The shift of media from traditional forms to new digital ones has raised the possibility of new kinds of media services, including mobile television. In today's communications market, mobile phones are of increasing importance to users and, since mobile devices are connected most of the time, they have a high degree of location independence. The availability of 3G technology and the mobile devices needed to implement mobile television are now established and available. Mobile television is expected to be an important new service that could penetrate the market place and provide new applications, as well as create a market for new players and new investments, if the appropriate price, content and philosophy for content design are found. This research explores the many potential application areas for mobile TV, with a particular focus on advertising. Various organisations that seek success in this market can utilise the potential for advertising on mobile TV. Ultimately, mobile device users are able to use mobile TV for entertainment and information sourcing. However, a number of challenging issues remain to be addressed. The features that appealed to the consumers were studied in this research. Surveys were conducted to obtain an understanding of consumers' opinions and needs regarding the mobile TV experience. Many users clearly do like to interact with video content on mobile devices. Interactive mobile TV advertising can benefit users who will be able to use an essentially 'free' mobile TV service, funded by an advertising model. This research proposes an environment for interactive advertising on mobile TV and discussion of an implementation of the proposed designs.

This thesis is dedicated to the potential of pharmaceutical industry targeting an increase in EU world competitiveness. Pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in world economy, both from the social and economic point of view. In particular, this thesis is focused on macroeconomic contribution of pharmaceutical industry into world economy emphasizing the situation of EU. Particularly, the thesis consists of evaluating the situation, importance and barriers of development of pharmaceutical industry in EU and it, also, points out the main directions towards positive development of this sector, including the international and national cooperation. Pharmaceutical industry is the key sector in the EU competitiveness increase.

Cette étude démontre l’évolution d’un outil spécifique devenu secteur : la micro finance. Véritable outil d’inclusion financière et de développement durable à destination des populations pauvres dans les pays en développement, sa croissance ainsi que sa maturation n’ont eu de cesse de révéler toute son importance à travers l’histoire. Ses institutions de micro finance, encadrées juridiquement dans la majorité des cas, par des statuts à parts, quasi- privé, constituent la représentation sur le terrain de ce secteur enclin à la transformation. La micro finance s’est frayée un chemin dans l’univers du secteur bancaire classique. La diversité de ses activités, la spécificité de ces réglementations et encore la technicité de sa mise en œuvre, prouve à quel point la micro finance produit d’incontestable effets sur la réduction de la pauvreté et par voie de conséquence sur le développement des Etats les plus pauvres. Malgré une certaine réponse aux objectifs du millénaire, la situation de pauvreté reste préoccupante mettant en exergue le besoin d’un réel cadre juridique général contraignant, inexistant au jour d’aujourd’hui. En effet, un tel cadre permettrait de résoudre la majorité des disfonctionnements de la micro finance et de relever une grande partie des défis qui se présentent à elle, pour faire fleurir une efficacité incontestable du mécanisme de développement. / This study shows the evolution of a sector become specific: microfinance. Real key tool for financial inclusion to poor population in developing countries, its growth and maturation, historicly and constantly reveal its importanceMicro finance institutions’ (MFIs), legally framed by statutes, almost private, are the field representation of this sector prone to transformation. Microfinance has pioneered in the traditional banking sector universe. Diversity of its activities, specificity of these regulations and still technicality of its implementation, shows how microfinance product undeniable effects on reduction of poverty and consequently on the development of developping countries. Despite some response to the Millennium Goals, the poverty situation remains worrying highlighting the need for a real binding general legal framework, which does not exist actually. Indeed, such a framework would solve most dysfunctional of microfinance and meet many of the challenges presented to it, to flourish unquestionable efficiency of the development process.

