Magíster en Estrategia Internacional y Política Comercial / En virtud del Acuerdo de Obstáculos Técnicos al Comercio (OTC) de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC), los países Miembros pueden adoptar medidas que establezcan estándares sobre las características de los productos importados, sistemas de evaluación de conformidad y reglamentos técnicos relativos a su producción con el fin de resguardar la salud de las personas, la calidad de los productos y la seguridad nacional entre otros. En este contexto, es importante definir cuál es el impacto que dichas medidas tienen en el comercio internacional, especialmente para un sector tan vulnerable como el agrícola y para un país exportador neto como Chile. Para ello, en primer lugar se revisó el marco normativo del Acuerdo OTC, haciendo especial hincapié en la participación que Chile ha tenido en los mecanismos habilitados bajo el mismo (notificaciones, preocupaciones comerciales específicas y diferencias). En segundo lugar se realizó una aproximación al posible impacto que tendrían las medidas adoptadas bajo el Acuerdo en el comercio agropecuario chileno mediante un modelo gravitacional. / No autorizada por el autor para ser publicada a texto completo

Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: Accidental ingestions of medications in children under five years old are an increasing problem faced by parents and caregivers. This study will determine which medications are most commonly ingested and which cause more harmful side effects. METHODS: A descriptive, retrospective study was performed by obtaining data from electronic patient charts from the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center (APDIC). Subjects were selected if they were younger than five years old and had ingested a medication during 2009. Age and gender were analyzed by calculating percentages and means and comparing them using an independent t-test. Adverse effects of medications were compared using a Chi Square test. RESULTS: A total of 4,373 cases met inclusion criteria for analysis, including 2,019 females and 2,354 males. The average age of patients was 2.2 years. Of 3,275 cases (74.4%) involving OTC medications, 119 patients (3.6%) developed minor effects and 20 patients (0.6%) developed moderate effects. Of 1,129 children (25.6%) ingesting prescription medications, 78 patients (6.9%) developed minor effects, 35 patients (3.1%) developed moderate effects and 1 patient (0.1%) developed a major effect (p=0.003). CONCLUSION: Males were more likely to have unintentional ingestions than females. The incidence of OTC ingestions was higher than prescription ingestions. Toddlers tended to have more ingestions than infants or older children. Unintentional prescription medication ingestions resulted in significantly more adverse effects than unintentional OTC ingestions.

A population of financial derivatives can be compressed if a subset of derivatives yield a net cash flow that lies within a given tolerance level between the parties involved. To conduct a correct population compression, it is essential that all derivatives of the involved parties are present in the derivative set. The current state-of-the-art to ensure this is to have analysts with domain expertise analyzing the populations with the use of assisting tools. The purpose of this project was to automate this process through the use of machine learning classification. Different ways of using clustering for representing a collection of derivatives was implemented and evaluated. The first representation derives from a clustering of all derivatives across populations, describing the distribution of the derivatives across the clusters. A second representation uses the previously mentioned clustering to instead find the distance from a population to all the clusters to form a vector. These representations were compared to two naive representations, one where the mean derivative of a population is used as representation and one where a random clustering is used to find a distribution. The representations were evaluated through classification, using three different classification models (Support Vector Machine, Decision Tree, and a Naive Bayes' Classifier). Different models were tested to examine whether the representations generalize across models. Both the proposed representations were found to be comparable with the naive representations, indicating that the representations fail to capture the characteristics of missing derivatives. The cause of this was found to be that populations of derivatives vary too much for clustering to be consistent enough across populations. / En population av finansiella derivat kan komprimeras om en delmängd av derivat ger ett nettokassaflöde mellan de berörda parterna som ligger inom ett givet toleransintervall. För att göra en korrekt kompression är det viktigt att alla derivat med de involverade parterna finns närvarande i derivatuppsättningen. I nuläget används analytiker som med domänkompetens och erfarenhet kan analysera populationen med hjälp utav verktyg. Syftet med detta projekt var att undersöka om det är möjligt att automatisera denna process genom att använda maskininlärningsklassificering. Olika sätt att använda klustring för att representera en samling derivat implementerades och utvärderades. Den första representationen klustrar alla derivat över populationer och representerar en population med en vektor som beskriver fördelningen av derivaten över kluster. En andra representation använder den tidigare nämnda klustringen för att istället hitta avståndet från populationen som ska representeras till alla kluster för att bilda en vektor. Dessa representationer jämfördes med två naiva representationer, en där det genomsnittliga derivatet av en population används som representation och en där en slumpmässig klustring används för att hitta en distribution likt den först beskrivna representationen. Representationerna utvärderades genom klassificering med tre olika klassificeringsmodeller (stödvektormaskiner, beslutsträd och en naiv Bayesklassificierare). Olika modeller testades för att utvärdera hur representationerna generaliserar över modeller. Båda de föreslagna representationerna visade sig prestera i linje med de naiva representationerna, vilket indikerar att representationerna misslyckas med att fånga kännetecknen för saknade derivat. Orsaken till detta tycks vara att varje uppsättning av derivat är så unik att klustring av derivaten blir för olik baserat på vilken uppsättning man använder.

