September 2012 and September 2014, we examined the association between BCG vaccination and TST positivity. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Prior BCG vaccination had no impact on the TST results once adjusted for history of household contacts (adjusted PR 1.0, 95% CI 0.4–1.5). The results of this study add further evidence that BCG vaccination has little impact on TST results in children, particularly in older age groups. The third study examined the cost-effectiveness of three different screening strategies compared to no screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in a population with high proportion of foreign-born individuals who have different risk levels for developing TB. In this study, everyone was tested with using all available tools for LTBI: TST, and interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) during their enrollment visit. We used decision tree analysis and Markov models to compare TST only, IGRA only, TST followed by IGRA among those who were TST positive, and no screening strategies. Regardless of the assumptions and tests used, screening provided better health outcomes such as less TB cases and less TB related mortality compared to no screening. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of TST followed by IGRA compared to no screening was $75,094 per QALY gained. The results of this study suggest that prioritizing certain groups for targeted LTBI screening such as foreign-born individuals, and using TST followed by IGRA can maximize the impact of public health resources allocated to eradicate TB in the U.S. The findings from these studies will contribute to the further understanding of the impact of the vaccines and the changing epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases providing more insight to formulate new strategies to improve overall health of children.

A relação economia e meio ambiente, retratada pela teoria econômica desde autores como David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus e Marx, tornou-se mais evidente após a década de 60 (século XX) em função dos processos de industrialização nos principais países do mundo. Intelectuais, como os que formaram o Clube de Roma, ressaltavam a tendência à escassez dos recursos naturais pela superexploração. Porém, uma área ainda é bastante polêmica dentro da relação entre economia e meio ambiente: a da valoração econômica. Os métodos usualmente propostos tendem a valorar os recursos naturais através da revelação das preferências. Normalmente, os recursos naturais não possuem um mercado real, fazendo-se necessário recorrer-se a um mercado hipotético para revelar a preferência dos agentes econômicos. Para fazer uma discussão acerca do tema, esta tese está dividida em três ensaios. No primeiro fez-se uma revisão sobre as teorias que evidenciam a relação entre economia e meio ambiente. No segundo aplicou-se o método da valoração contingente usando a Represa Dal Bó, em Caxias do Sul, como objeto no qual se desejou encontrar a disposição a pagar por sua preservação. Para o tratamento das informações aplicou-se uma regressão logística do tipo Logit. Por fim, no terceiro apresentou-se a Análise Custo Efetividade como uma alternativa a valoração ou precificação de um recurso natural. Para tanto, utilizou-se a situação dos recursos hídricos de Caxias do Sul para um exercício aplicando a ACE. Como conclusão, tem-se que a relação entre economia e meio ambiente é polêmica, sobretudo no que diz respeito à valoração. Ao aplicar o MVC, este apresentou resultados econométricos não muito significativos, confirmando as limitações do método. Mesmo assim, aponta com uma probabilidade de 69% uma disposição a pagar de mais de R$ 4,00/mês. Já para a aplicação da Análise Custo Efetividade, ao considerar-se apenas o setor industrial, tem–se que uma tarifa incitativa seria, no mínimo, de R$ 636,68 ton/ano representando o custo marginal para tratar a matéria orgânica medida pela demanda química de oxigênio. Ao acrescentar outros setores tem-se que a tarifa diminui para R$ 572,32 ton/ano devido ao custo marginal menor do setor doméstico. Pelos exercícios propostos a análise custo efetividade se mostra viável para valorar os recursos naturais sem, necessariamente, os precificar diretamente. / Economy and environment relationship, portrayed by economic theory from authors like David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and Marx, became more apparent after the 1960s (Century XX), standed out by the industrializing processes in main countries of the world. Intellectuals such as members of The Club of Rome gave emphasis to the natural resources scarcity tendences caused by super exploration. However, there is still a controversial area within the relationship between environment and economy: the economic valuation.Usual proposed methods tend to value natural resources through disclosure of preferences. Normally occurs that natural resources do not have a real market, making it necessary to resort to a hypothetical market to reveal the preference of economic agents. For a discussion on the issue, this thesis is divided into three essays. In the first, a review about the theories that highlight the relationship between economy and environment is made. In the second, the contingent valuation method is apllied using the Dal Bó dam, at Caxias do Sul, as the object in which is wanted to find the disposition to pay for its preservation. For the information treatment is applied a logistic regression, Logit type. Finally, in the third, an Effectiveness Cost Analysis is presented as an alternative to a natural resource valuation or pricing. Therefore, the hydric resources situation in Caxias do Sul was considered in an exercise using the ECA. By conclusion, the relationship between economy and environment lead to polemics, especially what refers to the valuation. When applied the contingent valuation method the econometric results was not very significant, confirming your limitations. Nevertheless, with a probability of 69%, a willingness to pay was more than R$ 4.00/month. For Effective Cost Analysis application, when considering only the industrial sector, an inciting fare would be, at least, R$ 636,68 ton/year which represents the marginal cost to treat organic material measured by the oxygen chemical demand. When adding other sectors the fare diminish to R$ 572,32 ton/year due to lower marginal cost of domestic sector. By the proposed practices the Effectiveness Cost Analysis presents itself proper for valuing natural resources, without, necessarily, price them directly.

