This master's thesis examines the importance of the explosion incident at Nord Stream and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Sweden’s security sectors. The critical energy project Nord Stream 1 and its expansion to Nord Stream 2 have created bipolar attitudes and debates in Sweden and the EU regarding the security implications of increased Russian power. The Ukraine war and the physical attack on the pipelines have only amplified security concerns in the international political arena. This thesis aims to provide a descriptive understanding of the explosion incident and Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine and their resulting impact on Sweden’s ability to establish a stable security strategy viewed by security sectors such as national-, environmental-, energy-, military-, economic-, human-, and societal-security. Additionally, this thesis also explores these issues from Sweden’s perspective with the use of classic international relations perspectives such as realism and liberalism. Results present that the security sector reports heightened tensions, with Russia potentially increasing military activities. New intensified threat perception for Sweden, negative environmental impacts, affecting on human health and security. Effects regarding energy security. New security threats for Russia's establishment within the European market, impact and effects on nations' identity and uncertainty about the new political situation, and increased insecurity for essential societal infrastructures.

Art and culture are increasingly recognised as essential components of our societal development, enriching the quality of our lives through imagination, connection, and innovation, while supporting various aspects of well-being, including health and lifelong learning. However, the professionals in the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS) often experience precarious employment conditions, including contract instability and limited social security. Ensuring secure work environments is not just a matter of policy—it is a fundamental human right. Opening this dialogue in the CCS, the Fair Practice Code serves as a compass emerging with the potential to lead the future direction of these sectors, initiated in the Netherlands and currently being adapted to Denmark. Given the urgency in addressing the psychosocial challenges within the CCS, this thesis offers a timely contribution, bridging the research gap between sustainability leadership and fair practice. With this study we explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the Code and how sustainability leadership actualises it, consequently examining social sustainability within the CCS. To address the research questions, an exploratory research design is employed, including semi-structured interviews with primary stakeholders within the CCS in Denmark and with complementary insights from the Netherlands to facilitate the collection of data. The study found that stakeholders in the CCS perceive sustainability as a foundation for the Fair Practice Code, with the other four values - trust, transparency, solidarity, and diversity - embedded within. Based on our findings, we present a revised compass for steering social development and two sets of recommendations to practitioners within the CCS.

The South African government, in its attempt to curb unemployment, continues to promote and facilitate the establishment of small businesses. The promotion of businesses is evident through the development of policies, establishment of supporting agencies and the formation of the new ministry, Department of Small Business Development. The government acknowledges the contribution of small businesses in relation to job creation, poverty alleviation and having an inclusive economy. There are different types of businesses in the South African context, such as registered and unregistered businesses, operating in both informal and formal sectors. This study focuses on registered businesses in the main economic sectors such as retail, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, services, construction and transport. Its main objective is to develop a framework that will enable small businesses to operate sustainably irrespective of the challenges experienced in these economic sectors. Areas of focus in the research study are in the City of Matlosana that falls within the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District in the North West province. The City of Matlosana comprises of Klerksdorp, Orkney, Stilfontein and Hartbeesfontein (KOSH). The areas consist of many small businesses in different sectors of the economy. It is an area known to have been dependent mainly on mining activities for its economic sustainability. However, the mining activities have declined due to depletion of mining reserves and the focus is mainly on alternative potential economic sectors such as manufacturing, services, retail, agriculture and construction. A quantitative research approach was applied for the study. Data analysis and interpretation were conducted by using statistical methods such as frequencies, reliability with reference to the mean, standard deviation and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient as well as Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations. Internal and external factors such as management skills, inability to access funding, the lack of proper business planning, economic conditions and industry changes influence the failure rate of businesses. The study investigates