The thesis deals with the evaluation of changes in accounting legislation in relation to the informative ability of accounting. In particular, these changes are: - Canceling Reporting Item Separation Reporting alone - Changes in accounting for provisions - Accounting for activation and inventory of own activity - Categorization of entities and related obligations - Cancellation of extraordinary costs and revenues - Amendment to the regulations governing the auditor's audit of financial statements - Canceling the separate reporting of the Trade Margin item As the Czech Republic is a part of the European Union, it is impossible to ignore the effort to unify repor-ting, which is intended to improve the readability of financial statements for users from other countries. The work includes an evaluation of changes from the perspective of various authors and the professional public. Selected statements are verified on selected businesses. The ongoing small legislative adjustments do not fully meet the needs of current businesses, the concept of the new form of accounting, which is currently presented to the professional public for discussion, indicates the future direction of Czech ac-counting. An equally important part of the thesis is the analysis of the questionnaire, which seeks to gain the opinion of the professional public on the issue.

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Engineering, in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. January 2017 Johannesburg / It is well known that emotional stress has a negative impact on people’s health and physical, emotional and mental performance. Previous research has investigated the effects of stress on various aspects of physiology such as respiration, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance, skin temperature and electrical activity in the brain. Essentially, HRV, Electroencephalography (EEG), skin conductance and skin temperature appear to reflect a stress response or state of arousal. Whilst the relationship between respiration rate, respiration rhythm and HRV is well documented, less is known about the relationship between respiration rate, EEG, skin conductance and skin temperature, whilst HRV is maximum (when there is resonance between HRV and respiration i.e. in phase with one another). This research project aims to investigate the impact that one session of slow paced breathing has on EEG, heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance and skin temperature. Twenty male participants were randomly assigned to either a control or intervention group. Physiological data were recorded for the intervention and control group during one breathing session, over a short initial baseline (B1), a main session of 12 minutes, and a final baseline (B2). The only difference between the control and intervention groups was that during the main session, the intervention group practiced slow paced breathing (at 6 breaths per minute), while the control group breathed spontaneously. Wavelet transformation was used to analyse EEG data while Fourier transformation was used to analyse HRV. The study shows that slow-paced breathing significantly increases the low frequency and total power of the HRV but does not change the high frequency power of HRV. Furthermore, skin temperature significantly increased for the control group from B1 to Main, and was significantly higher for the control group when compared to the intervention group during the main session. There were no significant skin temperature changes between sessions for the intervention group. Skin conductance increased significantly from Main to B2 for the control group. No significant changes were found between sessions for the intervention group and between groups. EEG theta power at Cz decreased significantly from Main to B2 for the control group only, while theta power decreased at F4 from Main to B2 for both groups. Lastly, beta power at Cz decreased from B1 to B2 for the control group only. This significant effect that slow-paced breathing has on HRV suggests the hypothesis that with frequent practice, basal HRV would increase, and with it, potential benefits such as a reduction in anxiety and improved performance in specific tasks. Slow-paced breathing biofeedback thus shows promise as a simple, cheap, measurable and effective method to reduce the impact of stress on some physiological signals, suggesting a direction for future research. / MT2017

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2017 / The principle focus of this research is to provide a novel approach to accident investigation theory by focusing on the investigation process itself as a complex system. A number of systemic factors inherent in this system impact on the effectiveness (accuracy, quality, validity, reliability and objectivity) of railway investigations. There is a need to explore why railway occurrences remain high in South Africa, despite railway Operators investigating occurrences. If occurrences are investigated, why then do the number of events remain unchanged? Ineffective investigations impact on the accuracy of the findings identified and the suitability of the recommendations. Added to this is the failure of implementing recommendations from investigations contributing to the high number of occurrences and repeated occurrences. Complex influencing factors inherent within the railway system influence the actual investigation process and therefore its effectiveness. This is despite interventions