[pt] A presente dissertação traz como tema central o processo de implantação do principal serviço de atenção à saúde voltado para os servidores da administração pública federal, o Subsistema Integrado de Atenção à Saúde do Servidor (SIASS), tendo como referência o paradigma da Saúde do Trabalhador. O estudo se voltou para o processo de implantação de uma unidade do SIASS em uma instituição federal de ensino localizada no Rio de Janeiro, procurando cotejá-lo com a análise das legislações que estruturam o SIASS e a Política de Atenção à Saúde do Servidor (PASS). Como forma de subsidiar esta análise também foram utilizados dados coletados do Sistema de Informações de Saúde e Segurança do portal do SIASS, pertencente ao Sistema Integrado de Administração de Pessoal (SIAPE), da unidade da instituição pesquisada no período que contempla os anos de 2016 a 2019, com o devido preenchimento do Termo de Solicitação de Relatórios de Pesquisas Gerenciais do SIAPE-Saúde. As principais reflexões obtidas mostram que há desigualdades no que se refere à efetivação de ações que devem ser contempladas pelo SIASS, com grande ênfase na realização de atos periciais em detrimento dos outros dois eixos previstos no decreto de criação do SIASS: a assistência à saúde do servidor público e a promoção e vigilância à saúde dos servidores. Observou-se também dificuldades de registros de ações em saúde no sistema informacional constituindo-se ainda como um desafio para o serviço público federal a elaboração de um boletim epidemiológico, de âmbito nacional, que contemple as informações referentes à saúde dos servidores públicos federais. / [en] This dissertation brings as its central theme the main health care service aimed at public servants of the federal public administration implementation process, the Civil Servant Health Care Integrated Subsystem (SIASS), having as reference the Worker s Health paradigm. The study focused on a federal educational institution inserted SIASS unit implementation process, located in Rio de Janeiro, seeking a SIASS structuring laws and the Civil Servant Health Care Policy (PASS) analysis collation. As a way of supporting this analysis, data were collected from the Health and Safety Information System of the SIASS portal, appertaining to the Personnel Administration Integrated System (SIAPE), of the institution unit studied in the period that encompasses the years from 2016 to 2019, with the due SIAPE-Health Management Research Report Request Term filling. The main reflections obtained show that there are inequalities regarding the actualization of actions that should be contemplated by SIASS, with a great emphasis on personal expertise acts over the two other axes foreseen on the SIASS creation decree: the civil servant health care and the civil servant health promotion and alertness. Difficulties in registering health actions in the information system were also noticed, still posing the elaboration of a national epidemiological bulletin, which includes information related to the health of federal civil servants, as a challenge to the federal public service.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / Construction of by-pass lanes at rural intersections typically has been considered a low-cost safety improvement. Safety analysis utilizes two common approaches to evaluate treatment effectiveness: before-and-after study and cross-sectional study. This research performed paired sample t-test statistical analysis to estimate changes in total of crash frequency, crash rates, EPDO crash frequency, and EPDO crash rates at intersections, three to five years after adding a by-pass lane compared to identical time period before the by-pass lane was added. Crash data between 1990 and 2011 were obtained from Kansas Crash and Analysis Record System (KCARS) maintained by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). In order to perform a cross-sectional study, intersections with by-pass lanes were compared to intersections with no countermeasures; crash data were obtained for more than 1,100 intersections in the state of Kansas. According to before-and-after study, addition of by-pass lanes improves safety at unsignalized rural intersections; crashes and their severities are reduced after adding by-pass lanes. But, these reductions are not statistically significant under 95% confidence level. However, when considering intersection related crashes, a statistically significant reduction in crash rates is happened after adding by-pass lanes at 3-legged intersections. In cross-sectional study, crashes and their severities are lower at 3-legged intersections with the by-pass lanes versus 3-legged intersections without the by-pass lanes. However, these reductions are not statistically significant under 95% confidence level. When considering 300 feet intersection crash box, statistically significant reductions are happened at 4-legged intersection. In contrast, crashes and their severities increased at 4-legged intersections with the by-pass lanes, but these changes are not statistically significant under 95% confidence level. The Crash Modification Factors were calculated to evaluate safety effectiveness of adding by-pass lanes at unsignalized rural intersections. The calculated CMFs less than 1.0, indicate a reduction in crashes after implementation of by-pass lanes. Finally, this study concluded that expected crashes at intersections with by-pass lanes are lower than intersections without by-pass lanes.