the extent of such factors that influence sustainability opportunity. Previous research on this topic indicates that most businesses fail within three years of their start-up. Some newly formed businesses are a result of the reasons such as unemployment or inability to be employable, that result into survival type of small business. Businesses operating in a survival mode do not employ as many people as possible and are easily susceptible to challenges due to changes in economic conditions. They typically have a small impact on the economic growth of the area. Conclusions of the study show that most owners do not necessarily empower themselves by short training courses or study business as a career choice to enhance their knowledge and skills. The level of education is as low as below matriculation (grade 12) with three to five years of experience in a particular business sector. There is a low level of prior knowledge of business but a high level of prior working experience in the same sector of the economy. Small business owners are mostly involved at operational and management level in their businesses indicating that administration and strategic planning are lacking which affects long-term plans of most businesses. The framework developed focused on many different aspects that influence the success and failure of small businesses. It is evident that there are factors that are influential to any business operating in a particular sector. There are instances where some factors have a major bearing on particular businesses as compared to others. In cases where the owner is strategic, experienced, qualified and skilled, the businesses have all-important competitive advantage to stand the challenges. Business characteristics such as location, years of operation, its responsiveness to its customer needs and business planning contributes advantageously to its sustainability. In various economic conditions, some sectors are affected in different ways depending on its financial strength. There is no single aspect that is identified as a stand-alone factor to enable a small business to be sustainable. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The South African government, in its attempt to curb unemployment, continues to promote and facilitate the establishment of small businesses. The promotion of businesses is evident through the development of policies, establishment of supporting agencies and the formation of the new ministry, Department of Small Business Development. The government acknowledges the contribution of small businesses in relation to job creation, poverty alleviation and having an inclusive economy. There are different types of businesses in the South African context, such as registered and unregistered businesses, operating in both informal and formal sectors. This study focuses on registered businesses in the main economic sectors such as retail, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, services, construction and transport. Its main objective is to develop a framework that will enable small businesses to operate sustainably irrespective of the challenges experienced in these economic sectors. Areas of focus in the research study are in the City of Matlosana that falls within the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District in the North West province. The City of Matlosana comprises of Klerksdorp, Orkney, Stilfontein and Hartbeesfontein (KOSH). The areas consist of many small businesses in different sectors of the economy. It is an area known to have been dependent mainly on mining activities for its economic sustainability. However, the mining activities have declined due to depletion of mining reserves and the focus is mainly on alternative potential economic sectors such as manufacturing, services, retail, agriculture and construction. A quantitative research approach was applied for the study. Data analysis and interpretation were conducted by using statistical methods such as frequencies, reliability with reference to the mean, standard deviation and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient as well as Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations. Internal and external factors such as management skills, inability to access funding, the lack of proper business planning, economic conditions and industry changes influence the failure rate of businesses. The study investigates the extent of such factors that influence sustainability opportunity. Previous research on this topic indicates that most businesses fail within three years of their start-up. Some newly formed businesses are a result of the reasons such as unemployment or inability to be employable, that result into survival type of small business. Businesses operating in a survival mode do not employ as many people as possible and are easily susceptible to challenges due to changes in economic conditions. They typically have a small impact on the economic growth of the area. Conclusions of the study show that most owners do not necessarily empower themselves by short training courses or study business as a career choice to enhance their knowledge and skills. The level of education is as low as below matriculation (grade 12) with three to five years of experience in a particular business sector. There is a low level of prior knowledge of business but a high level of prior working experience in the same sector of the economy. Small business owners are mostly involved at operational and management level in their businesses indicating that administration