Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / "Fall 2009." At head of title: University of Alberta. "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in mathematical finance-- thesis based, Dept. of Mathematical and Statistical Science." Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 15, 2009).

Orientador: Wagner Luiz Lourenzani / Co-orientador: Ana Elisa Bressan Smith Lourenzani / Co-orientador: Izabel Castanha Gil / Banca: Gessuir Pigatto / Banca: Ferenc Istvan Bankuti / Resumo: O urucum é considerado um dos mais importantes corantes naturais, atuando não só como colorífico, mas também agregando propriedades nutricionais aos produtos que o utilizam. Apesar da importância, poucos estudos são desenvolvidos acerca da sua cadeia produtiva. Visando a preencher essa lacuna, este trabalho teve o objetivo de compreender a estrutura e o funcionamento do Sistema Agroindustrial (SAG) do urucum na Microrregião de Dracena, no estado de São Paulo. A seleção desse SAG, nessa região, deveu-se pela falta de trabalhos científicos acerca desse produto, nessa abordagem, e pela sua representatividade geográfica na produção nacional e estadual. Para a realização desse trabalho, foi utilizado um estudo exploratório de caráter qualitativo. A metodologia envolveu uma pesquisa bibliográfica e uma pesquisa de campo. Esta última contou com a realização de entrevistas junto aos agentes chaves do SAG do urucum na região estudada. Em um contexto socioeconômico, identificouse que o cultivo do urucum é uma alternativa de produção agrícola para a região estudada. Trata-se de uma atividade característica da pequena produção e adotada, em sua maioria, por produtores caracterizados pela agricultura familiar. Os resultados mostraram alguns desafios associados ao SAG do urucum, tais como: a falta de produtos defensivos aprovados para o urucum, a incipiência no desenvolvimento de máquinas e implementos específicos para a cultura, a escassez de mão de obra para o manejo e a colheita, bem c... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Annatto is considered one of the most important natural dyes, acting not only as colorific, but also adding nutritional properties to the products that use it. Although it is an important crop, few studies are developed regarding the chain organization. In order to fulfill this gap, this work aimed at understanding the structure and functioning of the Agroindustrial System (SAG) of annatto in the Microregion of Dracena, in the state of Sao Paulo. The selection of this SAG in this particular region was due to the lack of academic work regarding this product under supply chain approach and due to its geographical representativeness in national and state production. For the accomplishment of this work, an exploratory study of qualitative character was used. The methodology involved a bibliographical research and a field research. This last one counted on the accomplishment of interviews with the key agents of the SAG of annatto in the studied region. In a socioeconomic context, it was identified that the cultivation of annatto is an alternative of agricultural production for the region studied. This activity is characteristic of small-scale production and it is mostly cultivated by family farmers. The results reveled some challenges associated with SAG of annatto, such as: the lack of approved agrochemical products for annatto cultivation; the incipience in the development of specific machines and implements for the culture; the scarcity of hand labor for handling and harvesting; and the concern with the continuity of the agricultural activity by the next generations of the rural farmers. The low organization and cooperation among farmers for the commercializing annatto reduces bargaining power and weakens the production sector. When analyzing the relations between farmers and its dealers three types of transactions involving the relationship between buyers and buyers of annatto have been identified and [...]. / Mestre