The sluggish development of corporate lending has remained the central concern of EU monetary policy makers as it is considered to hinder seriously the resurgence of growth. This paper looks at the development of loans to large corporations vs SMEs in the pre-crisis and post-crisis period and wishes to answer: (i) to which extent do allocated loan volumes actually contribute to Output growth? (ii) which factors determine the development of loans, considering above all loan interest rates? and (iii) what causes differences in loan interest levels across the EA? The results indicate that different loan developments in the EA explain very well differences in output development, loans to SMEs contribute even more to output growth than those for large corporations. Loan development itself is negatively influenced by the interest level which differs significantly across EA members, with small loans in addition always being charged an interest premium over large loans. The capitalization of banks, the size of banks and their internationalization play a role as well. A part of the sluggish growth of loans can be explained by the increasing use of alternative financial instruments by large firms. Interest rates in turn are following the ECB interest rate, - but this link has become looser in the post-crisis period, and long term government bond rates. Different risks faced by banks and different bank structures have become important explanatories of interest rates in the post-crisis period. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays in International Trade, Exchange Rates and Prices. Although independent, these essays share some common themes. The first two papers can be related to the vast literature on exchange rate pass-through to prices. While the first paper uses firm-product level data from Sweden to study firms’ export price response to movements in exchange rate, the second paper employs aggregate level data from Ethiopia and looks at the issue from the importers’ perspective. The third paper, like the first paper, uses Swedish firm-level data and investigates firms’ exporting behavior. The third paper, however, specifically focuses on export margins of multi-product firms and studies their response when exporting to destinations of different size and distance from the home country. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis examines the exchange rate pass-through into consumer prices in Central and Eastern Europe. The study is based on quarterly data of 12 countries from 2003 to 2013. Estimations are conducted using heterogeneous panel cointegration methods, namely the mean group and the pooled mean group estimators. Fixed effects are used as a reference. The thesis provides short- run and long-run estimates of the exchange rate pass-through for the individual countries and for the region as a whole. Based on the results, we conclude that the exchange rate pass-through is highly variable across Central and Eastern Europe. We find that there is no clear distinction between the pass-through rates in euro area countries, EU countries not using the euro and non- EU countries. Further, we find that the generally accepted concept of higher exchange rate pass- though in developing countries does not hold in this region. JEL Classification C23, E31, E52, F31 Keywords exchange rate pass-through, pooled mean group, mean group, heterogeneous panel cointegration Author's e-mail bara.mirkova@centrum.cz Supervisor's e-mail roman.horvath@gmail.com

Multi-pass fusion welding by a filler wire (welding electrode) is normally carried out to join thick steel sections used in most engineering applications. Welded joints in an installation, is the area of critical importance, since they are likely to contain a higher density of defects than the parent metal and their physical properties can differ significantly from the parent metal. Fusion arc welding process relies on intense local heating at a joint where a certain amount of the parent metal is melted and fused with additional metal from the filler wire. The intense local heating causes severe transient thermal gradients in the welded component and the resulting uneven cooling that follows produces a variably distributed residual stress field. In multi-pass welds, multiple thermal cycles resulted in a variably distribution of residual stress field across the weld and through the thickness. These complex thermal stresses generated in welds are undesirable but inevitable during fusion welding. Presence of such tensile residual stresses can be detrimental to the service integrity of a welded structure. In addition to a complex distribution of residual stress state, multi-pass welds also forms dendritic grain structure, which are repeatedly heated, resulting in segregation of alloying elements. Dendritic grain structure is weaker and segregation of alloying elements would result in formation of corrosion microcells as well as reduction in overall corrosion prevention due to depletion of alloying elements.

A 3-D numerical model of the Head of Passes and Bird’s Foot Delta of the Mississippi River- was developed. The model was based on Delft3D and simulates the hydrodynamics and salinity transport for Head of Passes area from RM 6.5 to Gulf of Mexico. The model was calibrated, validated, and used to predict the response of the river to certain stimuli, such as - channel closures, channel modifications and diversions. The model includes West Bay, Southwest Pass, South Pass, Pass-A-Loutre and Main Pass. Three basic cases were developed: existing conditions, closure of Southwest Pass with a levee of 1.5m with dredging of Pass-A-Loutre to 13.7 meter depth, and closure of Southwest Pass and South Pass with dredging of Pass-A-Loutre to 13.7 meter (45 ft) depth. Salinity has been added to the model. It has been proved that salinity intrusion has a significant impact on the model instantaneous discharge. For all passes except Southwest Pass instantaneous discharge decreases almost in half. Closure of Southwest Pass and dredging of Pass-A-Loutre leads to changes in flow speed and distribution. As a result Pass-A-Loutre becomes a main River channel.

Sexual abstinence has become the primary response to prevention against sexually transmitted infection (STI) and unplanned pregnancies amongst young people. However, not much is known about the perceptions of young men on sexual abstinence. The central aim in this study was to explore the perceptions of sexual abstinence among young black males. The research aims to examine men’s understandings of their own sexuality and the way these might influence their decision on sexual abstinence. A total of 10 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with young men aged between 18 and 25 years, studying at The University of the Witwatersrand. All data collected were then qualitatively analysed through the use of thematic content analysis (TCA). Findings show that in constructing their masculinities participants predominantly endorsed discourses of male hegemony. At some instances the young men retracted to subjective alternative masculinities, although there was a stronger need to fit in with their peers, to protect themselves from being ridiculed or rejected. As such conforming to the hegemonic masculinity was expected. The young men constructed women as sexual objects and as a means towards affirming their masculinity. A key conclusion drawn was that some traditional notions of manhood still held sway, and these tied in strongly with how these participants constructed their masculinity and this influenced most of them to not sexually abstain.