and strategic planning are lacking which affects long-term plans of most businesses. The framework developed focused on many different aspects that influence the success and failure of small businesses. It is evident that there are factors that are influential to any business operating in a particular sector. There are instances where some factors have a major bearing on particular businesses as compared to others. In cases where the owner is strategic, experienced, qualified and skilled, the businesses have all-important competitive advantage to stand the challenges. Business characteristics such as location, years of operation, its responsiveness to its customer needs and business planning contributes advantageously to its sustainability. In various economic conditions, some sectors are affected in different ways depending on its financial strength. There is no single aspect that is identified as a stand-alone factor to enable a small business to be sustainable. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (PhD (Viticulture and Oenlogy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Includes bibliography and list of tables and figures. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last decade research has shown the importance of small antimicrobial peptides in the innate immunity of plants. These peptides do not only play a critical role in the multilayered defense systems of plants, but have proven valuable in the engineering of disease resistant food crops towards the ultimate aim of reducing the dependency on chemical fungicides. As the lists of isolated and characterized peptides grew, it became clear that other biological activities, in addition to the antimicrobial capacity, could be linked to some of these peptides; these alternative activities could have important applications in the field of medicine. This has made the defensin encoding genes prime targets for the agricultural and medical biotechnology sectors. To this end we set out to evaluate South African flora for the presence of plant defensin sequences and to isolate plant defensin genes that might be useful in biotechnology applications. Moreover, by isolating and characterizing these novel peptides, also in an in planta environment and in interaction with fungal pathogens, important knowledge will be gained of the biological role and importance of the peptides in the plant body. The plant host targets were South Africa Brassicaceae species including indigenous species, as well as Vitis vinifera, as the most important fruit crop in the world and since no defensins have been isolated from this economically important crop plant. The Brassicaceae family has been shown to be abundant in defensin peptides and several of the best characterized peptides with potent activity have been isolated from this family. Based on initial activity screens conducted on selected South African Brassicaceae spp. we concluded that these spp. contain promising antifungal peptide activities, warranting further efforts to isolate the genes and encoding peptides and to characterize them further. The preliminary activity screens used a peptide-enrichment isolation strategy that favored the isolation of basic, heat-stable peptides; these properties are characteristic features of plant antimicrobial peptides. These peptide fractions showed strong antifungal activities against the test organisms. A PCR-amplification strategy was subsequently designed and implemented, leading to the isolation of 14 novel defensin peptide encoding genes from four South African Brassicaceae spp., including the indigenous South African species Heliophila coronopifolia. Amino acid sequence analysis of these peptides revealed that they are diverse in amino acid composition and share only 42% homology at amino acid level. This divergence in amino acid composition is important for the identification of new biological activities within closely related plant defensins. Single amino acid changes have been contributed with the divergent biological activities observed in closely related plant defensin peptides. Phylogenetic analysis conducted on the deduced amino acid sequences revealed that all the new defensins share a close relationship to other Brassicaceae members of the plant defensin superfamily and was furthest removed from the defensins isolated from the families Solanaceae and Poaceae. Classification analysis of these peptides showed that they belong to subgroup A3 of the defensin superfamily. A putative defensin sequence was also isolated from V. vinifera cultivar, Pinotage, and termed Vv-AMP1. Genetic characterization showed that only a single gene copy of this peptide is present within the V. vinifera genome, situated on chromosome 1. Genetic characterization of this peptide encoding gene within the Vitis genus showed that this gene has stayed conserved throughout the divergent evolution of the Vitis genus. Expression studies of Vv-AMP1 revealed that this gene is expressed in a tissue specific and developmentally regulated manner, being only expressed in grape berries and only at the onset of vèraison. Induction of Vv-AMP1 in grapevine leaf material could never be achieved through the external application of hormones, osmotic stress, wounding, or pathogen infection by Botrytis cinerea. Deduced amino acid analysis showed that Vv-AMP1 encoded for a 77 amino acid peptide consisting of a 30 amino acid signal peptide and a 47 amino acid mature peptide, with putative antifungal activity. The Vv-AMP1 peptide grouped with the subclass B type defensins, which