Background: Joint stability has been experimentally and clinically linked to mechanisms of knee injury and joint degeneration. The only dynamic, and perhaps most important, regulators of knee joint stability are contributions from muscular contractions. In participants with unstable knees, such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injured, a range of neuromuscular adaptations has been observed including quadriceps weakness and increased co-activation of adjacent musculature. This co-activation is seen as a compensation strategy to increase joint stability. In fact, despite increased co-activation, instability persists and it remains unknown whether observed adaptations are the result of injury induced quadriceps weakness or the mechanical instability itself. Furthermore, there exists conflicting evidence on how and which of the neuromuscular adaptations actually improve and/or reduce knee joint stability. Purpose: The overall aim of this thesis is therefore to elucidate the role of injury and muscle weakness on muscular contributions to knee joint stability by addressing two main objectives: (1) to further our understanding of individual muscle contribution to internal knee joint moments; and (2) to investigate neuromuscular adaptations, and their effects on knee joint moments, caused by either ACL injury and experimental voluntary quadriceps inhibition (induced by pain). Methods: The relationship between individual muscle activation and internal net joint moments was quantified using partial least squares regression models. To limit the biomechanical contributions to force production, surface electromyography (EMG) and kinetic data was elicited during a weight-bearing isometric force matching task. A cross-sectional study design determined differences in individual EMG-moment relationships between ACL deficient and healthy controls (CON) groups. A crossover placebo controlled study design determined these differences in healthy participants with and without induced quadriceps muscle pain. Injections of hypertonic saline (5.8%) to the vastus medialis induced muscle pain. Isotonic saline (0.9%) acted as control. Effect of muscle pain on muscle synergies recruited for the force matching task, lunging and squatting tasks was also evaluated. Synergies were extracted using a concatenated non-negative matrix factorization framework. Results/Discussion: In CON, significant relationships of the rectus femoris and tensor fascia latae to knee extension and hip flexion; hamstrings to hip extension and knee flexion; and gastrocnemius and hamstrings to knee rotation were identified. Vastii activation was independent of moment generation, suggesting mono-articular vastii activate to produce compressive forces, essentially bracing the knee, so that bi-articular muscles crossing the hip can generate moments for the purpose of sagittal plane movement. Hip ab/adductor muscles modulate frontal plane moments, while hamstrings and gastrocnemius support the knee against externally applied rotational moments. Compared to CON, ACL had 1) stronger relationships between rectus femoris and knee extension, semitendinosus and knee flexion, and gastrocnemius and knee flexion moments; and 2) weaker relationships between biceps femoris and knee flexion, gastrocnemius and external knee rotation, and gluteus medius and hip abduction moments. Since the knee injury mechanism, is associated with shallow knee flexion angles, valgus alignment and rotation, adaptations after ACL injury are suggested to improve sagittal plane stability, but reduce frontal and rotational plane stability. During muscle pain, EMG-moment relationships of 1) semitendinosus and knee flexor moments were stronger compared to no pain, while 2) rectus femoris and tensor fascia latae to knee extension moments and 3) semitendinosus and lateral gastrocnemius to knee internal rotation moments were reduced. Results support the theory that adaptations to quadriceps pain reduces knee extensor demand to protect the joint and prevent further pain; however, changes in non-painful muscles reduce rotational plane stability. Individual muscle synergies were identified for each moment type: flexion and extension moments were respectively accompanied by dominant hamstring and quadriceps muscle synergies while co-activation was observed in muscle synergies associated with abduction and rotational moments. Effect of muscle pain was not evident on muscle synergies recruited for the force matching task. This may be due to low loading demands and/or a subject-specific redistribution of muscle activation. Similarly, muscle pain did not affect synergy composition in lunging and squatting tasks. Rather, activation of the extensor dominant muscle synergy and knee joint dynamics were reduced, supporting the notion that adaptive response to pain is to reduce the load and risk of further pain and/or injury. Conclusion: This thesis evaluated the interrelationship between muscle activation and internal joint moments and the effect of ACL injury and muscle pain on this relationship. Findings indicate muscle activation is not always dependent on its anatomical orientation as previous works suggest, but rather on its role in maintaining knee joint stability especially in the frontal and transverse loading planes. In tasks that are dominated by sagittal plane loads, hamstring and quadriceps will differentially activate. However, when the knee is required to resist externally applied rotational and abduction loads, strategies of global co-activation were identified. Contributions from muscles crossing the knee for supporting against knee adduction loads were not apparent. Alternatively hip abductors were deemed more important regulators of knee abduction loads. Both muscle pain and ACL groups demonstrated changes in muscle activation that reduced rotational stability. Since frontal plane EMG-moment changes were not present during muscle pain, reduced relationships between hip muscles and abduction moments may be chronic adaptions by ACL that facilitate instability. Findings provide valuable insight into the roles muscles play in maintaining knee joint stability. Rehabilitative/ preventative exercise interventions should focus on neuromuscular training during tasks that elicit rotational and frontal loads (i.e. side cuts, pivoting maneuvers) as well as maintaining hamstring balance, hip abductor and plantarflexor muscle strength in populations with knee pathologies and quadriceps muscle weakness.