<p>Osnovni cilj istraživanja u ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji je da se analizom stanja na trži&scaron;tu osiguranja, stavova potencijalnih korisnika životnog osiguranja i menadžmenta osiguravajućih kompanija, kao i studijom slučaja konkretne, složene osiguravajuće kompanije, razvije model unapređenja kvaliteta procesa životnog osiguranja i razrade osnovni strate&scaron;ki elementi, a odnose se na planiranje, organizaciju i upravljanje sistemima koji pružaju usluge životnog osiguranja. Primjenom metoda ankete i intervjua i modela Balanced Scorecard, uočeni su kritični elementi poslovnih procesa i predložene mjere unapređenja. Razvijen je model kompanije koja posluje u oblasti životnog osiguranja koji obezbjeđuje njenu samostalnost, uključuje aktuelna ograničenja na evropskom trži&scaron;tu osiguranja i povi&scaron;enu efektivnost njenih poslovnih procesa.</p> / <p>The main goal of this doctoral dissertation is to develop a model for improving the quality of life insurance process and to elaborate basic strategic elements such as planning, organization and management of institutions that provide life insurance services. This is achieved through analysis of the life insurance market, attitudes of potential customers and the management of insurance companies, as well as a case study of concrete, complex life insurance company. Through application of the survey method, interview, as well as balanced scorecard, the critical business process elements were noted and improvement measures were proposed. As a result, a model which ensures the independence of the life insurance company, includes current restrictions at the European insurance market and enables increased efficiency of its business processes, was developed.</p>

Vis daugiau procesų perkeliama į elektroninę erdvę ̶ tokia tendencija neaplenkė ir Lietuvos mokyklų. Šiame darbe pristatoma problema apžvelgiant situaciją vienoje Kauno gimnazijų, kur remiantis kitų mokyklų praktika, Europos Sąjungos nuorodomis ir Lietuvos Respublikos įstatymais, buvo įdiegtas elektroninis dienynas. Skirtingai nei elektroninės komercijos atveju, skaitmenizavus dienyną, tiesioginę įtaką organizacinių procesų efektyvumui išmatuoti yra sunku tiek dėl ankstesnių tyrimų trūkumo, tiek ir trūkstant visuotinai priimtinos praktikos. Praeitais metais pasiūlytas efektyvumo tyrimo būdas šiame darbe analizuojamas, remiantis H. Leavitt bei J. Gaskin modeliais, aiškinančiais technologijos įtaką kitiems organizacijos komponentams, šią įtaką matuojant našumo, produktyvumo, kokybės ir nuoseklumo dimensijose. Sekančiame skyriuje pristatomi moksliniai tyrimo metodai, tarnausiantys duomenų rinkimui, analizei ir rezultatų apibendrinimui. Vėliau pristatomas praktinis tyrimo modelis, aiškinami jo taikymo metu gauti rezultatai. Darbo pabaigoje pateikiamos išvados ir perspektyvos. / The tendency of moving business processes to electronic environment is also adopted in Lithuania schools. In this article the problem of e-diary usage will be presented, describing situation in one of Kaunas gymnasium‘s, where e-diary was introduced, based on a practice of other schools, Europe Union policies and The Republic of Lithuania’s law. While you can measure effectiveness of e-commerce in businesses, it‘s difficult to do the same with the introduction of e-diary in schools, both due to the lack of previous research as well as lack of widely-used practice for this matter. Recently published method for measuring e-diary’s efficiency of school‘s organizational processes is analyzed in this work, using theoretical models of H. Leavitt and J. Gaskin. Based on these models the influence of e-diary system on other organizational components is analysed, while measuring this influence in terms of productivity, efficiency, quality and consistency. In this work there a description of scientific research methods is presented, with explanation how the chosen methods are used for collection of data, analysis and generalization from results.