have been documented to have both antifungal and antibacterial activities. The Vv-AMP1 signal peptide directed the green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene to the apoplastic regions in cells with high levels of accumulation in the vascular tissue and the guard cells of the stomata. Recombinant Vv-AMP1 peptide was successfully purified from a bacterial host and shown to have a size of 5.495 kDa. Recombinant Vv-AMP1 showed strong antifungal activity at low concentrations against a broad spectrum of fungal pathogens, which included Verticillium dahliae (IC50 of 1.8 μg mL-1) and the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea (IC50 of 12-13 μg mL-1). Antifungal activity of Vv-AMP1 did not induce morphological changes in fungal hyphae, but its activity was associated with induced membrane permeabilization in treated hyphae. Vv-AMP1 was successfully introduced into Nicotiana tabacum as confirmed by Southern blot analysis and 20 individual lines were generated. Genetic characterization confirmed the integration and expression of the gene in the heterologous tobacco environment. The peptide was under control of its native signal sequence which has been shown to direct its product to the apoplastic regions of cells. The transgenic lines were analyzed to determine the presence and activity of the grapevine defensin peptide. Western blot analyses of partially purified plant extracts detected a signal of the expected size in both the untransformed control and the transgenic lines. Comprehensive analysis of EST databases identified three highly homologous sequences from tobacco that probably caused the background signal in the control. These crude protein extracts were able to inhibit the growth of V. dahliae in vitro when tested in a microtiter plate assay, but the inhibition could not be conclusively linked to the presence of the transgenic peptide, since non-expressing transgenic lines, included as controls, also showed inhibition. Similar results were obtained with infection studies, clearly showing that despite successful integration and expression of the transgene, the peptides was either not functional in the heterologous environment, or perhaps unstable under the particular regulatory conditions. This peptide belongs to a subclass of peptides known for associated activities that might activate tight control by plant hosts if threshold levels are reached. These aspects need further investigation, specifically since it is in stark contrast to previous results obtained with defensins from a different subclass. This study has also yielded significant other related resources that would be instrumental for further possible biotechnology exploitation of some of the novel peptides, but also to provide genetic constructs and plant material that would be invaluable to address fundamentally important questions such as the regulation and mode of action of defensin peptides, specifically in interaction with pathogen hosts. The novel peptides have been transformed to various hosts, including grapevine and these transgenic populations are available to facilitate the next rounds of research into this extremely promising group of antifungal peptides. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die laaste dekade het navorsing die belangrike rol van klein antimikrobiese peptiede in plantweerstandsmeganismes beklemtoon. Hierdie peptiede speel nie alleenlik 'n belangrike rol in die komplekse lae van plantweerstandstelsels nie, maar het ook hulle ekonomiese potensiaal getoon in die manipulering van siekteweerstandbiedendheid in voedselgewasse met die oorkoepelende doel om landbougewasse minder afhanklik van chemiese spuitstowwe te maak. Soos wat die hoeveelheid geïsoleerde en gekarakteriseerde peptiede toeneem, het dit duidelik geword dat ander biologiese aktiwiteite, bykomend tot die antimikrobiese kapasiteit, met sommige van dié peptiede verbind kan word; hierdie alternatiewe aktiwiteite het belangrike toepassing in veral die mediese veld. Dit het die defensin-koderende gene kernteikens vir die landbou- en mediese biotegnologiesektore gemaak. In die studie is daar begin om die Suid-Afrikaanse blommeryk te evalueer vir die teenwoordigheid van plantdefensingene en om dié gene te isoleer wat van ekonomiese belang vir die biotegnologiebedryf kan wees. Deur die in vitro- én in planta karakterisering van die unieke plantdefensinpeptiede word daar gemik daarna om belangrike inligting in te win oor die biologiese rol van die peptiede binne die plantligggaam. Die plantgashere wat geteiken is sluit in die Suid-Afrikaanse Brassicaceae-spesies, insluitende inheemse spesies, asook Vitis vinifera, wat as die belangrikste vrugtegewas ter wêreld beskou word. Die Brassicaceae-familie is welbekend daarvoor dat dit 'n ryk bron van plantdefensinpeptiede is en verskeie van die bes gekarakteriseerde antifungiese defensinpeptiede is van dié familie afkomstig. Aanvanklike aktiwiteitstoetse het getoon dat die Suid-Afrikaanse Brassicaceae-spesies belowende antifungiese aktiwiteit toon, wat die verdere isolering en karakterisering van dié gene en hul peptiedprodukte regverdig. Die aanvanklike aktiwiteitstoetse het 'n selektiewe peptiedverrykingstrategie gevolg wat die isolering van basiese, hittestabiele peptiede bevoordeel het; hierdie eienskappe is baie kenmerkend van plant-antimikrobiese peptiede. Die peptiedfraksies wat met hierdie metode geïsoleer is, het sterk antifungiese aktiwiteit teen die toetsorganismes getoon. Die resultate het gelei tot die ontwikkeling en toepassing van 'n