No description available.

Gracias a su acción como biocida, el tributilestaño (TBT) ha sido ampliamente utilizado en pinturas anti-incrustantes. Por un lado, su aplicación ha dado lugar a enormes ahorros para el sector del transporte marítimo; sin embargo, por otro, ha generado un grave problema para los ecosistemas marinos debido a su persistencia y toxicidad en el medio. Una vez liberado en el agua, el TBT puede sufrir, rápidamente, distintos procesos de adsorción/desorción y acumularse en el sedimento y la biota. Además, puede degradarse a di y monobutilestaño (DBT y MBT, respectivamente) a través de diversos procesos entre los que se destaca la biodegradación producida por ciertos microrganismos (bacterias, microalgas y hongos). A causa de los daños que puede causar en el medio marino, diversos países han impuesto regulaciones para controlar el uso del TBT en la formulación de pinturas anti-incrustantes para embarcaciones. En Argentina, la institución que regula el transporte marítimo (Prefectura Naval Argentina) prohibió en 1998 el uso de pinturas anti-incrustantes a base de TBT en todos los tipos de buques (Ordenanza nº 4/98). En este trabajo de Tesis se evaluó la presencia y distribución de los compuestos organoestánnicos (OTC, por sus siglas en inglés) en distintas muestras del estuario de Bahía Blanca (sedimentos, agua, material particulado en suspensión (MPS) y moluscos bivalvos), teniendo en cuenta sitios fuertemente antropizados (por ej., zonas portuarias y cercanas a diques secos) y sitios libres de intervención (por ej., islotes de la reserva ambiental). El pretratamiento de las muestras de sedimento superficiales, MPS y moluscos bivalvos autóctonos (mejillín, Brachidontes rodriguezii), se llevó a cabo aplicando energía de ultrasonido en las etapas de extracción y derivatización. De esta manera, se logró disminuir considerablemente el tiempo de análisis, obteniendo mejores parámetros analíticos con respecto al método convencional (UNEP/IOC/IAEA, 1994). El tratamiento de las muestras de agua se llevó a cabo mediante una extracción líquido-líquido empleando hexano para extraer los analitos derivatizados. La determinación cuantitativa de los compuestos estudiados se realizó mediante cromatografía gaseosa acoplada a detector de masas (GC-MS). Los resultados indican que todas las muestras y sitios evaluados han sido impactadas por la presencia de TBT, DBT y MBT. También, ha quedado demostrado, que en algunos casos existe una variabilidad estacional con respecto a las concentraciones de los OTC, y que la distribución de estos compuestos está influenciada por ciertas variables fisicoquímicas (salinidad, temperatura, turbidez y materia orgánica). Se estima que, en general, el ingreso de TBT al estuario de Bahía Blanca es antiguo y se encuentra bajo un proceso de degradación general. Esta degradación, parece ser acelerada por la presencia de una elevada concentración de biomasa fitoplanctónica, característica del área de estudio. Por último, a lo largo del estuario parecen existir fuentes adicionales de DBT y MBT, más allá de la degradación natural a partir de TBT. Algunas posibles fuentes difusas de estos compuestos son las aguas residuales domésticas, lodos de depuradora, efluentes industriales (relacionados con la planta de PVC), así como también, la lixiviación de DBT y MBT de las cañerías de distribución de agua y de desagüe que están fabricadas de PVC. / Organotin compounds, particularly tributyltin (TBT), have been widely used as antifouling paints for the skulls of different kind of boats. Using TBT has been financially advantageous for the seaborne trade. However, it has also generated a severe damage for the maritime ecosystem, mainly due to both its persistence and toxicity. Once released into the water, the TBT may rapidly undergo adsorption/desorption processes and, then, accumulate within the sediments and biota. Also, this compound can be degrade to other less substituted organotin compounds, such as di- and monobutyltin (DBT and MBT, respectively) throughout different processes, being the biodegradation (by bacteria, microalgae and fungi) the most important one. Several countries have enacted regulations to control and monitor the use of TBT in antifouling paints formulations in order to preserve the marine environment. Prefectura Naval Argentina, in 1998, banned the use TBT-based antifouling paints in all kind of boats (Ordinance nº 4/98). This Thesis evaluates the presence and distribution of organotin compounds (OTC) in different samples (sediments, water, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and mussels) in the Bahía Blanca estuary. The sites studied have been either strongly affected by anthropogenic activities –such as ports and dry docks– or relatively free from human intervention (small islands in the natural reserve). The OTC pretreatment of all surface sediment, SPM and mussel samples (Brachidontes rodriguezii) was performed by application of ultrasound in both extraction and derivatization steps. In this way, the time analysis was considerably reduced and the analytical performance was also improved respect to the conventional method (UNEP/IOC/IAEA, 1994). The pretreatment of water samples was carried out by liquid-liquid extraction with hexane. The OTC determination was conducted using gas chromatography coupled to mass detector (GC-MS). The obtained results show that all the samples in all the studied sites have been impacted by the pollution of TBT, DBT and MBT. Also, a seasonal variability was observed in the OTC concentrations and the distribution of these compounds is affected by certain physicochemical variables such as salinity, temperature, turbidity and organic matter content. The presence of TBT in the Bahía Blanca estuary could be considered, in a global way, as ʹoldʹ pollution. Moreover, this compound seems to be under a general degradation process, which could be accelerated by the presence of large amounts of phytoplanctonic biomass, typical of this area. Finally, other additional sources of DBT and MBT seem to contribute to the total amount of these pollutants in the estuary, beyond the amounts derived of the TBT degradation. Sources such as domestic wastes, sewage sludges, industrial efluents (related to the PVC plant) and the lixiviation from water and drain pipes, could be pointed out as examples.

