The purpose and intent of this study is to conduct comparative research between domestic and foreign investors in regard to short selling positions on the Swedish financial market. The performance differences are measured by compounding short selling positions by the investors between 2015-2018. Two comparative methods were utilized to conduct this research: The cumulative abnormal return (CAR) and the buy-and-hold abnormal return, with each calculation being utilized in accordance with Barber & Lyon (1997). The produced results have been scrutinized via univariate descriptive statistics (t-test) and a regression in order to verify if there is any significant difference between the investors. The result of the study shows that there is a tangible, noteworthy difference in an average performance amongst the investors. We can now recognize that foreign investors who hold their short selling positions for a longer time-period demonstrate better performance. To compare with the domestic investors, their displayed trading behavior seems to be more unpredictable and they have not been performing as good in this selected time-interval.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseGYR.pdf: 8156092 bytes, checksum: 727d9cd338ae7ed90fe24238b42228bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-25 / Outra / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Pneumatic bioreactors are devices free of moving parts which have the purpose of converting raw materials in bio-products of commercial interest by the action of enzymes or cells. They are promising in the biochemical industry, ensuring good oxygen transfer and consuming less energy. Global performance parameters such as global gas hold up and the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient are important criteria in the design and selection among different geometries of the mentioned devices. In the present work it was carried out modeling and simulation of pneumatic bioreactors based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in order to estimate the global gas hold up and the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient in three different geometries of pneumatic bioreactors: bubble column, concentric tube airlift and split tube airlift. The simulated results of each performance parameter were verified by comparison with the experimental values reported by Thomasi et al. (2010) and Mendes and Badino (2015) for the fluids distilled water, glycerol solution 10 cP and xanthan gum solution 0.2% w/v (weight/volume) in a wide range of specific air flow rate (0 to 5 min- 1). Application suite ANSYS® 14.5 was used for numerical simulations in CFD. Important parameters such as the bubble diameter played a great influence on results of the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient. It can be observed by the experimental and simulated results that the concentric tube airlift bioreactor was the best alternative to the global gas hold up and the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (reaching 14% and 0.06 s-1 for distilled water, respectively). It was found that the results obtained via the CFD agreed with the majority trend of experimental data, capturing the most important hydrodynamic phenomena and mass transfer characteristics, showing that the modeling of different systems with different fluids fulfilled the main objective of obtaining reliable models design and performance of other geometries of pneumatic bioreactors. / Os biorreatores pneumáticos são equipamentos industriais isentos de partes móveis que têm a finalidade de converter matérias-primas em bioprodutos de interesse comercial pela ação de enzimas ou células. São promissores na indústria bioquímica, pois garantem boa transferência de oxigênio consumindo menos energia. Parâmetros globais de desempenho, como a retenção gasosa global e o coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de oxigênio são critérios importantes no projeto e seleção entre geometrias diferentes dos equipamentos mencionados. No presente trabalho foi realizada a modelagem e a simulação de biorreatores pneumáticos baseada na Fluidodinâmica Computacional (CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics) de forma a estimar a retenção gasosa global e o coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de oxigênio em três geometrias distintas: coluna de bolhas, airlift de cilindros concêntricos e airlift split. Os resultados simulados de cada parâmetro de desempenho foram verificados comparando-se com os valores experimentais reportados nos trabalhos de Thomasi et al. (2010) e Mendes e Badino (2015) para os fluidos água destilada, solução de glicerol 10 cP e solução de goma xantana 0,2% m/v (massa/volume) e vazão de alimentação específica de ar numa ampla faixa (0 a 5 min-1). Foi empregada a suíte de aplicativos ANSYS® 14.5 para as simulações numéricas em CFD. Parâmetros importantes, como o diâmetro de bolha, exerceram grande influência nos resultados referentes ao coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de oxigênio. Destaca-se, pelos resultados experimentais e simulados, que o biorreator pneumático do tipo airlift de cilindros concêntricos apresentou-se como a melhor alternativa para a retenção gasosa global e para o coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de oxigênio (atingindo 14% e 0,06 s-1 para a água destilada, respectivamente). Verificou-se que os resultados obtidos via CFD concordaram com a tendência majoritária dos dados experimentais, capturando os fenômenos mais relevantes das características hidrodinâmicas e da transferência de massa, mostrando que a modelagem dos diferentes sistemas com diferentes fluidos atendeu ao principal objetivo de obter modelos confiáveis para o projeto e comparação de desempenho de outras geometrias de biorreatores pneumáticos. / CNPq: 478472/2011-0 / CNPq: 140466/2011-8

