Brightness reversion, also known as yellowing, is a well-known phenomenon which means that the brightness of paper products decreases during ageing. The name of this phenomenon is based on that paper products usually change in color towards yellow during ageing. Yellowing is considered to occur due to a mixture of chemical and physical factors, which makes it a complex problem for the pulp & paper industry. The majority of the literature and research conducted with respect towards yellowing claims that light and heat is the two main factors that contributes the most to a brightness reversion, depending on the type of pulp and process that is utilized. Smurfit Kappa in Piteå is a manufacturer of the paper grade Kraftliner and has during some occasions noted unstable brightness. Based on previous work at Smurfit Kappa, it is known that the finished liners produced from bleached pulp in a completely chlorine-free process is very sensitive to heat, especially for longer periods of time during storage. It has also been documented that the storage temperature for paper products is of great importance, especially the cooling rate of the paper-rolls from production, which could take around two weeks to reach the ambient temperature. This thesis work, alongside with a literature study as a basis will examining the effect of pH towards yellowing during thermal exposure. Through a factorial experiment it was initially found that the yellowing is favored by higher temperatures in conjunction with lower pH values. In order to obtain a brightness reversion of a paper product within a reasonable timeframe an accelerated aging method was used according to the ISO standard 5630-1. Throughout this thesis is the brightness reversion expressed in the so-called b* value, which indicates the color change from blue to yellow. Further experiments, including ageing methods with moisture, also concluded that an acidic pH results in a more severe yellowing. It was also observed that the pH was decreasing during experiments of pulp storage, this most likely to the chemical phenomena known as acidic hydrolysis. The b*-value seemed to be favorable of the decreased pH, thus could the pulp be stored at pH around 8 instead of 9-10 in order to suppress potential yellowing reactions.  Furthermore, it was found that cooling of the paper resulted in a decrease of the b* value, it is however unclear what causes this phenomenon but a theory could be that chromophoric groups are being deactivated/activated due to the temperature changes and hence making the phenomena reversible. / Eftergulning är ett välkänt fenomen som innebär att ljusheten hos pappersprodukter minskar när dessa åldras. Namnet på detta fenomen grundar sig i att pappersprodukter vanligtvis skiftar i färg mot det gula hållet. Detta anses bero på en blandning av kemiska och fysikaliska faktorer, vilket därmed gör det till ett komplext problem som berör massa & pappersindustrin. Majoriteten av litteraturen och den forskning som utförts inom området gällande eftergulning visar att de två faktorerna ljus och värme påverkar förändringen av ljusheten i högst omfattning, beroende på vilken typ av massa och process som pappret är producerat av. Smurfit Kappa i Piteå är en tillverkare av papperstypen Kraftliner och har under olika perioder noterat ostabila ljushetsvärden på grund av eftergulningen. Frida Sandin konstaterade genom sitt examensarbete hos Smurfit Kappa under 2008 att massan som bleks i en helt klorfri process är extra känslig mot värme, speciellt under längre tidsperioder. Sandin konstaterade även att lagringstemperaturen för pappersprodukter har stor betydelse, speciellt gällande avsvalningsförloppet i de nytillverkade pappersrullarna under papperstillverkning vilka kunde ta ungefär två veckor på sig att nå omgivningens temperatur. Detta arbete fortsätter på Sandins tidigare studier, samt med en litteraturstudie som grund, genom att undersöka pH:s påverkan på papper i samband med varierande temperaturer mer noggrant. Genom ett inledande faktorförsök konstaterades det att eftergulningen gynnas av högre temperaturer i samband med lägre pH värden. För att kunna få en eftergulning på en pappersprodukt inom en rimlig tid så användes en accelererad åldringsmetod, i detta arbete användes främst en metod med en temperatur på 105 °C enligt ISO standarden 5630–1. Eftergulningen inom detta arbete uttrycks i det så kallade b*-värdet vilket indikerar en färgskiftning mellan blått och gult. Ytterligare försök, bland annat i kombination med fukt, konstaterade vidare att ett surt pH starkt missgynnar stabiliteten på eftergulningen för pappersprodukter. Det observerades också att pH-värdet sjönk under experiment där pappersmassa lagrades, detta skedde mest troligt på grund av det kemiska fenomenet som kallas sur hydrolys. b*-värdet tycktes däremot vara gynnsamt av det sänkta pH-värdet. Förslagsvis så borde massan lagras vid pH runt 8 istället för 9–10 för att reducera potentiella eftergulnings-reaktioner. Det konstaterades också att kylning av papperet resulterar i en sänkning av b*-värdet, det är dock oklart vad som får detta att ske men en teori är att det är kromofora grupper som aktiveras/inaktiveras.

