In line with the boundless working life, it has become increasingly difficult to create a balance between working life and personal life. The Swedish expression “life-puzzle” and how we are able to create enough time has become a central part of the public debate. This essay will focus on what it means for cohabiting couples with children to make the life-puzzle come together and what happens when it does not. The purpose of this study is to understand the couples conceptions of the life-puzzle with regard to equality, gender contracts, negotiations and strategies and how this can be understood through a gender perspective. Significant questions are how the couples mean they are dealing with the conflicts of getting the life-puzzle together and what negotiations and strategies appear in their statements and how they express gender. Previous research on aspects considering the life-puzzle has shown that it is primarily women with infants who take the greatest responsibility at home and usually perform double work. Most of the research done on work-life balance lacks the gender aspect we are interested in, why we include relevant gender studies. This study, based on qualitative interviews, illustrates family strategies and negotiations and shows that there are unspoken gender contracts based on gender roles in the allocation of responsibilities and tasks. The study also shows that the problem of the life-puzzle is complex and that many different aspects need to be weighed in in order to create a full understanding.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Economia, 2011. / Submitted by Shayane Marques Zica (marquacizh@uol.com.br) on 2011-09-12T20:34:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoCaldasGonçalves.pdf: 805939 bytes, checksum: 362aab0bea917f3c353b5ea5c9f18b29 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUCIANA SETUBAL MARQUES DA SILVA(lucianasetubal@bce.unb.br) on 2011-09-20T15:04:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoCaldasGonçalves.pdf: 805939 bytes, checksum: 362aab0bea917f3c353b5ea5c9f18b29 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-09-20T15:04:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoCaldasGonçalves.pdf: 805939 bytes, checksum: 362aab0bea917f3c353b5ea5c9f18b29 (MD5) / Este trabalho aborda o modelo de precificação do CDS de emissões soberanas, proposto por Remolona in ‘A Ratings Based Approach to Measuring Sovereign Risk’ (International Journal of Finance and Economics, vol. 13, issue 1, 26-39) como forma de evidenciar parcelas do risco soberano não amparadas pela perda esperada, calculada de acordo com o rating soberano dos emissores, originando o que a literatura acadêmica chama de Credit Spread Puzzle. Foi avaliado o modelo para CDS com maturidades de 2, 3, 5, 7 e 10 anos, para grupos de 7 e 8 países emergentes, incluindo-se sempre o Brasil, considerando os períodos entre janeiro de 2002 e junho de 2006, e janeiro de 2002 e junho de 2010, utilizando para tal regressões em painel. Complementarmente, foram realizadas regressões lineares individuais pelo método OLS de 12 países, sendo 10 emergentes e 2 da zona do Euro que atualmente enfrentam problemas em relação à gestão de suas dívidas externas. Foi também avaliado o comportamento do indicador de Volatilidade VIX, elaborado pela Chicago Board of Options Exchange, e as implicações que possui na formação do CDS. Com base em dados de expectativas de perdas de todos os países, calculado com base no rating individual divulgado pela agência de classificação de Risco Moody’s, e nos CDS dos diversos países analisados, foi calculada individualmente a parcela de prêmio decorrente de perdas inesperadas, ou prêmio de risco, e feita análise comparativa com o prêmio de risco brasileiro. Os resultados mostraram que o modelo proposto por Remolona sofreu forte influência da crise subprime ocorrida entre 2008 e 2009, o que mudou os parâmetros dos coeficientes da regressão em painel, sem, no entanto, invalidar o modelo. Foi constatado que existem restrições para aplicação do modelo aos CDS individualmente, não sendo confiável sua utilização sem adaptações. Foi constatada a existência de autocorrelação de resíduos, demonstrando que existem fatores que não foram incluídos na modelagem. Em relação à análise de prêmios, constatou-se que o Brasil, se comparado aos demais países avaliados, vem apresentando significativas melhoras na taxa de CDS, além de ter apresentado perdas menores em razão da crise do subprime, principalmente nas maturidades de 2, 3 e 5 anos, indicando uma incompatibilidade entre as perdas esperadas, e consequentemente a classificação de risco atribuída, e a precificação feita pelo mercado, sendo que muitas vezes a última apresentou valor inferior à precificação esperada. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / This paper discusses the model for pricing sovereign CDS emissions proposed by Remolona in 'A Ratings Based Approach to Measuring Sovereign Risk' (International Journal of Finance and Economics, vol. 13, issue 1, 26-39) as a way of showing portions of sovereign risk is not supported by the expected loss calculated in accordance with the sovereign rating of the issuers, resulting in what the academic literature calls the Credit Spread Puzzle. We evaluated the model for CDS with maturities of 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, for groups of 7 and 8 developing countries, always including Brazil, considering the periods between January 2002 and June 2006 and January 2002 and June 2010, using such panel regressions. In addition, individual linear regressions were performed by OLS from 12 countries, 10 emerging and 2 of the Eurozone which currently face problems in relation to the management of foreign debts. It was also rated the behavior of the VIX volatility indicator, developed by the Chicago Board of Options Exchange, and the implications it has on the formation of the CDS. Based on data from expected losses of all countries, calculated on the basis of individual rating issued by rating agency Moody's, and the CDS of the analyzed countries, was calculated individually to share premium arising from unexpected losses, or premium risk, and made comparison with the Brazilian risk premium. The results showed that the model proposed by Remolona was strongly influenced by the subprime crisis that occurred between 2008 and 2009, which changed the parameters of the regression coefficients in the panel, without, however, invalidate the model. It was noted that restrictions apply to individual CDS, its use is not reliable without adaptations. It has been found the existence of autocorrelation of residues, demonstrating that there are factors that were not included in the modeling. On the analysis of premiums, it was found that Brazil, as compared to other countries evaluated, has shown significant improvements in the rate of CDS, and also presented lower losses due to subprime crisis, primarily with maturities of 2, 3 and 5 years, indicating a mismatch between the expected losses, and consequently the risk ratings assigned, and pricing by the market, and often the latter showed a value below the expected pricing.