polimerasekettingreaksie-strategie, wat daartoe gelei het dat 14 nuwe defensingene van vier Suid-Afrikaanse Brassicaceae-genera, insluitend die inheemse spesie Heliophila coronopifolia, geïsoleer kon word. Afgeleide aminosuurvolgorde-analises van die nuwe defensinpeptiede het gewys dat hulle slegs 42% homologie het. Hierdie diversiteit in aminosuurvolgorde is belangrik vir die identifisering van nuwe biologiese aktiwitiete binne die groep van verwante peptiede. Navorsing het verder getoon dat enkel-aminosuurverskille bydra tot die diverse spektrum van biologiese aktiwiteite binne 'n groep van verwante defensinpeptiede. Filogenetiese analise van die aminosuurvolgordes het getoon dat al die nuwe defensinpeptiede 'n sterk verwantskap met plantdefensinpeptiede, wat van ander Brassicaceae-spesies geïsoleer is, toon. Daarteenoor het dit die kleinste verwantskap getoon met plantdefensinpeptiede wat van die Solanaceae- en Poaceae-families geïsoleer is. Klassifikasiestudies het bewys dat die nuwe peptiede saam met subgroep A3 van die plantdefensin-superfamilie groepeer. 'n Moontlike plantdefensingeen, genaamd Vv-AMP1, is ook van die V vinifera-kultivar, Pinotage, geïsoleer. Genetiese karakterisering het aangedui dat slegs 'n enkele kopie van die geen in die V. vinifera-genoom teenwoordig en op chromosoom 1 geleë is. Genetiese karakterisering van Vv-AMP1 binne die Vitus-genus het gewys dat die geen binne die genus evolusionêr gekonserveerd is. Uitdrukkingstudies van Vv-AMP1 het verder bewys dat die geen uitgedruk word op 'n weefselspesifieke, ontwikkelingsgekoppelde wyse, naamlik slegs in druiwekorrels en slegs tydens rypwording. Vv-AMP1-uitdrukking kon nooit geïnduseer word in wingerdblare deur die uitwendige toediening van hormone, osmotiese stres, wonding of patogeeninfeksie deur Botrtys cinerea nie. Ontleding van die afgeleide aminosuurvolgorde het gewys dat Vv-AMP1 kodeer vir 'n 77-aminosuurpeptied, wat uit 'n 30-aminosuurseinpeptied en 'n 47-aminosuur-aktiewe peptied met voorspelde antifungiese aktiwiteit bestaan. Die Vv-AMP1-peptied is gegroepeer met subgroep B van die plantdefensin-superfamilie, 'n subgroep wat vir beide antifungiese en antibakteriese aktiwiteit gedokumenteer is. Die Vv-AMP1-seinpeptied het die groen fluoressensie-indikatorproteïen (GFP) na die apoplastiese areas van die plantselle gelei, met hoë vlakke van lokalisering in die vaatbundelweefsel en sluitselle van die huidmondjies. Die rekombinante Vv-AMP1-peptied is suksesvol geproduseer en uit 'n bakteriese produksieras gesuiwer, en het 'n molekulêre massa van 5.495 kDa gehad. Die gesuiwerde peptide het by lae konsentrasies 'n sterk aktiwiteit getoon teen 'n breë spektrum van fungiese patogene, wat Verticllium dahliae (IC50 van 1.8 μg mL-1) en die nekrotrofiese patogeen, B. cinerea (IC50 van 12-13 μg mL-1), ingesluit het. Vv-AMP1-aktiwiteit het geen ooglopende morfologiese veranderinge in die fungi-hifes veroorsaak nie, maar hulle aktiwiteit is verbind met 'n verhoogde membraandeurdringbaarheid in behandelde fungi-hifes. Suksesvolle intergrasie van Vv-AMP1 in die Nicotiana tabacum-genoom is deur Southern-kladontledings bevestig en 20 individuele transgeniese lyne is ontwikkel. Genetiese karakterisering van die transgeniese lyne het gewys dat Vv-AMP1 suksesvol geïntegreer is en ook in die transgeniese tabakomgewing uitgedruk word. Die peptied is uitgedruk onder beheer van sy eie seinpeptied, wat die aktiewe produk na die apoplastiese areas van die plantselle teiken. Die transgeniese tabaklyne is ook ontleed om te bepaal of die wingerdpeptied suksesvol geproduseer word en sy aktiwiteit in die transgeniese omgewing behou. Western-kladanalise van semi-gesuiwerde plantproteïenekstrakte het 'n positiewe sein gelewer in beide die kontroleplante en die transgeniese plantlyne. Bestudering van tabakgeenuitdrukkings-databasisse het drie nukleotiedvolgordes opgelewer wat homologie met Vv-AMP1 toon en moontlik verantwoordelik kan wees vir die positiewe sein in die ongetransformeerde kontroleplante. Kru proteïenekstrakte van die transgeniese tabaklyne het in vitro-aktiwiteit teen V. dahliae getoon. Geen oortuigende ooreenkoms kon egter gevind word tussen V. dahliae-inhibisie en die teenwoordigheid van die transgeniese Vv-AMP1-peptied nie, aangesien kontroleplante wat Southern-klad-positief is, maar nie geenuitdrukking toon nie, ook inhibisie van V. dahliae veroorsaak het. Soortgelyke resultate is met infeksiestudies verkry. Alle resultate dui daarop dat, al is daar suksesvolle integrasie en uitdrukking van die geen in tabak verkry, dat die Vv-AMP1 peptied óf onaktief óf onstabiel in die transgeniese tabakomgewing is. Die peptied behoort aan 'n subgroep peptiede met aktiwiteite wat, sodra sekere vlakke van peptied oorskry word, die moontlik streng kontrole op proteïenvlak in die gasheerplant kan uitlok. Sekere aspekte van die studie sal verder bestudeer moet word, aangesien die data teenstrydig is met data wat verkry is met soortgelyke plantdefensinpeptiede wat aan 'n ander subgroep behoort. Die studie het baie hulpbronne gegenereer wat vir die biotegnologiesektor belangrik kan wees, veral op ekonomiese gebied. Verder is die geenkonstrukte en plantlyne wat ontwikkel is waardevol om fundamentele vrae rondom die regulering en meganisme van aksie van defensinpeptiede, spesifiek plantpatogeeninteraksie, te beantwoord. Die nuwe plantdefensingene is na verskeie gasheerplante, insluitende wingerd, getransformeer waar die transgeniese lyne die volgende rondte van navorsing oor die bestudering oor die belangrike groep van antifungiese peptiede, sal aanvul.