put in place by various organisations, industries, and sectors to improve railway safety. A critical review of the literature, in terms of accident investigation theory, indicates that the current research targets various approaches, methods and models to determine why accidents occur; from a human, technical, or system perspective. The literature focusses on accident causation by addressing the system and its role in contributing to such events. However, very little critical analysis exists on the actual investigation process of accidents as a complex system in its own right, and its contributory role in the ongoing high number of accidents. Rasmussen’s (1997) Risk Management Framework is used in this research to illustrate the South African railway system hierarchy. A qualitative mixed methods approach using triangulation was adopted. Methods included a print media analysis of reported railway accidents, document analyses of governance documents, analyses of railway investigation reports, semi-structured interviews with railway investigators and observations of investigation inquiries. Thematic content analysis was conducted to identify the themes emerging from the data. The results indicate that systemic factors influence the manner in which occurrences are investigated. Examples include no National Rail Policy, limited resources to investigate, shortage of skilled investigators, absence of investigator training, non-compliance to governance documents, an underinvestment in rail, financial constraints, and a blame culture. An Accimap summarises the systemic factors impacting on the effectiveness of the accident investigation process, its outcomes and the recurrence of accidents. Conclusions demonstrate that the accident investigation process is indeed an example of a complex system. Systemic factors collectively behave to influence the effectiveness of the investigation process, but also on the bigger rail socio-technical system which impacts on the safety, reliability and efficiency of the South African railway system. The theoretical contribution of this research is identified in the useful and novel application of Rasmussen’s (1997) Risk Management Framework to illustrate that the accident investigation process is an example of a complex system. Adjustments to Rasmussen’s (1997) Risk Management Framework were made in order to contextualize it to the problem of this research, confirming the importance and application of Rasmussen’s work in the system of accident investigations and not only in accident causation. / MT 2018

A edição da Lei nº 11.638/07, responsável por dar início ao processo de convergência das normas brasileiras de contabilidade ao padrão contábil internacional, hoje ditado pelo International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), trouxe consigo uma série de dúvidas acerca de seus possíveis reflexos tributários. É que, dada a profunda relação existente entre o Direito Tributário e a Contabilidade, não se pode ignorar o potencial que mudanças ocorridas nessa última têm de gerar impactos na esfera tributária. Se isso ocorreu (ou não) e quais os seus limites é o que o presente trabalho se propôs a investigar. Entretanto, em primeiro lugar é preciso que se compreenda o contexto em que a referida lei foi editada. Sua publicação foi precedida de intenso debate, principalmente no âmbito do mercado de valores mobiliários, uma vez que as empresas brasileiras listadas em bolsas de valores foram as primeiras a sentir os efeitos das diferenças entre o padrão contábil brasileiro e o padrão internacional. No âmbito acadêmico, é inegável a contribuição dos professores e alunos da Faculdade de Economia e Administração da Universidade de São Paulo (FEAUSP), que há muito vinham notando a necessidade de o Brasil integrar o processo internacional de convergência das normas contábeis ao padrão International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). No que diz respeito aos participantes do mercado de valores mobiliários, o afastamento da contabilidade brasileira em relação ao padrão internacional prejudica a comparabilidade entre demonstrações financeiras elaboradas com base em modelos contábeis diversos, diminuindo, em última análise, o fluxo de recursos em um ambiente cada vez mais globalizado. Assim, a convergência traria apenas benefícios, na medida em que reduziria o custo do investimento ao eliminar os efeitos decorrentes da assimetria da informação contábil. Em relação à Ciência Contábil, a mudança também teria vindo em boa hora. Devido a uma série de fatores, grande parte deles tratada ao longo do trabalho, a contabilidade brasileira foi influenciada por uma visão bastante conservadora do patrimônio e suas mutações, muito mais próxima da perspectiva jurídico-fiscal. Com isso, as regras de contabilidade brasileira se afastaram dos princípios contábeis para irem ao encontro das normas relacionadas à apuração de tributos. Em poucas palavras, a Receita Federal do Brasil foi, durante as últimas décadas, o mais influente usuário da informação financeira. Dessa forma, sob uma ótica estritamente contábil, o início do processo de convergência ao padrão internacional foi visto como um grande avanço. A adoção da primazia da essência econômica sobre a forma jurídica, profundamente presente no padrão IFRS, representa a libertação da contabilidade brasileira das amarras impostas pela Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB). A ciência contábil fica liberada, de forma definitiva, para