Submitted by Regis Baratti Lima Salgado (regiss@fgvmail.br) on 2012-10-09T13:30:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRegisBarattiLSalgado_VFim.pdf: 861409 bytes, checksum: 48cbf91a3e1e3ed3d3c91940bfde85ac (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2012-10-22T19:15:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRegisBarattiLSalgado_VFim.pdf: 861409 bytes, checksum: 48cbf91a3e1e3ed3d3c91940bfde85ac (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-23T18:23:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRegisBarattiLSalgado_VFim.pdf: 861409 bytes, checksum: 48cbf91a3e1e3ed3d3c91940bfde85ac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-22 / This thesis extend the theoretical dominance of annuities over non-contingent discount notes; under standard assumptions, we show that full annuitization is optimal even in incomplete annuity markets. Through numerical simulations, we scrutinize factors a ecting annuitization decision, consolidating and extending previous research by taking into account unfair prices, bequest motives, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. We also take into consideration the insurer's risk of default, and relax an implicit assumption in most past models and detach annuitization from retirement, i.e.: we do not presume that consumers are already retired from work when they decide whether or not to annuitize. In line with previous literature, our results originate very high levels of annuitization. Yet, we show that the demand for annuities drops sharply, if preferences are such that the implied optimal consumption path decays with age. We also show that optimal annuitization timing is closely related to the endowments pattern. / A inconsistência entre a teoria e o comportamento empírico dos agentes no que tange ao mercado privado de pensões tem se mostrado um dos mais resistentes puzzles presentes na literatura econômica. Em modelos de otimização intertemporal de consumo e poupança sob incerteza em relação ao tempo de vida dos agentes, anuidades são ativos dominantes, anulando ou restringindo fortemente a demanda por ativos cujos retornos não estão relacionados à probabilidade de sobrevivência. Na prática, entretanto, consumidores são extremamente céticos em relação às anuidades. Em oposição ao seguro contra longevidade oferecido pelas anuidades, direitos sobre esses ativos - essencialmente ilíquidos - cessam no caso de morte do titular. Nesse sentido, choques não seguráveis de liquidez e a presença de bequest motives foram consideravelmente explorados como possíveis determinantes da baixa demanda verificada. Apesar dos esforços, o puzzle persiste. Este trabalho amplia a dominância teórica das anuidades sobre ativos não contingentes em mercados incompletos; total na ausência de bequest motives, e parcial, quando os agentes se preocupam com possíveis herdeiros. Em linha com a literatura, simulações numéricas atestam que uma parcela considerável do portfolio ótimo dos agentes seria constituída de anuidades mesmo diante de choques de liquidez, bequest motives, e preços não atuarialmente justos. Em relação a um aspecto relativamente negligenciado pela academia, mostramos que o tempo ótimo de conversão de poupança em anuidades está diretamente relacionado à curva salarial dos agentes. Finalmente, indicamos que, caso as preferências dos agentes sejam tais que o nível de consumo ótimo decaia com a idade, a demanda por anuidades torna-se bastante sensível ao sobrepreço (em relação àquele atuarialmente justo) praticado pela indústria, chegando a níveis bem mais compatíveis com a realidade empírica.