This study examines how investors can take advantage of Black Swan events by applying an investment strategy that involves investing in stocks that have performed badly during Black Swan events. The stocks are chosen from and compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index. The purpose is to find out if the investment strategy has had a higher return than the benchmark index DJIA. The results show that the investment strategy outperforms the DJIA by 111% between the years 2000 to 2020, however, the results show no statistical significance. Beta is used as risk measurement to explain the correlation between the portfolios and the benchmark index by calculating CAPM. Standard deviation is used to calculate the Sharpe ratio and thereby assess a risk-adjusted result.

TCTP est une protéine de 20 kDa que l’on retrouve souvent sous forme de dimère. Elle est fortement conservée dans la phylogénie et on la trouve dans les levures, les plantes, les invertébrés et les mammifères. Elle est localisée dans tous les compartiments de la cellule : noyau, cytoplasme, et membranes. Il s’agit d’une protéine très abondante dans des cellules souches ainsi que des cellules en croissance exponentielle, y compris les cellules tumorales. Sa fonction principale est celle d’une « protéine de survie ». TCTP a été décrite comme interagissant avec de multiples protéines dont p53, MDM2, Bcl-xL et TSAP6. Le but de mon travail est de permettre de mieux caractériser ces fonctions de TCTP et pour cela, nous avons étudié ses interactions in vitro et surtout, in vivo, dans différents modèles génétiques chez la souris. / TCTP is a 20 kDa protein frequently encountered as a dimer. It is highly conserved through phylogeny and is present inn yeast, plants, invertebrates and mammals. It is localized in all compartments of the cell: nucleus, cytoplasm, membranes. This protein is highly abundant in stem cells and during the exponential growth, including in cancer cells. It mainly functions as a survivor factor. TCTP has been described as interacting with multiple proteins, including p53, MDM2, Bcl-xL and TSAP6. The purpose of my work is to better characterize these functions of TCTP; we therefore studied its interactions in vitro, but mostly in vivo, using different murine genetic models.

Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka de medelvärdesåtervändande egenskaperna i aktiekursen för noterade fastighetsbolag med utgångspunkt för bolagets extraordinära substansvärde, samt hur väl information kan användas för investeringsbeslut.Resultatet av den empiriska utfallsstudien som utförts visar på att det finns ett samband mellan aktiekurs och substansvärden, samt att en investeringsstrategi baserat på medelvärdesåtervändande egenskaper i dessa variabler fungerar. Av de tre dynamiska portföljerna som tagits fram och som strävat efter att allokera störst vikt till de bolag som fundamentalt framstått som billigast jämfört med sitt genomsnittliga substansvärde, överträffar samtliga portföljer ett aktieindex av samma bolag. / This study investigates mean reversion in publicly traded property stocks with respect to the company’s extraordinary discounts to the net asset value; furthermore, to what extent this knowledge can be applied to investment strategies.The result of the empirical survey shows that there is a relationship between the stock prices and the net asset value, also, that an investment strategy utilizing mean reversion in these two variables works. Of the three dynamic portfolios, aiming to allocate the largest portfolio weight to the fundamentally cheapest stocks, based on their current discounts and premiums to the net asset value with respect to the company average, all three outperform an index of the same companies.

Orthophosphates and polyphosphates are rarely present at significant levels in raw water source but are purposefully added to the water in various forms to inhibit corrosion, iron oxidation (red water), or calcium carbonate precipitation (scale formation). Orthophosphates serve as building blocks for polyphosphates, which includes structures in linear chain, branched chains (metaphosphate) and "glassy" polyphosphate polymers. The advantage of polyphosphates over ortho phosphates lies in the fact that they slowly revert to orthophosphates and thus provide corrosion inhibition action over longer period of time in distribution systems. A study was completed for Tampa Bay Water on water distribution systems in a changing water quality environment. Blended orthophosphates was used as one of the corrosion inhibitors to study its effects on metal release and thus justify its application in comparison to other corrosion inhibitors like orthophosphates, zinc orthophosphates and silicates. This work focuses on the study of reversion of polyphosphates to ortho phosphates. A first-order model was developed that quantifies reversion as a function of the hydraulic residence time and initial poly phosphate concentration. The same model was used in two different forms - one for the hybrid lines and the other for single material lines. The results from single material lines (estimated by a non linear least square regression using ANOVA) showed that the reversion rate was highest for galvanized pipe followed by unlined cast iron, lined cast iron and the lowest rate in PVC. The first-order reversion rate constant in PVC was almost two log orders less than galvanized line. A high first-order rate constant for the galvanized pipe could be attributed to a rougher surface, large surface area, reaction with the wall surface, pipe material or a combination of these effects. The results from the hybrid PDSs (estimated by an algebraic manipulation of the first-order reaction) substantially agree with the results obtained from the single material lines, with the exception of the PVC material. The data from the hybrid lines confirms that the reversion rate constant is greatest for exposure to galvanized pipe materials, but the hybrid data indicate that the rate constant associated with PVC is somewhat larger than the constants determined for either LCI or UCI. Once an overall first-order rate expression was established, efforts were made to find a relation between polyphosphate reversions with bulk water quality. None of the major water quality parameters were found to significantly affect the reversion. This observation may be attributable to a similar water quality over the study duration. A positive correlation was found between first-order reversion rate constant and temperature. An empirical equation (modified Arrhenius equation) that relates the first-order reversion rate constant with temperature was developed that showed a strong sensitivity to temperature. The results from this study could be used to predict the stability of polyphosphates in distribution systems with varying pipe materials and temperature.