construir seus próprios princípios, sem a indesejada influência das autoridades administrativas. A Contabilidade volta a estar comprometida com a geração de informações para seus usuários, em conformidade com a realidade econômica, ainda que esta possa contrariar aquela construída pelo Direito. Note-se que até aqui nada se mencionou acerca dos aspectos tributários da Nova Contabilidade. Em verdade, essa preocupação fez parte das discussões que precederam a publicação da Lei nº 11.638/07, tanto que o art. 177 da Lei das Sociedades Anônimas foi alterado para prever que os lançamentos de ajuste efetuados exclusivamente para harmonização de normas contábeis [...] não poderão ser base de incidência de impostos e contribuições nem ter quaisquer outros efeitos tributários. O que se pretendeu, portanto, foi estabelecer que os eventuais efeitos tributários provenientes de mudanças oriundas do novo padrão contábil devessem ser neutralizados. No entanto, a simples previsão legal de neutralidade, muito embora nos indique a intenção do legislador no que diz respeitos aos aspectos tributários, não foi capaz de resolver todas as dúvidas que surgiram imediatamente após a publicação da Lei nº 11.638/07. Em maio de 2008, portanto, menos de seis meses após o início da vigência da Lei nº 11.638/07, a RFB se manifestou no sentido da tributação das subvenções para investimento (Solução de Consulta nº 75/2008). Era o prenúncio de que a referida neutralidade seria objeto de fortes discussões. Muito em razão disso foi promulgada a Medida Provisória nº 449/08, posteriormente convertida na Lei nº 11.941/09, que instituiu o Regime Tributário de Transição (RTT). Em linhas gerais, a regra de neutralidade anterior foi substituída por um regime mais detalhado, com a determinação de que as alterações decorrentes da Lei nº 11.638/07, que modifiquem o critério de reconhecimento de receitas, custos e despesas não terão efeitos para fins de apuração do lucro real da pessoa jurídica a ele submetido. É inegável que o RTT trouxe mais segurança no que diz respeito aos aspectos específicos da neutralidade. Por outro lado, não foi capaz de solucionar a integralidade das questões postas em discussão, o que pode ser verificado pelas inúmeras interpretações divergentes dadas a questões aparentemente simples, como o ágio baseado em expectativa de rentabilidade futura e a isenção sobre a distribuição de dividendos. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho se propôs a investigar o problema desde a sua origem, identificando as razões históricas para a diversidade de padrões contábeis ao redor do mundo, a realidade brasileira e a relação entre o Direito Tributário e a Contabilidade no Brasil, para chegar à conclusão acerca da real influência do novo padrão contábil sobre a tributação. / The enactment of Law 11,638/07, which set out to converge Brazilian accounting regulations to those of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has brought with it a series of issues regarding its possible tax reflections. Given the profound relationship that exists between Tax Law and Accounting, one cannot ignore the potential impact that the changes to the latter can have on taxation. This paper investigates whether or not that has occurred and, if so, to what extent. First, nonetheless, one must understand the context in which the aforementioned act was promulgated. Its enactment was preceded by intense debate, especially within the realm of the securities market, since all listed companies in Brazil were the first to feel the effects of the differences between the Brazilian accounting standards and the international accounting standards. In the academic arena, one cannot deny the contribution of professors and students of the School of Economics and Business Administration of São Paulo (FEA-USP), who had long envisioned the need for Brazils accounting standards to conform to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Concerning the players in the securities market, the uniqueness of the Brazilian accounting standards against international standards impairs comparability among income statements based on diverse accounting models, ultimately decreasing the flow of investments in an increasingly globalized environment. Thus, convergence would be beneficial, insofar as it would reduce investment costs by eliminating the effects arising out of the asymmetry of the accounting information. As for the scientific aspect of accounting, the change has allegedly come in good time. Due to a series of factors, most of which are dealt with all through this paper, Brazilian accounting has been influenced by a very conservative view of assets and changes thereto, a view that is closest to the tax/legal perspective. As a result, Brazils accounting practices have thus far pushed aside accounting principles to meet tax appraisal rules. To put it shortly, the Brazilian Federal Revenue has been the most influential user of accounting information in the last few decades. Thus, from a pure accounting viewpoint, the beginning of the converging process can be seen as a major improvement. Prioritizing economic substance over legal form, as is the case with IFRS, will free Brazilian accounting from the ties imposed by the Brazilian Federal Revenue. The accounting sciences will be finally free to build its own principles, without the undesired influence of the administrative authorities. Accounting is once again committed to generating information to its users, in conformity with economic