This report presents three implementations for solving 3D puzzles of fractured bones: two semi-automatic ones and one which is automatic. These are compared using qualitative as well as quantitative tests to find out if less interaction can yield equal or better results. Qualitative tests are performed on real clinical data from CT-scans. A model created in Blender is used for quantitative tests. Test results have shown that each implementation has its own strengths and weaknesses which can make them usable for different types of fractures. It may be possible to combine automatic solutions and manual ones to increase the number of solvable cases. The conclusion is that it is possible to reduce fractures with less user interaction and still get equal or better results, but it depends on the fracture case as well as the user.

This submission falls into two sections: a thesis and a screenplay. My thesis presents an original approach to screenwriting using storytelling dynamics found in film editing; I call this “writing-for-the-cut”. This section also contains my software experiments that hold the promise of innovative digital tools for screenwriters. In the second section I apply both my editing strategy and my software experiments in the production of an original screenplay called Rush the Sky. In the history of the screenplay, the advent of the master scene format, which gained fairly wide circulation from the early 1950s (Price 11), marked a moment of separation of the screenwriter from the film production process. Up to this point most screenwriters worked closely with studios and were steeped in the contiguous crafts of filming and editing. But the master scene format freed the script from all references to the ‘factory’ and in so doing fundamentally transformed film writing culture; now a new generation of largely non-specialists were writing for the big screen. To fill the ‘film school’ void occasioned by the loss of studio apprenticeships and mentoring, a lively market in guru screenwriting manuals emerged, particularly from around the 1970s. Taking their cue from the ‘no camera angles’ injunction on screenplays, the manual-writers tended to delineate the territory of screenwriting as a craft detached from production; in this way manual-readers have been discouraged from any serious consideration of the follow-on crafts (filming and editing) as potential modifiers of the screenplay. The perhaps unintended consequence has been that ‘manual culture’ has come to foster a view of film as a finished, projected product: we are ‘writing for cinema’. I propose an alternative strategy: the edit suite, not the cinema, is the real destination for our screenplay. This is a view of film as a constructed product: we are ‘writing for the cut’. This idea finds its roots in the lively theories and debates advanced by the early Soviet filmmakers such as Lev Kuleshov and Sergei Eisenstein in the 1910s and 1920s. For them, as Pudovkin declared “The foundation of film art is editing” (Pudovkin xiii). They viewed editing as a juxtapositional dynamic, one that engaged the inductive capacities of the audience to ‘discover’ the story. From this Hegelian notion of juxtaposition to its more nuanced application today, I identify three kinds of editorial juxtaposition that are essential to cinematic storytelling: poetry, puzzle, and kinesis. I suggest that these juxtapositions are interrelated and on axes of intensity: Poetry to Prose, Puzzle to Exposition, and Kinesis to Stasis. Finally, I identify how each of these editing terms can be adapted for use by screenwriters. In the second part of this submission, Rush the Sky is a demonstration of how the techniques of writing-for-the-cut can be applied in practice. This is a fast moving thriller in the style of British Indie films such as Trainspotting (wr: John Hodge dir: Danny Boyle1996), Sexy Beast (wrs: Louis Mellis, David Scinto dir: Johanthan Glazer 2000), and Dead Man’s Shoes (wrs: Paddy Considine, Shane Meadows dir: Shane Meadows 2004). Rush the Sky tells the story of two adrenaline-addicted lovers: Ella and Luke. Luke is a young base-jumper who has witnessed a gangland murder. Desperate to escape the mob and the police, he climbs a high mast and base-jumps into a storm cloud. Struck by lightning, he falls to earth in a coma. Ella joins forces with Luke’s feral brother Jared and together they ‘rescue’ Luke from hospital and attempt to wake him up. Rush the Sky is a non-linear story that interweaves a present-day road movie with a darkly euphoric backstory. Some of the specific editing figures I employ include parallel action, ‘split-edit’, non-linear shuffle, scene-scripted montage, and ellipsis. In the development of the treatment, I devised a hybrid writing-editing interface that allowed me to ‘mount’ and sequence the beats of my story. This is a kinetic environment where the beats are displayed as text, proxy images and film clips. In this way the familiar write/read/revise process of screenwriting moved closer to the play/watch/edit process of the cutting room. I strongly believe this approach could herald a fresh way of both composing a screenplay and ‘proving’ the cinema-worthiness of the story before filming commences.