Η εργασία που ακολoυθεί εκπονήθηκε στα πλαίσια του μεταπτυχιακού προγράμματος σπουδών "Φαρμακευτικό Μάρκετινγκ", του τμήματος Φαρμακευτικής του Πανεπιστήμιου Πατρών, κατά την ακαδημαϊκή περίοδο σπουδών 2009-2011. Σκοπός της έρευνας ήταν να γίνει μια εκτίμηση της κατάστασης στο χώρο της αγοράς των μη υποχρεωτικώς συνταγογραφούμενων φαρμάκων, έχοντας υπόψη τις διαφημιστικές στρατηγικές που εφαρμόζονται από τις φαρμακευτικές εταιρίες, καθώς επίσης και άλλων προϊόντων που διατίθενται από τα φαρμακεία. Στα προϊόντα αυτά περιλαμβάνονται συμπληρώματα διατροφής, υποκατάστατα νικοτίνης για τη ρύθμιση της διάθεσης για κάπνισμα, προϊόντα για το αδυνάτισμα, προϊόντα στοματικής υγιεινής, κρέμες για αντηλιακή προστασία, για αντιγήρανση και ενυδάτωση κ.ά. Για την πραγματοποίηση της παρούσας μελέτης συλλέχτηκαν οι τηλεοπτικές διαφημίσεις των προϊόντων αυτών είτε από τις διαφημιστικές εταιρείες είτε από το διαδίκτυο προκειμένου να αναλυθούν. Τα διαφημιστικά που αναλύσαμε ήταν 78 και τα δεδομένα που προέκυψαν αναλύθηκαν με τη βοήθεια του στατιστικού προγράμματος SPSS. Πραγματοποιήσαμε ανάλυση παραγόντων (factor analysis) από την οποία προέκυψαν 14 διαφορετικά προφίλ διαφημίσεων. Τα ερευνητικά συμπεράσματα υποδεικνύουν πως στις διαφημίσεις χρησιμοποιούνται σε υψηλό ποσοστό πληροφοριακά στοιχεία (ποιότητα, απόδοση και συστατικά μέρη/στοιχεία) καθώς επίσης και πληθώρα διαφημιστικών εκτελεστικών στυλ με κυρίαρχα: το κομμάτι της καθημερινότητας, φαντασία/όνειρο και διάθεση/εικόνα. / The following research was acomplished for the Master Program "Pharmaceutical Marketing" during the academic year 2009-2011. The purpose of this study is to conduct a content analysis of the advertisements of OTC products. The advertisements contain food supplements, NRT, diet products as well as dental hygiene products. In order to perform the content analysis, 78 television ads were collected and then analysed using SPSS. From the factor analysis that we performed we came up with 14 different kinds (profiles)of advertisments. The main conclusions dictate that in OTC advertisments are extensively used informational clues regarding the quality, the performance and the parts of its product. Moreover, a variety of advertising executive styles are also used, such as slice of life and fantasy dream.