No description available.

No description available.

Although the majority of Filipinos are Christian, recent developments reflect an upsurge in conversion to Islam, particularly in the northern Philippines. This dissertation examines one of the fastest growing religious phenomena in Southeast Asia, Balik-Islam, which means “reverts to Islam,” or the process of “returning to Islam.” The Balik-Islam movement has become popular since the 1970s, and its religious narratives on Muslim reversion challenge and complicate what we already know generally about conversion to new religions, including the impact of the external “non-religious” factors associated with it. This dissertation shows how a discourse of “reversion” among Balik-Islam members reveals complex realities about the appeal of Islam to Filipinos. While other scholars have used paradigms concerning “othering” and underlying “symbolic” forces to understanding the reasons why conflict and crisis might appear in conversion narratives, this characterization also tends to reify religion and position Christianity and Islam as polar opposites operating within a hostile environment. My approach is to understand how Balik-Islam members negotiate their transition to Islam by virtue of social and cultural settings that are both fluid and multifaceted. By critically assessing their “reversion” narratives, this dissertation reveals how their transition to Islam reflects a “symbolic negotiation,” or an act of reimagining the process of religious conversion itself, substituting it for a discourse of reversion that reflects a diverse set of spiritual and social needs. / Religion

Making good predictions is a critical feature of decision making in situations such as investing and predicting the spread of diseases. Past literature indicates that people use recent and longer-term trends while making predictions. Nonetheless, less is known about how these factors affect how well people make predictions and the timing of their predictions. Further, identifying factors underlying predictive judgments could be an important behavioral factor in manic-depression, anxiety, substance use, age effects, and understanding how income inequality affects decision making. To understand how people make predictive judgments, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, we used an investment task where participants had to predict the future price of a stock based on an exponential trend of information. We found that participants generally had lower earnings with steeper exponential trends (e.g. slower starting) and delayed their decisions to sell bad stocks with steeper trends. We extended these results in Experiment 2 with an updated task with exponential and inverse exponential trends. Overall, our results suggested that people delayed longer to make their prediction with slower starting exponential trends compared to faster starting inverse exponential trends and delayed their predictions longer with more linear trends compared to more trend trends. When deciding how long to explore, participants incorporated both the average trend and recent trend, though they shifted their responses depending on the overall functional form. These choices were ultimately biased to be optimistic or pessimistic based on whether the trend started fast or slow, respectively. Additionally, we found that participants who self-reported taking more gambling risk and depressive symptoms had a greater tendency to stay with faster starting trends and to leave with slower starting trends, suggesting they were even more optimistic given initially fast starting trends. Results pointing to an optimism bias based on the trend in information available to the participant could suggest that an aspect of sunk-cost fallacy is due to errors in predicting the likelihood of future success based on past information. Our findings help understand the dynamics of how people make predictive judgments over time and could inform future research into the mechanisms people use for prospective decision making. Additionally, future research and potential interventions could account for biases in how people perceive past trends to minimize harmful effects of sunk-cost fallacy when making predictions. / Psychology

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo testar a possibilidade de obtenção de retornos anormais de capital entre jan/1997 e jul/2007 para o mercado acionário brasileiro no curtíssimo prazo. Investigou-se, para tanto, a hipótese de reversão à média. Estratégias contrárias com carteiras compradas em ações perdedoras e vendidas em ganhadoras foram montadas e testadas nos períodos subseqüentes. Evidências foram encontradas a favor da reversão e, consequentemente, a favor da possibilidade de retornos anormais. Depois de verificada a existência de tais retornos, o trabalho ainda corrigiu o risco sistemático da carteira, por meio do alfa de Jensen. Os retornos anormais, de uma forma geral, continuam a existir após incorporar-se o risco ao modelo. / [en] The goal of this study is to test the existence of abnormal stock returns in the Brazilian stock market in the very short run for the period of jan/1997 to jul/2007. The main hypothesis in focus is the mean reversion of returns. Contrarian strategies were used with portfolios built by winner and looser stocks to test the abnormal returns in subsequent periods. There is evidence in favor of the reversion and, consequently, in favor of the possibility of abnormal returns. After verified the existence of these returns, this study examines if they still remain after systematic risk correction (Alfa of Jensen). The abnormal returns still remain after taking into account the systematic risk.