Esta pesquisa propôs uma contribuição aos procedimentos de inspeção de pontes por meio de um plano de monitoramento de curta duração do comportamento dinâmico do tabuleiro de pontes rodoviárias de concreto com a utilização de receptores GPS de 100 Hz associado à diversas técnicas de filtragem de sinais. O estudo foi conduzido em uma ponte em serviço localizada na rodovia Fernão Dias (BR-381). O procedimento de inspeção proposto baseou-se no uso de dois sinais de satélites GPS, por meio da aplicação do Método Residual de Fase (MRF), e da análise temporal dos resíduos da dupla diferença de fase a partir da Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), Passa-Faixa Chebyshev do Tipo I. A descrição do comportamento dinâmico do tabuleiro do vão central da ponte se deu por meio da extração dos valores de frequência e amplitude das deflexões verticais a partir dos dados GPS filtrados (resíduos), em três períodos de amostragem de 1 minuto. Os valores de frequência variaram de 0,5 Hz a 8 Hz nos três períodos de amostragens e também nos filtros FFT, CWT e Passa-Faixa Chebyshev do Tipo I. Os valores de amplitude de deslocamento vertical máximo ficaram em torno de 6 mm. Estes valores coincidiram com os valores de frequência e amplitude de deslocamento vertical registrados pela instrumentação clássica com acelerômetros, transdutores de deslocamento vertical, modelagem por elementos finitos e prova de carga estática e dinâmica realizadas sobre tabuleiro do vão central da ponte instrumentado. Por fim, pode-se afirmar que os procedimentos propostos, além de poderem ser utilizados como uma etapa preliminar de inspeção de tabuleiro de pontes rígidas possibilitaram a detecção de deslocamentos dinâmicos verticais milimétricos e suas frequências de vibração. / This research proposed a contribution for bridge inspection procedures at of a short-term monitoring plan of the dynamic behavior of the concrete road bridge with the use of 100 Hz GPS receivers associated with various signal filtering techniques. The study was conducted in the service bridge located on the highway Fernão Dias (BR-381). The procedure inspection proposed was based on the use of two satellite GPS signals, by applying the Phase Residual Method (PRM), and the temporal analysis of the residuals of the double difference phase from the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), Type I Chebyshev Band-Pass. The dynamic behavior of the central span of the bridge was described by extracting the frequency and amplitude values of the vertical deflections from the filtered GPS data (residues), in three sampling periods of 1 minute. The frequency values found ranged from 0.5 Hz to 8 Hz in the three sampling periods as well as in the FFT, CWT and Chebyshev Type I Band-Pass filters. The maximum vertical displacement peak values were around 6 mm. These values coincided with the vertical displacement and amplitude values recorded by the classical instrumentation with accelerometers, vertical displacement transducers, finite element modeling and static and dynamic load test performed on the central span deck of the instrumented bridge. Finally, it could affirm that the procedures proposed, besides being able to be used as a preliminary step of inspection of the rigid bridge\'s deck enabled the detection of millimetric vertical dynamic displacements and their frequencies of vibration.

Esta pesquisa investiga o comportamento não-linear do pass-through de taxa de câmbio na economia brasileira, durante o período de câmbio flutuante (2000-2015), a partir de um modelo de equilíbrio geral dinâmico estocástico com mudança de regime Markoviana (MS-DSGE). Para isso, utilizamos a metodologia proposta por Baele et al. (2015) e um modelo Novo-Keynesiano básico, sobre o qual incluímos novos elementos na curva de oferta agregada e uma nova equação para a dinâmica cambial. Encontramos evidências de existência de dois regimes distintos para o repasse cambial e para a variância dos choques sobre a inflação. No regime denominado de “Normal”, o pass-through de longo prazo é estimado em 0.0092 pontos percentuais para inflação, dado um choque cambial de 1%, contra 0.1302 pontos percentuais no regime de “Crise”. A superioridade do modelo MS-DSGE sobre o modelo com parâmetros fixos é constatada de acordo com diversos critérios comparativos. / This research investigates the non-linearity of exchange rate pass-through on the Brazilian economy during the floating exchange rate period (2000-2015) in a Markov-switching dynamic stochastic general equilibrium framework (MS-DSGE). We apply methods proposed by Baele et al. (2015) in a basic New Keynesian model, with the addition of new elements to the aggregate supply curve and a new equation for the exchange rate dynamics. We find evidence of two distinct regimes for the exchange rate pass-through and for the volatility of shocks to inflation. During the regime named “Normal”, the long run pass-through is estimated as 0.0092 percent points to inflation, given a 1% exchange rate shock, in contrast to 0.1302 percent points during the “Crisis” regime. The MS-DSGE model appears superior to the fixed parameters model according to various comparison criteria.