Thèse (LL.D.)--Université Laval, 2004. / Thèse présentée en cotutelle: Faculté de droit, Université Laval, Québec et Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) Paris, France. Bibliogr.: f. [359]-378. Publié aussi en version électronique.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Transaction costs, one of the most significant barriers to market participation, may vary by buyer type. Depending on who a farmer sells their produce to, they may alter their potential transaction costs consequently influencing their market participation. This study examines the effect of buyer type on smallholder market participation in Northern Ghana where poverty is still endemic and often exacerbated by fewer opportunities for commercialization such as limited access to markets. The analysis is based on data from the agriculture production survey conducted in 2013 and 2014 and the Population based Survey conducted in 2012 in northern Ghana. Analysis is performed using the Double Hurdle approach to control for self-selection bias, ensure more flexibility on the variables affecting the decision to sell and how much to sell as well as to provide unconditional effects of the variables on market participation. The results reveal greater market participation of cash crop producing farmers than those producing a lower value food crop - Maize. The results also show that farmers selling to aggregator-type middlemen and other buyers have a propensity to sell more. The aggregators and ‘other buyers’ buy in bulky, offer lower prices and are associated with lower transport, loading and offloading costs than consumers. Farm output, access to information and price also have a significant positive impact on intensity of market participation. These findings support policy initiatives such as supporting aggregator-type middlemen, increasing the provision of information, promotion of cash crops as well as supporting more interventions focusing on increasing production and yields.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:24:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Guimaraes Avilles.pdf: 928959 bytes, checksum: 53d87e9b25aa119ea28683cd35c16698 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-19 / This work comes in response to the great importance of study about transaction declaration of will to the transaction acts. The analysis of subjective and objective aspects, of the will and its manifestation does not have consensus between the doctrine and the main Roman-Germanic origin civil legislation in force. Therefore, the work seeks to analyze the concept of transaction act, in order to dissect what is in fact the place of declaration of will on its formation, and what are its necessary elements to bring a declaration of will able to create, modify or extinguish rights within the sphere of Private Law. In addition, the study seeks to address the main forms of known declaration of will, as well as how these are viewed by contemporary laws / A escolha do objeto deste estudo se deveu à grande importância que o estudo da declaração de vontade negocial tem para a formação do negócio jurídico. A análise de seus aspectos subjetivos e objetivos, da vontade e de seu modo de exteriorização ainda não possui consenso entre a doutrina e as principais legislações civis de origem romano-germânica vigentes. Por isso, buscou-se adentrar no próprio conceito de negócio jurídico, a fim de se dissecar qual é de fato o papel da declaração de vontade negocial na sua formação, bem como quais são os elementos necessários para que se produza manifestação de vontade apta a criar, alterar ou extinguir direitos dentro da esfera do Direito Privado. Além disso, o trabalho buscou enfrentar as principais formas de declaração de vontade negocial conhecidas, bem como a maneira como estas são encaradas pelas legislações contemporâneas

Key Words: continuous-time model, mean-variance, transaction costs, stochastic singular control, Lagrange multiplier method, parabolic free-boundary problem, double-obstacle problem, Skorokhod problem. / We study continuous-time Markowitz's mean-variance portfolio selection problem in a market with one stock, one bond and proportional transaction costs. The presence of transaction costs makes the problem being a singular control problem in a finite time horizon, which is very hard to deal with from the point view of control theory. Using a partial differential equation approach, we formulate the problem as a double obstacle problem, and prove the smoothness of the value function. Then we give the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an optimal solution and completely characterize the optimal strategy when the problem is feasible. We show three critical distinctive features of the Markowitz model under the presence of transaction costs. First, the expected return on the portfolio could be too high to achieve if the time to maturity is not long enough, while without transaction costs, any expected return can be reached in an arbitrary short time. Second, instead of keeping the investment ratio between stock and bond to be a constant, there exists time-dependent upper and lower boundaries, transaction is carried out only if the investment ratio is on the boundaries. Third, there exists a critical time, which only depends on the market parameters, such that beyond the time no more investment will be added to stock holding. Our result is closer to real investment practice where people tend not to invest on risky assets towards the end of the investment horizon. / Xu Zuoquan. / "January 2007." / Adviser: Xunyu Zhou. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: B, page: 5290. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-123). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