A relação economia e meio ambiente, retratada pela teoria econômica desde autores como David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus e Marx, tornou-se mais evidente após a década de 60 (século XX) em função dos processos de industrialização nos principais países do mundo. Intelectuais, como os que formaram o Clube de Roma, ressaltavam a tendência à escassez dos recursos naturais pela superexploração. Porém, uma área ainda é bastante polêmica dentro da relação entre economia e meio ambiente: a da valoração econômica. Os métodos usualmente propostos tendem a valorar os recursos naturais através da revelação das preferências. Normalmente, os recursos naturais não possuem um mercado real, fazendo-se necessário recorrer-se a um mercado hipotético para revelar a preferência dos agentes econômicos. Para fazer uma discussão acerca do tema, esta tese está dividida em três ensaios. No primeiro fez-se uma revisão sobre as teorias que evidenciam a relação entre economia e meio ambiente. No segundo aplicou-se o método da valoração contingente usando a Represa Dal Bó, em Caxias do Sul, como objeto no qual se desejou encontrar a disposição a pagar por sua preservação. Para o tratamento das informações aplicou-se uma regressão logística do tipo Logit. Por fim, no terceiro apresentou-se a Análise Custo Efetividade como uma alternativa a valoração ou precificação de um recurso natural. Para tanto, utilizou-se a situação dos recursos hídricos de Caxias do Sul para um exercício aplicando a ACE. Como conclusão, tem-se que a relação entre economia e meio ambiente é polêmica, sobretudo no que diz respeito à valoração. Ao aplicar o MVC, este apresentou resultados econométricos não muito significativos, confirmando as limitações do método. Mesmo assim, aponta com uma probabilidade de 69% uma disposição a pagar de mais de R$ 4,00/mês. Já para a aplicação da Análise Custo Efetividade, ao considerar-se apenas o setor industrial, tem–se que uma tarifa incitativa seria, no mínimo, de R$ 636,68 ton/ano representando o custo marginal para tratar a matéria orgânica medida pela demanda química de oxigênio. Ao acrescentar outros setores tem-se que a tarifa diminui para R$ 572,32 ton/ano devido ao custo marginal menor do setor doméstico. Pelos exercícios propostos a análise custo efetividade se mostra viável para valorar os recursos naturais sem, necessariamente, os precificar diretamente. / Economy and environment relationship, portrayed by economic theory from authors like David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and Marx, became more apparent after the 1960s (Century XX), standed out by the industrializing processes in main countries of the world. Intellectuals such as members of The Club of Rome gave emphasis to the natural resources scarcity tendences caused by super exploration. However, there is still a controversial area within the relationship between environment and economy: the economic valuation.Usual proposed methods tend to value natural resources through disclosure of preferences. Normally occurs that natural resources do not have a real market, making it necessary to resort to a hypothetical market to reveal the preference of economic agents. For a discussion on the issue, this thesis is divided into three essays. In the first, a review about the theories that highlight the relationship between economy and environment is made. In the second, the contingent valuation method is apllied using the Dal Bó dam, at Caxias do Sul, as the object in which is wanted to find the disposition to pay for its preservation. For the information treatment is applied a logistic regression, Logit type. Finally, in the third, an Effectiveness Cost Analysis is presented as an alternative to a natural resource valuation or pricing. Therefore, the hydric resources situation in Caxias do Sul was considered in an exercise using the ECA. By conclusion, the relationship between economy and environment lead to polemics, especially what refers to the valuation. When applied the contingent valuation method the econometric results was not very significant, confirming your limitations. Nevertheless, with a probability of 69%, a willingness to pay was more than R$ 4.00/month. For Effective Cost Analysis application, when considering only the industrial sector, an inciting fare would be, at least, R$ 636,68 ton/year which represents the marginal cost to treat organic material measured by the oxygen chemical demand. When adding other sectors the fare diminish to R$ 572,32 ton/year due to lower marginal cost of domestic sector. By the proposed practices the Effectiveness Cost Analysis presents itself proper for valuing natural resources, without, necessarily, price them directly.