Orientador: Pedro Eduardo de Felicio / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T10:28:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bueno_RachelVirginiaCarvalhodeCampos_M.pdf: 21391234 bytes, checksum: 9704c6b584a0d7bc76348477fb39fd91 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Este trabalho visou avaliar o comportamento funcional dos produtos resultantes das interações entre a fibra de colágeno e as fibras musculares em dois cortes do quarto dianteiro bovino, formados pelos músculos Tríceps braquial e Peitoral profundo. A formulação base da salmoura era constituída por uma solução aquosa de cloreto de sódio (NaCl) fixada em 1,0% de concentração. Variou-se a concentração de tripolifosfato de sódio (TPF) ao máximo de 0,4%; o nível de solução injetada entre 10% e 30% e a concentração da fibra de colágeno a ser adicionada em cada um dos níveis injetados entre 0,1% e 0,3% no produto final. Esta concentração respeita as recomendações do fabricante, que estabelece em 1% o limite máximo de fibra de colágeno no produto final porque tem início a percepção sensorial do sabor e aroma característico de colágeno, indesejável ao consumidor. A amostra padrão consistiu do corte de referência injetado nos níveis estipulados com salmoura constituída somente por uma solução de NaCl a 1%. Para avaliar a qualidade funcional dos cortes utilizados foram efetuadas as análises de pH, capacidade de retenção de água, composição centesimal e teor de colágeno total, em etapa anterior à injeção. As análises microbiológicas seguiram o padrão exigido pela ANVISA na RDC nº. 12, de 12 de janeiro de 2001. Os cortes injetados foram embalados a vácuo e permaneceram em repouso por 24 horas a 4 ºC. Após este período analisou-se a capacidade de retenção de água (CRA) e as perdas durante esta estocagem, só então, passaram pelo processo de cocção industrial usado para a fabricação de ¿Cooked Frozen Beef¿ (CFB), permanecendo estocados em câmaras a -20 ºC durante o período de realização das análises. Para verificar o comportamento funcional, as amostras foram avaliadas quanto a sua maciez objetiva (força de cisalhamento), análise do perfil de textura (TPA), perdas na estocagem e na cocção, bem como o rendimento do processo. Os resultados obtidos foram avaliados através da análise de superfície de resposta. O rendimento do processo foi beneficiado pela presença da fibra de colágeno na formulação injetada, porém, para os dois cortes estudados, este aumento foi inversamente proporcional ao nível de injeção aplicado. A adição da fibra de colágeno na formulação injetada atuou favoravelmente ao acréscimo da capacidade de retenção de água, para os dois cortes musculares estudados, independentemente da presença de tripolifosfato de sódio na formulação, desde que a taxa de injeção fosse mantida em valores menores de 20%. Teores maiores que 0,14% da fibra de colágeno na formulação injetada promoveram um aumento acentuado nos valores de força de cisalhamento observados no m. Tríceps braquial. O m. Peitoral profundo apresentou valores relativamente mais altos de força de cisalhamento que os observados para o m. Tríceps braquial. As diferenças de comportamento entre os cortes musculares merecem estudo posterior. A análise do perfil de textura não apresentou respostas confiáveis nas condições deste trabalho. Esta observação pode ser um reflexo do próprio delineamento experimental proposto, mas existe a possibilidade de ser atribuída às inúmeras variáveis envolvidas no processo / Abstract: This project evaluated the functional behavior of the resulting products of the interactions between collagen fibers and muscular fibers in two boneless cut of bovine forequarter: Brisket and Clod, Pectoralis profundi and Triceps brachii muscles, respectively. The base of the enhance formulation was 1.0 % aqueous solution of sodium chloride (NaCl). The TPF concentration was varied to a maximum of 0.4%, the level of injected solution was varied between 10% and 30%, and the concentration of collagen fibers to be added in each of the injected levels was varied between 0.1%, and 0.3% in the final product. This variation is in accordance with the manufacturer¿s recommendation of a maximum of 1% collagen fiber in the final product. This limit is set because the characteristic flavor of collagen is undesirable to the consumer. The main sample was the reference cut injected at the specified levels with the standard brine solution made only by 1% NaCl solution. The following properties of the cut were evaluated before injection: pH, water hold capacity, and centesimal composition of the total collagen. The microbiological analyses followed the requirements of ANVISA in RDC nº. 12, from January 12th, 2001. The injected cuts were wrapped in vacuum and were stored for 24 hours at 4 ºC. After this period the water hold capacity was analyzed (WHC), and the losses from storage passed through the industrial cooking process used for the production of ¿Cooked Frozen Beef¿ (CFB). Throughout the analysis period the cuts remained stored in chambers at -20 ºC. To analyse the functional behavior, the following properties were evaluated: objective tenderness by shear force and texture profile analysis (TPA), losses in storage and cooking, and the process effectiveness. The results obtained were evaluated through surface response analysis. The process benefited from the collagen fiber in the injected formulation. In the two cuts studied this benefit was inversely proportional to the level of the applied injections. The fiber addition in the injection formulation positively impacted the water hold capacity for both studied cuts, independent of the presence of TPF in the formulation. This benefit occurred as long as the injection level was maintained below 20%. Levels higher than 0.14% of the collagen fiber in the injected formulation promoted a substantial increase in the shear force values observed in the Triceps brachii muscle samples. The .Pectoralis profundi muscle displayed shear force values relatively higher than those observed for Triceps brachii muscle. Further researches should investigate the differences between the muscular cuts behavior. A texture profile analysis did not provide reliable data for the conditions in this study. This outcome may be a result of an error in the experimental design protocol, or it could be attributed to unexpected variables involved in the process / Mestrado / Mestre em Tecnologia de Alimentos