reality, even if the latter can conflict with that of the law. Notably, so far not a word has been mentioned with regard to the tax aspects of the New Accounting. In fact, this concern did make part of the discussions that preceded the enactment of Law 11,638/07, so much that section 177 of the Corporations Act has been altered to provide that adjustment entries made solely for the purpose of accounting harmonization (...) cannot be a tax base for any taxes or levies, nor are they subject to any other tax effects. The intention was to set forth that any tax effects arising out of the changes brought on by the new accounting standards were to be neutralized. Nonetheless, this mere statutory provision for neutrality was not capable of clearing up all the doubts that arose immediately after the enactment of Law 11,638/07, despite the legislators intent concerning the tax aspects. In May 2008, therefore, less than six months after Law 11,638/07 went into effect, the Brazilian Federal Revenue issued an opinion for the levy of taxation on investment aid (Advance Consultation n. 75/2008). That clearly indicated that the so-called neutrality would be the source of great battles. For this reason, Provisional Decree n. 449/08 was promulgated and later converted into Law n. 11,941/09, providing for the Transitional Tax Regime. In simple terms, the previous rule of neutrality was replaced by a more detailed regime, determining that the changes arising from Law n. 11,638/07, which modify the criteria to recognize revenue, costs and expenses, will not affect the appraisal of profits of a legal entity submitted to it. It is undeniable that the Transitional Tax Regime has brought more security with respect to the specific aspects of neutrality. On the other hand, it was not capable of solving all the issues discussed, which can be seen by the numerous diverging interpretations to apparently simple issues, such as that of the goodwill and the exemption on the distribution of dividends. In this context, this paper investigates the problem from its outset, by identifying the historic reasons for the diversity of accounting standards around the world, the Brazilian reality and the relationship between Tax law and Accounting in Brazil, to conclude on the actual influence of the new accounting standard on taxation.

As estratégias para executar o transporte rodoviário de granéis sólidos agrícolas no Brasil são um desafio à tomada de decisão. Este trabalho emprega a coordenação vertical e a análise da decisão para apresentar uma discussão acerca do processo decisório nas organizações. O método de análise multicritério, baseado em curvas de valor, permite a comparação de arranjos de governança em situações específicas. Para isso, foram definidos os principais objetivos, critérios e variáveis dos problemas de verticalização no transporte, e os resultados obtidos apontaram que o transporte verticalizado apresentou pior desempenho do que alternativas híbridas ou terceirizadas. Tal resultado suporta que em ambientes com alta dependência de custos e com baixa especificidade do ativo há maior tendência de se encontrar estruturas híbridas ou coordenadas via mercado. O levantamento descritivo do transporte rodoviário com empresas embarcadoras de cargas agrícolas bem como o resultado do modelo multicritério aplicado apontaram um mercado de transporte altamente terceirizado, que seria fomentado pela atual incerteza e baixa profissionalização dos transportadores rodoviários. À medida que a diferença de preços entre o modelo terceirizado e verticalizado diminui, há preferência pela estrutura hierárquica, dado o seu melhor desempenho nos benefícios oferecidos. Diante das mudanças no ambiente institucional, tal como a regulamentação dos transportes, os arranjos competitivos podem sofrer alterações. Para os tomadores de decisão, as estruturas verticalizadas poderiam compor com maior escala as estratégias das embarcadoras à medida que os custos da operação própria se aproximem dos valores praticados pelas transportadoras. / The strategies to perform the transportation of agricultural commodities by truck in Brazil are a challenge to decision making. This paper brings together vertical coordination and decision analysis, to present a discussion of decision making in organizations. The Multiple Criterial Decision Analisys (MCDA), method based on value functions, allows comparison of governance arrangements in specific situations. After define the main objectives, criteria and variables found in transport verticalization problems, the results showed worse performance of verticalized arrengements than hybrid or outsourced alternatives. This result supports that in environments with high dependence on low costs and asset low specificity are more likely to meet hybrid or market coordinated structures. However, the descriptive survey of road transport with agricultural shippers and the results of the multicriterial model indicated a highly outsourced transport market, which would be fostered by the current uncertainty and low professionalism of haulers. As the price difference between the outsourced model and vertical decreases there is a preference for hierarchical structure given his best performances in the benefits offered. Given the changes in the institutional environment, such as the transport regulation, competitive arrangements may change. This type of preference by decision makers would compose the vertical structures with more scale strategies by shippers.