Cikliškas ekonominis augimas yra natūralus ir neišvengiamas reiškinys, tačiau kuo mažesnės šių ekonominių ciklų svyravimo amplitudės, tuo patrauklesnis šalies ūkis yra. Didžiausi ekonominiai sunkumai šalis ištinka tuomet, kai šalyje įvyksta finansų krizės, kurioms pastaruoju metu dažniausiai pasireiškia kainų burbulo sprogimu. Dabartinė finansų krizė, prasidėjusi nuo antrinių būsto paskolų krizės JAV, sprogus nekilnojamo turto kainų burbului, išsiplėtė per visą pasaulį, kur ji neišvengiamai pareikalavo aukų: žlugo du didžiausi pasaulyje investiciniai bankai Lehman Brothers ir Merill Lynch, du didžiausi JAV hipotekos bankai Fannie Mae ir Freddie Mac, stipriai nukrito visų pasaulio akcijų indeksai. Akivaizdu, jog pasaulis supranta šios problemos mastą ir galimas pasekmes, kadangi XX a. tokių krizių jau buvo, jos stipriai paveikė to meto ekonominį bei politinį regionų kursą. Tačiau dabar šalių ekonomikos yra žymiai labiau susijusios, todėl būsimos šios krizės pasekmės bus gerokai didesnės. Įdomu, kaip tokiomis sąlygomis bankai bei kitos finansų institucijos tvarko turimus aktyvus finansų rinkose, kyla klausimas ar geresnio turto diversifikavimo siekis netaps finansų rinkų griūties priežastimi. Tyrimo objektas – vertybinių vertybinių popierių rinka finansinių krizių laikotarpiu. Darbo tikslas – išnagrinėjus ir apibendrinus mokslinę – teorinę literatūrą, suformuoti vertybinių popierių portfelį apsaugotą nuo ciklinių ekonominių svyravimų. Išsikeltą tikslą padeda pasiekti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Cyclical economical growth is natural and unavoidable phenomenon, at the same time the less amplitudes of economical cycles fluctuations are, the more attractive economy of a country is. Countries sustain ultimate difficulties when financial crises happen in a certain country. Latterly such crises mostly come into play as the prices bubble burst. The current financial crisis started from the crisis of secondary dwelling credits in the USA. After prices bubble burst it has spread worldwide and unavoidably claimed following victims: crashed two most famous underwriting banks of the world Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, two biggest mortgage banks of the USA Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, substantially fell down all stock indexes. It is evident that the world realizes the extent of this problem and probable results because similar crises had place during XX century. They impacted on economical and political regional course of that time rather strongly. But modern economies of various countries are involved in more noticeable degree, so forthcoming consequences of this crisis will be rather heavier. It is interesting how in such circumstances banks and other financial institutions manage their assets in financial markets. Also the question is whether an object of the better property diversification wouldn’t become the ground for a financial markets fall. Research object – stock market during financial crisis period. Purpose of this study is to explore and summarize theoretical... [to full text]

A diminuição das perdas hídricas com a redução das pressões de operação das redes de distribuição é um fenômeno conhecido há muito tempo pelas companhias de saneamento e distribuição de água. Entre as técnicas empregadas para esta finalidade, a setorização apresenta-se, atualmente, como um dos instrumentos mais efetivos de melhoria e otimização dos serviços de abastecimento. A setorização consiste na separação do sistema de abastecimento hídrico urbano em distritos denominados zonas pitométricas, com o objetivo geral de estabelecer um controle mais efetivo das pressões e das vazões de água destas zonas. A ampla difusão desta técnica, no entanto, não seria possível sem a evolução tecnológica dos elementos chave, necessários à implementação deste método de controle de abastecimento hídrico urbano. Visando subsidiar o desenvolvimento de técnicas para problemas enfrentados na setorização de redes de abastecimento hídrico, neste trabalho é relatado um estudo de caso realizado nas dependências da Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo (SABESP) por meio do qual são apresentadas soluções implementadas por esta Companhia no decorrer de mais de cinco anos. Este tempo permitiu que os métodos apresentados atingissem o grau de maturação necessário para que fosse estabelecido um modelo de setorização funcional e cada vez mais confiável. Por meio deste estudo são apresentadas, como contribuição original, soluções orientadas à utilização de recursos do protocolo digital Foundation Fieldbus, visando agregar ainda mais autonomia e disponibilidade às instalações do sistema de abastecimento hídrico da superintendência do litoral da referida Companhia e incorporando a este sistema características diferenciais como interoperabilidade, flexibilidade e redundância dos elementos críticos que o compõem. / The decrease of the hydric losses with the reduction of the operation pressures of the distribution nets is a phenomenon a long time known for the sanitation and water distribution companies. Among the used techniques for this purpose, the division in sectors technique comes, now, as one of the more effective instruments of improvement and optimization of the supplying services. The division in sectors technique consists in the separation of the hydric urban provisioning system in districts denominated pitometric zones, with the general objective of establishing a more effective control of the water pressures and flows of these zones. The wide diffusion of this technique, however, would not be possible without the technological evolution of the key elements, necessary to carry out this control method of urban hydric supplying. Looking for subsidize the development of techniques for problems faced in the division in sectors technique of hydric provisioning nets, in this work is described a case study, accomplished in the dependences of the Company of Basic Sanitation of the State of São Paulo (SABESP) through which are presented solutions implemented by this Company which has been carried out for more than five years. This time allowed that the methods presented reach the necessary maturation degree so that a functional and each more reliable model of the division in sectors technique would be established. Through this study are presented, as original contribution, proposals guided to the use of resources of the digital protocol Foundation Fieldbus, looking for aggregate yet more autonomy and availability to the facilities of the hydric provisioning system of the coast superintendency of the referred Company and incorporating to this system differentiates characteristics as interoperability, flexibility and redundancy of the critical elements that composes it.

Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar o diferencial de rendimentos entre os setores de serviços e de indústria no Brasil, nos anos de 2004, 2009 e 2014. As informações foram obtidas a partir da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD) desses anos. A hipótese central deste estudo é de que existe uma massa de trabalhadores sendo melhor remunerada no setor de serviços vis-à-vis o setor industrial, a qual vai contra a tese de que é na indústria onde estariam as profissões com maior valor agregado. A pesquisa também procura contribuir para a literatura acerca do setor de serviços, considerada escassa devido à heterogeneidade desse setor. Em primeiro momento, procura-se analisar o hiato salarial entre os setores através da decomposição proposta por Oaxaca (1973) e Blinder (1973). Após, utiliza-se o método de regressão RIF (Recentered Influence Function) de Firpo et al. (2007) com o objetivo de se obter estimativas por quantis de renda. Uma análise preliminar da distribuição da massa de salários entre esses dois setores revelou que o setor de serviços se encontra um pouco mais a direita na curva de distribuição, indicando que esse setor possui um número de expressivo de trabalhadores recebendo salários maiores daqueles da indústria. Constatou-se, também, que na decomposição salarial pela média o hiato salarial se mantém favorável aos trabalhadores do setor de serviços nos três anos analisados. No entanto, esse diferencial revelou-se maior em 2004. Apesar disso, a decomposição por quantis indicou que o diferencial de renda entre os setores se mantém favorável ao setor de serviços somente para os 75º e 90º quantis, contudo, as diferenças observadas nesses quantis se revelaram decrescentes na década analisada. O sinal negativo do efeito composição nos quantis que o setor de serviços remunera melhor indicou que os indivíduos empregados nesse setor possuem características mais produtivas relacionadas ao mercado de trabalho comparado ao setor de indústria. Já o sinal do efeito estrutura sinalizou que os retornos das características dos trabalhadores do setor de indústria foram menores que o retorno adquirido pelo outro setor. Nos demais quantis de renda, o setor de indústria foi o responsável por remunerar melhor os trabalhadores. Somente o 25º quantil apresentou crescimento do hiato nesse período. Para ambos os setores, ramos de alta tecnologia remuneram melhor para todos os quantis. / This study analyzes the income gap between the service and industry sectors in Brazil in the years 2004, 2009 and 2014. The information about these years was obtained from the National Survey by Household Sample (PNAD). The central hypothesis of this study is that there is a mass of workers being better paid in the service sector vis-à-vis the industrial sector, which goes against the well known consensus that the industry\'s earnings are greater than the service sector because of added value . The research also seeks to contribute to the literature on the service sector, considered scarce due to the heterogeneity of this sector. At first, the focus was the wage gap between sectors through the decomposition proposed by Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973). Afterwards, it was used the RIF (Recentered Influence Function) regression method of Firpo et al. (2007) in order to obtain the approximate income proportion. A preliminary analysis of the distribution of the mass of wages between these two sectors revealed that the service sector lies on a little more to the right on the distribution curve, indicating that this sector has a significant number of workers receiving higher wages than those in the industry. It was also observed that in the average wage decomposition the wage gap remained favorable to the service sector workers in the three years analyzed. However, this differential was higher in 2004. It was observed in the wage decomposition, where the wage gap is maintained favorable to the workers of the service sector in the three sectors analyzed. In addition, this differential is more pronounced in the most recent year. In those years, the effect of contributing to the increase of the difference, however, the magnitude is the effect of decreasing. Decomposition by quantiles indicated that the income differential between sectors remained favorable to the services sector only for the 75th and 90th quantiles. The gap observed in these quantiles were decreasing in the analyzed decade. The negative sign of this effect in the quantiles that the services sector pay better indicated that the individuals employed in this sector have more productive characteristics related to the labor market compared to the industry sector. The sign of the structure effect signaled that the returns of the characteristics of the workers of the industry sector were smaller than the return earned by the other sector. In the other quantiles of income, the industry sector was the one responsible for better remunerating the workers. Only the 25th quantil indicated a growth of the hiatus in this period. For both sectors, branches of high technology are better for all quantiles.