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Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Synchronous sampling is currently the most widely used analog to digital conversion method, mainly due to its implementation ease, since it employs a constant sampling rate. However, a fixed sampling rate can cause unnecessary activations of the sample and hold circuit, increasing power consumption. Asynchronous analog to digital converters can be used to solve this problem, sampling only when particulars events occur, such as amplitude level crossings. This approach has been intensely studied over the last decades, and arose as an alternative to synchronous sampling. Another asynchronous sampling approach is the one proposed by Voelcker (1966), where sampling instants are the zero crossings of the signal. According to him complex zeros must be sampled for perfect signal reconstruction, in addition to real zeros. Although being physically undetectable, Voelcker proposes that complex zeros can be “transformed” using the real zeros of all nth signal derivatives. Nevertheless this can be unfeasible and this work proposes the use of the Zero Crossing method with a limited number of derivatives. Such approach is justifiable because in consecutive derivatives, real zeros tends to be close or even repeat themselves, thus not aggregating any more information about the original signal. Therefore, this work verifies the applicability of the proposed method for systems that need low power consumption and a good reconstruction of the sampled signal, being suggest from the results of this work as a good solution of compromise between synchronous sampling and Level Crossing. / A amostragem síncrona é o método mais amplamente utilizado na conversão analógica/ digital para sinais do cotidiano, principalmente devido à facilidade de implementálos, pois a taxa de amostragem é constante. Entretanto, a taxa de amostragem fixa pode causar ativações desnecessárias do circuito de Sample and Hold, gerando um alto consumo energético. Os conversores analógicos digitais assíncronos podem ser utilizados para resolver este problema, amostrando somente quando ocorrem eventos particulares, tais como os cruzamentos de níveis de amplitude (em inglês - Level Crossing). Esta abordagem está sendo intensamente estudada nas últimas décadas, e surgiu como alternativa à amostragem síncrona. Outra alternativa de amostragem assíncrona e a abordagem proposta por Voelcker, onde os instantes de amostragem são os cruzamentos por zero do sinal. Segundo ele, para que seja possível obter a perfeita reconstrução do sinal, além dos zeros reais, os zeros complexos devem ser amostrados. Embora eles sejam fisicamente indetectáveis, Voelcker propôs que estes podem ser “transformados” em zeros reais a partir das informações de todos os zeros reais das n-ésimas derivadas do sinal. Contudo isto pode ser impraticável, e neste trabalho é proposto um novo método de Zero Crossing que utiliza somente até a 3a derivada. Tal abordagem é justificada pela possibilidade, aqui apresentada de que ao realizar muitas derivadas do sinal, os zeros reais tendem a ficar muito próximos, ou até se repetir, não agregando mais informação sobre o sinal original. Diante disso, foi verificado neste trabalho a aplicabilidade do método proposto para sistemas que necessitem de um baixo consumo energético e uma boa reconstrução do sinal amostrado, sendo apontado a partir dos resultados deste trabalho como uma boa solução de compromisso entre a amostragem síncrona e o Level Crossing.