The first part of the thesis is about web applications, MVC architecture and web frameworks. Their role in application development is discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of their use are outlined. In the following part, the Symfony web framework 3.4 is discussed further. Specifically, this section develops its core components and functionality that it uses (structure, configuration files, controllers, entities, templates, models, security, etc.) The second part of the thesis is dedicated to the development of economic-legal information system EPIS Online, which was created by Symfony 3.4. Its three modules (security and user license structure, legislation and payment gateway) are described further. The specific processes in the system, actions of controllers, templates, services and many other components are explained in this part.

Introdução - A Lei 9.656/1998 fundamenta o marco legal do setor privado da saúde no Brasil. Igualmente importante, a Lei 9.961/2000 criou a Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar (ANS) para fiscalizar e regulamentar a relação entre operadoras e beneficiários de planos. A partir de então houve um crescimento expressivo no número das ações judiciais, fenômeno denominado judicialização da saúde. Objetivo - Conhecer e analisar o montante e os motivos das ações judiciais relacionadas às coberturas assistenciais e avaliar o impacto econômico-financeiro em uma entidade de autogestão. Método Análise de banco de dados das ações judiciais do período 1998 a 2009. A base de dados constitui-se de 7.271 ações cíveis ativas e baixadas. Desse total foram selecionadas 3.569 relacionadas a coberturas assistenciais, cujos dados foram organizados em planilha eletrônica. Analisou-se ainda a população total e o impacto econômico-financeiro a partir de informações de balanço anual. Resultados Várias constatações importantes foram reveladas, como a evolução crescente do número de ações; o fato de a Bahia possuir 9,5 por cento da população assistida e responder por 33,4 por cento das ações totais; as gastroplastias aparecerem como o objeto mais importante 427 ações (12 por cento do total); o impacto econômico-financeiro atingindo em média 1 por cento da receita total, mas 32 por cento do resultado (superávit) do exercício de 2009, entre outros achados. Conclusão o marco legal foi determinante para os beneficiários recorrerem ao Judiciário por coberturas assistenciais. O fenômeno da judicialização da saúde impacta de maneira significativa a Autogestão estudada. Boa parte das decisões judiciais parece não observar critérios técnicos relacionados à homologação de novas tecnologias e aos protocolos médicos, o que vem ensejando uma atuação mais ativa do Conselho Nacional de Justiça no encaminhamento de questões relacionadas à saúde / Introduction - Law 9.656/1998 moved the legal framework of private health sector in Brazil. Equally important, 9.961/2000 Act created the National Agency for Supplementary Health (ANS) to oversee and regulate the relationship between providers and beneficiaries of plans. Since then there has been significant growth in the number of lawsuits, a phenomenon called the legalization of health. Objective - To investigate and analyze the amount and the reasons for lawsuits related to care coverage and to evaluate the economic and financial impact on a self-insured entity. Methods - Analysis of database of lawsuits in the period 1998-2009. The database consists of 7271 civil actions, active or downloaded. Of this total were selected 3569 related to care coverage, and data were organized into a spreadsheet. It was also analyzed the total population and the economic and financial impact from the annual balance sheet information. Results - Several important findings were revealed as a growing trend in the number of shares, the fact that Bahia has 9.5 per cent of the assisted population and account for 33.4 per cent of the total shares, the gastroplasty appears to be the most important object - 427 shares (12 per cent of total), the economic and financial impact means on average 1 per cent of total revenue, but 32 per cent of the result (surplus) for the year 2009, among other findings. Conclusion - the legal framework was crucial for the beneficiaries to avail themselves of judicial assistance coverage. The phenomenon of legalization of health impacts significantly the self study. Much of judicial decisions seem not to notice technical criteria related to approval of new medical technologies and protocols, which have demanded a more active role of the National Council of Justice in addressing health-related issues