This paper researches how players with different experiences in games can learn and experience a tutorial. The purpose of this study is to get a better understanding about the practical application of a tutorial and how it needs to be adjusted for different kinds of audiences for them to be able to learn and understand the game. This qualitative study was conducted with 12 participants, six men and six women, who played through a tutorial in a First-Person Puzzle Platform game. The study showed that people with different experiences learn and experience very differently from one another and that the tutorial should be adjusted so that the targeted audience can understand, control and play as they wish. / I denna studie undersöks hur spelare med olika erfarenheter av spel upplever och lär sig av en tutorial. Syftet med studien är att få ökad förståelse om praktisk tillämpning av en tutorial och hur den kan behöva anpassas för olika målgrupper för att de ska kunna lära sig och förstå spelet. Den här kvalitativa studien utfördes med 12 deltagare, varav sex var män och sex var kvinnor som fick spela igenom en tutorial i ett Första-Persons Pussel Plattforms spel. Studien visade att personer med olika erfarenheter upplever och lär sig väldigt olika från varandra och att tutorialen måste vara anpassad så att den riktade spelpubliken kan förstå, kontrollera och att spela som de vill.

Understanding the Equity Risk Premium (ERP) and the factors affecting it is cardinal to financial economics, particularly to equity research analysts, domestic and international institutional investors and financial economist. Since the seminal work of Mehra and Prescott (1985) there has been an exponential rise in the research explaining the reasons for ERP puzzle. This review, systematically, investigates the literature related to ERP in four key dimensions. The first dimension is regarding the issues related to different techniques of estimating the ERP. The second dimension is regarding the studies that explain the reasons of existence of the ERP puzzle by making modifications to the preference structures. The third is regarding the macroeconomic variables that help in predicting ERP and the fourth deals with studies that are conducted in the international context. In addition to this, this review meticulously captures some important limitations of the existing literature regarding the estimation of ERP and identifies the domestic and international determinants of ERP, in particular the UK ERP and proposes novel future directions of research. These future research directions have two important implications for my PhD. The first is the academic contribution that predominantly comes from methodological contribution of estimating the ERP. The second is the practical contribution that comes mainly from identifying the unique set of variables (UK domestic and international), which are of prime importance to the domestic and foreign institutional investors because of the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and which should affect the UK ERP.

No description available.

The main goal of the paper is to find out whether homeownership can have detrimental effect on employment in the Czech Republic. The Oswalds conjecture is tested on the set of panel data across Czech regions between the years of 2005--2012. By testing model similar to the Oswald's I receive the similar result that the rate of homeownership leads to higher rate of unemployment in following years. The second model tested in the paper does not support previous findings that regional rate of homeownership has negative effect on individual's probability of being unemployed. Possible refinements to the model are presented as inspiration for further research.

This master's thesis deals with informed search algorithms. It's theoretical section summarizes basic theoretical ideas and terms which are related to this topic. It means especially discrete mathematics, graph theory, artificial intelligence and agent systems. Cardinal aim of this section is to provide theoretical analysis of search algorithms and to classify them into informed and uninformed classes. Theoretical section describes basic search strategies such as breadth first search, deep first search and modifications of these strategies, then it is focused on informed search algorithms, specifically A* (A-Star), IDA* (Iterative Deepening A-Star) and SMA* (Simplified Memory bounded A-star). It also describes topics related to informed search strategies -- heuristic functions and problem relaxation method. Given algorithms are analyzed in order to compare their time and space complexity. Main goal of practical part of this thesis is to design and implement software application, which will use informed and uninformed search strategies described in theoretical section. This application is intended to solve fifteen puzzle problem, so-called Lloyds fifteen puzzle game. First part of practical section analyses fifteen puzzle from mathematical and informatical perspective, then it examines possible implementation variants of algorithms and heuristics and proposes design of the application. Description of main interfaces and classes of the realized application follows. At the end of this section the analysis of informed algorithms and heuristics is performed using the implemented application and obtained results are compared to theoretical characteristics of these algorithms.