Masters of Science / The communication barriers between deaf and hearing society mean that interaction between these communities is kept to a minimum. The South African Sign Language research group, Integration of Signed and Verbal Communication: South African Sign Language Recognition and Animation (SASL), at the University of the Western Cape aims to create technologies to bridge the communication gap. In this thesis we address the subject of whole hand gesture recognition. We demonstrate a method to identify South African Sign Language classifiers using an eigenvector approach. The classifiers researched within this thesis are based on those outlined by the Thibologa Sign Language Institute for SASL. Gesture recognition is achieved in real time. Utilising a pre-processing method for image registration we are able to increase the recognition rates for the eigenvector approach.

An integrated experimental and numerical research program investigating the elastic and inelastic performance as well as the kinematic behaviour of shearwalls with openings is presented in this study. The influence of the geometrical dimensions of the wall configurations and the mechanical properties and configurations of hold-downs on both elastic and inelastic behaviours including the possible kinematic modes of the shearwalls are investigated. The research also proposes the concept of equivalent-frame-model applicable for shearwalls where openings are cut-out from CLT panels. Are also presented, five racking tests performed on full scale CLT walls in order to validate the numerical models as well as the equivalent frame model. From review of the available literature emerges that for CLT shearwalls with openings, studies are not at the same level of abundance in research compared to walls without openings, due to the simple reason that SSW is generally a widespread technique. Thus, the kinematic behaviour and the coupling effect are inexistent and presented here. The investigations of the wall’s behaviour in the elastic and inelastic ranges demonstrate the important effect of the lintel and wall segment slenderness as well as the hold-down stiffness effect on the mechanical behaviour and the global kinematic behaviour as well. It is found that the kinematic modes can change when the walls are stressed beyond their elasticity limit. The failure mode and the global ductility are highly dependent on the hold-down configurations particularly for walls with door openings. The degree of coupling decrease with increased hold-down stiffness and the wall segment width. With regards to the equivalent frame model, a reasonable fit is found between the proposed EFM and a detailed 2D area element model when the global elastic stiffness and tensile load in the hold-down were compared. The model is successfully validated through five full-scale tests on CLT shearwalls with door or window opening as well as two published studies on walls with door openings. The EFM is capable of predicting the behaviour in the wall with reasonable accuracy, especially for walls whose behaviour was dominated by the hold-down behaviour.

The present doctoral thesis is focused on the effect of dwells on the low cycle fatigue behaviour of advanced high temperature materials. 10 minutes strain holds are introduced into the cyclic straining of cast Ni-based superalloy IN792-5A and cast intermetallic alloy TiAl-7Nb which were chosen as experimental material. Fatigue experiments were conducted in strain control mode with constant total strain amplitude and strain rate. IN792-5A was subjected to continuous cyclic loading test as well as fatigue tests either with tensile peak strain holds or compressive peak strain holds at temperature 800 °C. TiAl-7Nb was experimentally examined by continuous cyclic loading tests and also by fatigue test with tensile peak strain hold times at temperature 750 °C. Cyclic hardening/softening curves, cyclic stress-strain curves, Manson-Coffin curves and Basquin curves were obtained. Stress relaxation data were measured during hold times. Mean stress evolution was observed and documented. Microstructure of both alloys was observed in as-received state and also after cyclic loading by means of SEM and TEM. Surface relief investigation revealed cyclic plastic strain localisation as well as fatigue crack initiation sites. Fatigue crack propagation was described using fracture surface and longitudinal gauge section observations. Dislocation structures developed in the course of fatigue tests were studied and documented.

This thesis examines whether mergers and acquisitions (M&A), ranging from 2009 to 2020, are value-generating for acquiring shareholders in the short-term and long-term of companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. A cohesive and integrated theoretical framework is formed in which six firm-specific and deal-specific variables are hypothesized to have varying impacts on both short- and long-term stock performance for acquiring shareholders. An event study was conducted to measure the short-term stock performance, i.e. cumulative abnormal returns (CAR), and long-term stock performance, i.e. buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHAR). We find that M&A transactions are, on average, value-generating for acquiring shareholders in both the short term and the long term. Among the significant findings of the variables examined, firm size was negatively related to short-term stock performance but positively related to BHAR. The relative size of the transaction was found to be positively related to CAR. Furthermore, transactions mediated with cash were found to be positively related to BHAR. Lastly, related transactions were found to be positively related to CAR, although not when accounting for robust standard errors.

No description available.