The zero coupon yield curve is one of the most fundamental tools in finance and is essential in the pricing of various fixed-income securities. Zero coupon rates are not observable in the market for a range of maturities. Therefore, an estimation methodology is required to derive the zero coupon yield curves from observable data. If we deal with approximations of empirical data to create yield curves it is necessary to choose suitable mathematical functions. We discuss the following methods: the methods based on cubic spline functions, methods employing linear combination of the Fourier or exponential basis functions and the parametric model of Nelson and Siegel. The current mathematical apparatus employed for this kind of approximation is outlined. In order to find parameters of the models we employ the least squares minimization of computed and observed prices. The theoretical background is applied to an estimation of the zero-coupon yield curves derived from the Czech coupon bond market. Application of proper smoothing functions and weights of bonds is crucial if we want to select a method which performs best according to given criteria. The best performance is obtained for Bspline models with smoothing.

La réflexion sur l‟utilisation de la politique budgétaire comme outil de stabilisation et de relance connaît un net regain d‟intérêt ces dernières années. Après près de trois décennies qui ont vu la dominance des idées néo-Classique, la récente crise financière des années 2008 a consacré le retour aux idées keynésiennes sur l‟efficacité de l‟outil budgétaire. Cette thèse s‟intéresse à ce thème et essaie de caractériser la politique budgétaire dans le contexte des pays en développement et son objectif final est de préciser dans quelle mesure cet outil de politique économique serait efficace pour ces pays. Le chapitre 2 traite de la question des effets des politiques budgétaires surprises. Autrement dit, et à partir d‟une modélisation en VAR structurels, cette partie se pose la question de savoir si le budget peut être utilisé de façon surprise pour relancer une économie et quels sont les défis que pose une telle mesure dans le contexte d‟une économie en développement. Le troisième chapitre à partir d‟un modèle de gravité analyse les relations entre la situation budgétaire dans les économies avancées ainsi que celle des pays émergents et les flux d‟investissement vers les économies à revenu intermédiaire. Cette étude montre qu‟un effet d‟éviction entre pays (développés et émergents) existe mais aussi que l‟économie mondiale tend vers un nouveau paradigme. Le dernier chapitre quant à lui étudie la cyclicité des politiques budgétaires pour un échantillon de pays d‟Afrique subsaharienne et d‟Amérique latine. La méthode choisie a permis de suivre l‟évolution de la procyclicité des politiques budgétaires d‟année en année et de montrer que les pays en développement surtout africains progressivement adoptent des politiques de plus en plus disciplinées et prudentes / The use of fiscal policy as a stabilization and stimulus tool face a renewed interest from analyst and policy makers. After almost three decades where neo-Classical ideas were dominant, the recent financial crisis (late 2007) marked the reborn of Keynesian ideas on the importance of the State budget during economic downturns. This dissertation focuses on this issue and provides with stylized facts of fiscal policies in developing economies, and the main aim being to be able to say whether fiscal policy is an efficient political economy tool. Chapter 2 focuses on the issue of unanticipated fiscal measures on the economy. Using a structural VAR approach it investigates whether unanticipated budget measures can be used to stimulate a declining economy and what kind of challenges and threats this strategy imposes to public authorities. Chapter 3, relying on a gravity model, analyses the relationship between emerging and advanced economies fiscal aggregates and capital flows. It shows that there exists a “global” crowding out effect of investment towards emerging markets and, most important is that world economy is entering into a new paradigm. The last chapter from a panel of Sub-Saharan African and Latin American economies studies the issue of fiscal procyclicality. The empirical strategy has allowed us on a yearly basis to characterise the cyclical behaviour of fiscal policies in both set of countries. It has been shown that developing countries especially African ones are adopting progressively more prudent and disciplined policies.