Aging population is becoming the potential social and economic problem for many governments all around the world. These countries including Taiwan are seeking for solutions for the increased healthcare spending. According to the United Nations’ population estimates, we are living in a rapidly aging world. The global share of what we call “senior” or people age over 65 is expected to rise from nearly 8% in 2015 to more than 14% by 2050. The situation in Taiwan is not much different. With increasing life expectancy and a birth rate that continues to decline, the aging population in Taiwan has become more and more obvious. Widespread adoption of Generic and Biosimilar drugs, as opposed to patented or brand name drugs, could help governments reduce healthcare costs and increase the reach of healthcare services. Patented drugs in the prescription drugs segment account for about 70% of total prescription spending in Taiwan. However, the share is set to decline gradually under pressure from government policies promoting the use of generic products and the increasing switches from prescription segment to OTC segment (RX-to-OTC). We expect the penetration of generic drugs in Taiwan OTC drugs segment to increase as the generic drug market has continued to gain prominence within the pharmaceutical sectors in recent years. Despite the fact that OTC generic drug market is a highly competitive market in Taiwan, Genedex Co. still aims to provide good quality generic drugs at a competitive price to meet the generic drugs demands. In addition, Genedex Co. understands the ability to quickly bring new products to the market will play a large role in the future success. Thus, product innovation and differentiation will also be the center focus in the business model. Looking into the future, Genedex Co. expects to see growth at a more rapid pace starting from year 2020 as newly developed generic OTC drugs will be introduced to the market to compete with the branded counterparts and also expects to achieve a more solid presence in the market by year 2021.

This thesis addresses the current, ever-developing framework of rules governing trading in the most widespread financial instrument - OTC derivatives. The main objective of the thesis is to analyse the current state of the regulation of trading in OTC derivatives within the EU - namely, the EMIR Regulation. Subsequently, it examines whether the legal framework has been set up properly and effectively, and explores what steps should be taken in the near future in order to improve it. Given that the subject of this thesis is much more of an economic than a legal nature, its first part introduces OTC derivatives as a concept, and the specifics of trading in them. The second part examines the status of OTC derivatives within the financial market over time, starting from their modern-day beginnings in the 1990s, through their role in the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, to the current issues related to them. The main part of the thesis is devoted to the EMIR Regulation, its scope of application, and in particular the three main obligations which EMIR introduces in relation to OTC derivatives. These comprise, firstly, the obligation to perform a central clearing through central counterparties; secondly, the obligation to observe specific risk mitigation techniques for OTC derivative contracts...