A relação economia e meio ambiente, retratada pela teoria econômica desde autores como David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus e Marx, tornou-se mais evidente após a década de 60 (século XX) em função dos processos de industrialização nos principais países do mundo. Intelectuais, como os que formaram o Clube de Roma, ressaltavam a tendência à escassez dos recursos naturais pela superexploração. Porém, uma área ainda é bastante polêmica dentro da relação entre economia e meio ambiente: a da valoração econômica. Os métodos usualmente propostos tendem a valorar os recursos naturais através da revelação das preferências. Normalmente, os recursos naturais não possuem um mercado real, fazendo-se necessário recorrer-se a um mercado hipotético para revelar a preferência dos agentes econômicos. Para fazer uma discussão acerca do tema, esta tese está dividida em três ensaios. No primeiro fez-se uma revisão sobre as teorias que evidenciam a relação entre economia e meio ambiente. No segundo aplicou-se o método da valoração contingente usando a Represa Dal Bó, em Caxias do Sul, como objeto no qual se desejou encontrar a disposição a pagar por sua preservação. Para o tratamento das informações aplicou-se uma regressão logística do tipo Logit. Por fim, no terceiro apresentou-se a Análise Custo Efetividade como uma alternativa a valoração ou precificação de um recurso natural. Para tanto, utilizou-se a situação dos recursos hídricos de Caxias do Sul para um exercício aplicando a ACE. Como conclusão, tem-se que a relação entre economia e meio ambiente é polêmica, sobretudo no que diz respeito à valoração. Ao aplicar o MVC, este apresentou resultados econométricos não muito significativos, confirmando as limitações do método. Mesmo assim, aponta com uma probabilidade de 69% uma disposição a pagar de mais de R$ 4,00/mês. Já para a aplicação da Análise Custo Efetividade, ao considerar-se apenas o setor industrial, tem–se que uma tarifa incitativa seria, no mínimo, de R$ 636,68 ton/ano representando o custo marginal para tratar a matéria orgânica medida pela demanda química de oxigênio. Ao acrescentar outros setores tem-se que a tarifa diminui para R$ 572,32 ton/ano devido ao custo marginal menor do setor doméstico. Pelos exercícios propostos a análise custo efetividade se mostra viável para valorar os recursos naturais sem, necessariamente, os precificar diretamente. / Economy and environment relationship, portrayed by economic theory from authors like David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and Marx, became more apparent after the 1960s (Century XX), standed out by the industrializing processes in main countries of the world. Intellectuals such as members of The Club of Rome gave emphasis to the natural resources scarcity tendences caused by super exploration. However, there is still a controversial area within the relationship between environment and economy: the economic valuation.Usual proposed methods tend to value natural resources through disclosure of preferences. Normally occurs that natural resources do not have a real market, making it necessary to resort to a hypothetical market to reveal the preference of economic agents. For a discussion on the issue, this thesis is divided into three essays. In the first, a review about the theories that highlight the relationship between economy and environment is made. In the second, the contingent valuation method is apllied using the Dal Bó dam, at Caxias do Sul, as the object in which is wanted to find the disposition to pay for its preservation. For the information treatment is applied a logistic regression, Logit type. Finally, in the third, an Effectiveness Cost Analysis is presented as an alternative to a natural resource valuation or pricing. Therefore, the hydric resources situation in Caxias do Sul was considered in an exercise using the ECA. By conclusion, the relationship between economy and environment lead to polemics, especially what refers to the valuation. When applied the contingent valuation method the econometric results was not very significant, confirming your limitations. Nevertheless, with a probability of 69%, a willingness to pay was more than R$ 4.00/month. For Effective Cost Analysis application, when considering only the industrial sector, an inciting fare would be, at least, R$ 636,68 ton/year which represents the marginal cost to treat organic material measured by the oxygen chemical demand. When adding other sectors the fare diminish to R$ 572,32 ton/year due to lower marginal cost of domestic sector. By the proposed practices the Effectiveness Cost Analysis presents itself proper for valuing natural resources, without, necessarily, price them directly.

The goal of this thesis is to find out state of information systems through analytical methods in company Vodovody a kanalizace Břeclav, a.s. The analysis will be focused on different parts of ICT in the company, mostly on effectiveness, suitability and harmony of hardware and software equipment. Proposals of ICT improvement including economic assessment will be also part of this thesis.

The diploma thesis contains the business plan study for increase of the production effectiveness via improvement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness. It contains technical description, process description of the change and its financial evaluation. The thesis focuses on specification of the term Overall Equipment Effectiveness and its clarification for use in production company producing electronic devices. It contains real company example.