In this thesis the heterogeneity of regional real estate prices in United States is investigated. A high dimensional VAR model with additional exogenous predictors, originally introduced by \cite{fan11}, is adopted. In this framework, the common factor in regional house prices dynamics is explained by exogenous predictors and the spatial dependencies are captured by lagged house prices in other regions. For the purpose of estimation and variable selection under high-dimensional setting the concept of Penalized Least Squares (PLS) with different penalty functions (e.g. LASSO penalty) is studied in detail and implemented. Moreover, clustering methods are employed to identify subsets of statistical regions with similar house prices dynamics. It is demonstrated that these clusters are well geographically defined and contribute to a better interpretation of the VAR model. Next, we make use of the LASSO variable selection property in order to construct the impulse response functions and to simulate the prices behavior when a shock occurs. And last but not least, one-period-ahead forecasts from VAR model are compared to those from the Diffusion Index Factor Model by \cite{stock02}, a commonly used model for forecasts.

The aim of the thesis Determinants of car prices is to create econometric model for price predictions of new and used cars. The prediction is based on the data provided by website of Slovak retailer of new and used cars. The model should detect statistically significant variables and determine their impact on final price. In the first part of this study, there is theoretical description of automobile industry and factors influencing price of car. The second part is devoted on developing the predictive model, suitable transformation of explanatory variables, interpretation of results and the car price classification in form of decision tree.

Multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) techniques play an important role in industrial batch process monitoring and control. This research illustrates the capabilities and limitations of existing MSPC technologies, with a particular focus on partial least squares (PLS).In modern industry, batch processes often operate over relatively large spaces, with many chemical and physical systems displaying nonlinear performance. However, the linear PLS model cannot predict nonlinear systems, and hence non-linear extensions to PLS may be required. The nonlinear PLS model can be divided into Type I and Type II nonlinear PLS models. In the Type I Nonlinear PLS method, the observed variables are appended with nonlinear transformations. In contrast to the Type I nonlinear PLS method, the Type II nonlinear PLS method assumes a nonlinear relationship within the latent variable structure of the model. Type I and Type II nonlinear multi-way PLS (MPLS) models were applied to predict the endpoint value of the product in a benchmark simulation of a penicillin batch fermentation process. By analysing and comparing linear MPLS, and Type I and Type II nonlinear MPLS models, the advantages and limitations of these methods were identified and summarized. Due to the limitations of Type I and II nonlinear PLS models, in this study, Neural Network PLS (NNPLS) was proposed and applied to predict the final product quality in the batch process. The application of the NNPLS method is presented with comparison to the linear PLS method, and to the Type I and Type II nonlinear PLS methods. Multi-way NNPLS was found to produce the most accurate results, having the added advantage that no a-priori information regarding the order of the dynamics was required. The NNPLS model was also able to identify nonlinear system dynamics in the batch process. Finally, NNPLS was applied to build the controller and the NNPLS method was combined with the endpoint control algorithm. The proposed controller was able to be used to keep the endpoint value of penicillin and biomass concentration at a set-point.

This paper presents a detailed discussion of the Kronecker product of matrices. It begins with the definition and some basic properties of the Kronecker product. Statements will be proven that reveal information concerning the eigenvalues, singular values, rank, trace, and determinant of the Kronecker product of two matrices. The Kronecker product will then be employed to solve linear matrix equations. An investigation of the commutativity of the Kronecker product will be carried out using permutation matrices. The Jordan - Canonical form of a Kronecker product will be examined. Variations such as the Kronecker sum and generalized Kronecker product will be introduced. The paper concludes with an application of the Kronecker product to large least squares approximations.