Le dispositif des secteurs sauvegardés, créé par la « Loi Malraux » en 1962, avait pour ambition non seulement d’assurer la conservation des ensembles architecturaux historiques mais aussi de leur redonner une place active au sein de la ville contemporaine. Considérés pendant longtemps comme des monuments à part entière, les secteurs sauvegardés tendent depuis une dizaine d’années à s’affirmer comme des lieux d’innovation en matière de réhabilitation architecturale. Ces quartiers anciens, qui ne représentent plus aujourd’hui qu’une infime partie de l’espace urbanisé français, se distinguent par la durabilité des constructions qui les composent et par l’intelligence de leur morphologie. Le cœur historique de Vitré, dont les transformations sont encadrées par un secteur sauvegardé depuis 1976, témoigne de la richesse de l’histoire économique, politique et sociale de la ville depuis le 13ème siècle. Épargné de l’urbanisme brutal qui se généralise dans la première moitié du 20ème siècle grâce à la volonté du service des Monuments historiques, il fait l’objet depuis la création du secteur sauvegardé de nombreuses interventions de restau-ration et de réhabilitation. À partir de l’étude de la ville de Vitré, cette recherche analyse ce qu’était le patrimoine logement avant la création du secteur sauvegardé, ce qu’on en a fait, et ce qu’il tend à devenir. L’étude est présentée en cinq volumes associant le texte (volume I), les cartes, plans, tableaux et documents iconographiques (volume II), ainsi que les notices se rapportant aux études d’inventaire (volume III à V). / The safeguarded sectors plan, created by the "Malraux Law" in 1962, aimed not only to ensure historical architecture sets preservation but also to give them back an active place within the contem-porary city. Considered for a long time as monuments in their own right, the safeguarded sectors have been tending over the past ten years to become innovation places in terms of architectural rehabilitation. These old districts which are today representing only a tiny portion of the french urbanized areas are distinguishable by the durability of their buildings and the cleverness of their morphology. The historic core of Vitré, whose the transformations are regulated by a safeguarded sector since 1976, testify the economic, political, and social richness of the city history from the 13th century. Spared from the brutal city planning which has spread in the first half of the 20th century thanks to the will of the Historic Monuments Department, it has been subject of numerous restoration and rehabilitation since the creation of the safeguarded sector. From the study of the Vitré city, this research looks at the housing heritage before the creation of the safeguarded sector, what has been achieved with it and what it tends to become. The study is composed of five volumes: the text (Volume I), the maps, plans, tables and iconographic documents (Volume II) and the inventory studies catalogue (Volume III to V).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T19:15:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este estudo analisa os fatores diferenciadores do nível de divulgação de informações voluntárias sobre o meio ambiente por companhias brasileiras de capital aberto pertencentes a setores de alto impacto ambiental. A partir da teoria da divulgação foram formuladas sete variáveis: tamanho, rentabilidade, endividamento, governança corporativa, sustentabilidade, controle acionário e internacionalização, as quais visam estabelecer a relação com o nível de divulgação ambiental. Por meio da técnica de análise de conteúdo das Demonstrações Financeiras Padronizadas (DFPs) do exercício findo em 2008, examinaram-se as informações de caráter ambiental divulgadas por 69 empresas com ações listadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA), pertencentes a setores de alto impacto ambiental, classificadas de acordo com o Anexo VIII da Lei n°. 10.165/2000. Em seguida, identificaram-se os fatores diferenciadores que explicam a divulgação de informações ambientais por meio da técnica estatística de regressão múltipla. Os resul / This study analyzes the differentiation factors of the level of disclosure of volunteer information about the environment by Brazilian joint stock companies belonging to sectors of high environmental impact. Considering the disclosure theory, seven variables were formulated: dimension, profitability, debt, corporate governance, sustainability, stock control and internationalization; they aim to establish the relationship with the level of environmental disclosure. Through content analyze technique of the Financial Demonstrations Patterns (FIPs) ended in 2008 it was examined information of environmental nature published by 69 companies that have shares listed in the Stock Exchange of São Paulo (BOVESPA), classified according Attachment VIII of the Law n°. 10.165/2000. Afterwards, it was identified the differentiation factors that explain the disclosure of environmental information by statistical technique of multiple regression. The results reveal that the information verified in the FIPs figurate, in general,