Contexte : Il y a très peu de données sur l’utilisation et la sécurité CV du paracétamol et des AINS à faible dose en l’automédication. Objectifs : établir les caractéristiques des utilisateurs, évaluer et comparer le risque de syndrome coronarien aigu (SCA), associé au paracétamol (P) et à l'ibuprofène à dose antalgique (IDA). Méthodes : Études d'utilisation, études de cohorte auto-contrôlées (self-controlled cohort - SCC), étude de cohorte appariée sur le score de propension et étude cas-témoin nichée (CTN) ont été réalisé dans l’Echantillon Généraliste Bénéficiaires (EGB) en incluant les épisodes de traitement d’IDA et de P chez les adultes entre 2009 et 2014. Des risques de SCA ont été estimés par les rapports de taux d'événement (RTE) ou les hazard ratios (HRs) avec l’IC à 95%. Résultats : L’utilisation d’OSI et de P concerne surtout des jeunes pour des courtes durées de traitement. Les études SCC ont inclu 316265 et 1025877 épisodes d’IDA et P respectivement chez 168407 et 342494 utilisateurs. Chez les utilisateurs d'aspirine à faible dose (AFD) (3,5% et 5,3% des épisodes d’IDA et de P), le risque de SCA a augmenté après la dispensation d’IDA (RTE 1,52 [1.07 à 2.16]) mais diminué après la dispensation de P (HR 0,39 [0,32 à 0,47]). Chez les non-utilisateurs d’AFD (96,5% d’IDA et 94,7% de P), le risque de SCA n’a augmenté qu’après P (1,32 [1,16 à 1,49]). Dans l'étude de cohorte appariée (age moyen 45 ans), il n'y avait pas de différence entre le P et l’IDA sur la durée totale du suivi (HR 0,97 [0,71 à 1,32]), en dépit d'une augmentation plus élevée avec l’IDA dans les 2 premières semaines (1,75 [1,08 à 2,82]). Dans l'étude CTN (age moyen 67), le risque n’a augmenté qu’avec P, pas avec l’IDA (P : 1,36 [1,23 à 1,50]; IDA : 1,16 [0,78 à 1,72]). 11. Conclusion : Le risque de SCA associé à l’IDA ou au P varie en fonction du statut d’utilisation d’AFD et de l'âge. Pour l’IDA, le risque n'a augmenté que chez les utilisateurs d’AFD. Au contraire, pour P, le risque a augmenté seulement chez les non-utilisateurs d’AFD. Chez les jeunes non-utilisateurs d’AFD, il n'y avait pas de différence entre l’IDA et le P (étude de cohorte apparié). Chez les patients âgés (étude CTN), P semble être associé à un risque plus élevé. / Background : There is little data about the CV safety of Paracetamol (P) and OTC NSAIDs. Objectives : Describe usage patterns, to evaluate and compare the risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) associated with P and OTC-Strength ibuprofen (OSI). Methods : Drug utilisation, self-controlled cohort (SCC), propensity score- (PS) matched cohort, nested case-control (NCC) studies were conducted in the Echantillon Généraliste Bénéficiaires (EGB). Studies included P and OSI treatment episodes in adults in 2009-2014. Risks were quantified by event rate ratios (ERRs) or hazard ratio (HRs) with 95% CI. Results : Use of OSI and P concerning mostly young persons for short durations. The SCC studies included 316265 OSI and 1025877 P episodes in 168407 and 342494 users. In low-dose aspirin (LDA) users (3.5% OSI and 5% P episodes), ACS risk increased after OSI dispensing (ERR 1.52 [1.07-2.16]) but decreased after P (HR 0.39 [0.32-0.47]). In LDA nonusers, ACS risk increased after P (1.32 [1.16-1.49]), but not after OSI (1.22 [0.63-2.36]). In the PS-matched study (mean age 45), there was no difference between P and OSI over the total follow-up (HR 0.97 [0.71-1.32]), despite a higher increase with OSI in the first 2 weeks (1.75 [1.08-2.82]). In the NCC study (mean age 67), the risk increased with P but not with OSI (P: 1.36 [1.23-1.50]; OSI: 1.16 [0.78-1.72]). Conclusion : ACS risk associated with OSI or P vary according to LDA use and age. For OSI, ACS risk increased only in LDA users. Conversely, for P, ACS risk increased only in LDA nonusers. In young LDA 9 nonusers, there was no difference between OSI and P (PS-matched study). In older patients (NCC study), P appeared to be associated with a higher risk.

The uppermost goal of this diploma thesis is aimed at identification and evaluation of the current trends in one of the largest segments of financial markets. Special attention has been devoted to the regulatory changes, which have not been completely implemented in all major jurisdictions so far. The introductory part deals with the nowadays situation and explanation of post-crisis measures leading to a higher level of transparency and system stability. The following chapters analyze the key elements contributing to specific trends whereby those findings are based on research studies published by the world leading universities and central banks. The author also observes alternative functional concepts in the market and potential impacts affecting real transactions. The final portion has been dedicated to analysis of practical implications in terms of increased costs related to the trades and possible prospective outlook of the OTC derivatives market. The whole text is accompanied by authors personal reflections and comparison between the most important trading regions in respect to the value of underlying assets.