Orientador: Ronei Jesus Poppi / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T08:18:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Avila_ThiagoCarvalhode_M.pdf: 7831860 bytes, checksum: 010f2295e00f097a9ecfaf3f498a7069 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Este trabalho visou o uso de Espectroscopia Raman e de Quimiometria para monitoramento e controle da fermentação de glicose por Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Na primeira etapa, foi utilizada calibração multivariada baseada no método dos Mínimos Quadrados Parciais (PLS) para quantificação de glicose, etanol, glicerol, ácido acético e células. Os modelos foram desenvolvidos baseados nos valores de concentração obtidos pelos métodos de referência, cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência ¿ HPLC e espectrofotometria UV/Vis. Tanto na etapa de calibração quanto na de validação, a otimização foi realizada com eliminação de amostras anômalas, baseada nos valores de leverage, resíduos e escores. Na segunda etapa, cartas de controle multivariadas foram usadas para identificação de falhas em bateladas durante o processo de fermentação. Foram construídos modelos MPCA (Análise de Componentes Principais Multimodo) a partir de bateladas NOC (Condições Normais de Operação). As cartas de controle multivariadas foram aplicadas em dois modos de desdobramento dos dados obtidos durante o monitoramento, um preservando a direção das bateladas e outro a direção do tempo. As falhas estudadas foram temperatura, mudança no substrato e contaminação do sistema. No modo de desdobramento por bateladas, a carta de controle Q foi eficiente para detecção das falhas estudas, fato comprovado pela classificação correta de três bateladas NOC como dentro de controle. No entanto, a carta de controle T2 não foi capaz de identificar as falhas estudadas corretamente como fora de controle. O modo de desdobramento pelo tempo também apresentou classificações corretas das falhas estudadas / Abstract: This work aims the use of Raman Spectroscopy and Chemometrics in the monitoring and control in the fermentation of the glucose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In the first step, it was applied the multivariate calibration based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) for the quantification of glucose, ethanol, glycerol, acetic acid and cells. The developed of calibration models was performed against the concentration values obtained by the reference methods, High Performance Liquid Chromatography and UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The optimization of the calibration and validation steps, the elimination of outliers was performed based on the values of leverage, residues and scores. In the second step, multivariate control charts were used for identification of batch-fault during the fermentation process. Multi-way Principal Component Analysis (MPCA) models were developed from batch NOC (Normal Operation Conditions). The multivariate control charts were based on two modes of unfolding the multi-way data, obtained during monitoring, one preserving the direction of the batch and another the direction of time. The fault studied were temperature, changes in the substrate and contamination of the system. In unfolding batch mode, the chart Q was effective for detection of the faults studied, proven by the correctly classification of 3 NOC batches as in control. However, the chart T2 failed to identify faults studied. The unfolding in time mode, also presented correct classifications of the faults studied / Mestrado / Quimica Analitica / Mestre em Química

O estudo do comportamento de fluidos é um antigo domínio das ciências da natureza. Ultimamente, fenômenos de engenharia que eram estudados empiricamente passaram a ser estudados com auxílio computacional. A Dinâmica de Fluidos Computacional (DFC) é a área da ciência da computação que estuda métodos computacionais para simulação de escoamento de fluidos, e muitas vezes é a forma mais prática, ou a única, de se observar fenômenos de interesse no escoamento. Este projeto de Mestrado procurou investigar, no âmbito da simulação de um escoamento bifásico, métodos computacionais para representar a interface entre dois fluidos imiscíveis. A separação dos fluidos por meio de uma interface é necessária para assegurar que, propriedades como viscosidade e densidade, específicas de cada fluido, sejam utilizadas corretamente para o cálculo do movimento de seus respectivos fluidos. Desenvolvemos um método lagrangeano sem a utilização de malhas com o objetivo de suprir algumas restrições de trabalhos prévios. Para representar a interface entre os dois fluidos, este método utiliza uma técnica de reconstrução de superfícies baseada em aproximações de superfícies algébricas de alta ordem. Os resultados numéricos reportados neste documento evidenciam o potencial da nossa abordagem / The study of the behaviour of fluids is an ancient field in natural sciences. Recently, engineering phenomena that were empirically studied started to be done with computacional aid. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the area of science that studies computational methods for computer simulation of fluid flow, and often is the most practical way, or the only, to observe phenomena of interest in flow. This Masters degree project sought to investigate, in the context of the simulation of biphasic flows, computational methods to represent the interface between two immiscible fluids. The separation of fluids by the means of an interface is required to ensure that, during the simulation, the physical properties of a fluid, like density and viscosity (specific of each fluid) are properly used in the calculus of the respective fluid motion. We developed a lagrangean method without the use of mesh with the goal of alleviating some of the previous works restrictions. To represent the interface between the two fluids, this method uses a surface reconstruction technique based on approximations of high order algebraic surfaces. The numerical results reported herein show the potential of our approach

Thesis(M. Com.(Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This study examined the determinants of learner performance by employing an education production function approach using the descriptive statistics, ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression techniques in 2016. The study utilised the data obtained from SA-SAMS of Bankfontein combined school at Mpumalanga province. In the education production function, learner performance was estimated against variables such as age, gender, days absent and socio-economic status. The results of this study indicated that in the rural combined school, learner performance is strongly influenced by age, absenteeism and socio economic status. For instance, results revealed that absenteeism had a negative effect on learners‟ educational performance. An increase in absenteeism by 1 day led to a reduction in learner‟s examination score by approximately 0.1 percentage points during the chosen period. The “socioeconomic status” variable revealed a statistically significant and negative impact on learners‟ educational performance. The results demonstrate that poverty leads to poor educational performance as measured by examination scores. It is recommended that schools should manage learner diversity (age, gender and socio-economic factors), introduce learner motivation programmes, teacher performance improvement interventions, and improve organisational planning and development, parental involvement among others to retain learners at school. Furthermore, schools should enforce education policies that stipulate entry and exit age at different levels of schooling.