by Lau Wai Kwong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-102). / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Limitations of the Mobile Computing Environments --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Applications of Transaction Replication in Mobile Environments --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- Motivation for Transaction Replication in Mobile Environments --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Major Simulation Results --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Roadmap to the Thesis --- p.7 / Chapter 2 --- Previous and Related Research --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- File Systems --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Management of Replicated Files --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Disconnected Operations --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Database Management --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Data Replication Schemes --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Cache Invalidation and Query Processing --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Transaction Management in Mobile Environments --- p.17 / Chapter 3 --- System Model and Assumptions --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1 --- System Architecture --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- Transaction and Data Model --- p.23 / Chapter 3.3 --- One-copy Serializability --- p.25 / Chapter 3.4 --- Assumptions --- p.27 / Chapter 4 --- Transaction Replication in a Mobile Environment --- p.29 / Chapter 4.1 --- Read-only Public Transactions --- p.30 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Data Broadcasting --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Cache Update --- p.33 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Cache Miss --- p.36 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Execution of Read-only Public Transactions --- p.37 / Chapter 4.2 --- R/W Public Transactions --- p.39 / Chapter 4.3 --- Correctness Argument --- p.41 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Correctness Proof --- p.43 / Chapter 4.4 --- Extension to Support Partition Failures --- p.47 / Chapter 5 --- Design and Implementation of the Simulation --- p.49 / Chapter 5.1 --- CSIM Language --- p.49 / Chapter 5.2 --- Simulation Components --- p.50 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Fixed Network --- p.50 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Mobile Host --- p.50 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Wireless Channel --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Database and Transactions --- p.52 / Chapter 5.3 --- A Lock-based Scheme --- p.53 / Chapter 5.4 --- Graphing ...........、 --- p.54 / Chapter 6 --- Results and Analysis --- p.55 / Chapter 6.1 --- Results Dissection --- p.55 / Chapter 6.2 --- Performance of the Scheme --- p.56 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Parameters Setting --- p.56 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Experiments and Results --- p.59 / Chapter 6.3 --- Comparison with the Lock-based Scheme --- p.78 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Parameters Setting --- p.79 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Experiments and Results --- p.80 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusions and Future Work --- p.93 / Chapter 7.1 --- Conclusions --- p.93 / Chapter 7.2 --- Future Work --- p.94 / Chapter A --- Implementation Details --- p.96 / Bibliography --- p.99

A condução de processos de falência ou de recuperação geram custos, principalmente, aos seus participantes diretos: credores e devedora. Esses custos são chamados custos de falência e são classificados em diretos e indiretos. Os custos diretos são representados pelas despesas administrativas do processo jurídico, tais como honorários do administrador judicial, custas e despesas judiciais. Os indiretos são os custos de oportunidade incorridos para os participantes devido à participação em processos de falência ou de recuperação, tais como a dificuldade em obter crédito, ou o tempo despendido no processo. Admitindo-se a presença desses custos, este trabalho objetivou identificar, mensurar e classificar os custos de falência para os participantes diretos desses processos (devedor e credores) conduzidos sob a legislação falimentar brasileira a fim de compará-los aos custos encontrados em trabalhos internacionais que trataram sobre o tema. Por meio da consulta de processos de falência e de recuperação judicial nas comarcas de São Paulo-SP, Belo Horizonte-MG e Contagem-MG, foi possível coletar os dados necessários para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa. Como resultados principais foram encontrados que os desembolsos ocorridos nos processos de falência foram de em média 35% do ativo final da falida, os ativos das falidas perderam, em média 47% do valor, a taxa de recuperação total dos credores foi de, em média, 12% e os processos duraram 9 anos, em média. Em relação aos processos de recuperação, os custos diretos foram de, em média, 26% do ativo inicial da recuperanda, a taxa de recuperação dos credores foi, em média, de 25% e a duração de processos foi de 4 anos, em média. A análise dos resultados conduziu à indicação de que o processo falimentar brasileira é moroso e oneroso, considerando-se os resultados encontrados nos estudos internacionais utilizados como parâmetro, e que a dificuldade em se maximizar o valor do ativo da falida e ressarcir credores em ambos os procedimentos é um desafio não somente para o Brasil. / The procedure of bankruptcy generates direct and indirect costs of bankruptcy to its participants. Direct costs are represented by the expenses incurred during the legal procedure, such as trustee\'s fees, legal costs and expenses. The indirect costs are the opportunity costs incurred for the participants due to participation in liquidation or reorganization. Assuming the presence of these costs, this study aimed to identify, measure and classify bankruptcy costs of Brazilian bankruptcy law to direct participants of proceedings (debtor and creditors) and to compare them to the costs found in international studies that treated on the subject. Through documentary research, it was possible to collect the necessary data for the development of research that had as its main results that the direct costs of liquidation represented in this sample, on average 11.63% of the initial asset of the bankrupt, and in the reorganization, these costs were average 25.46 % of the initial asset of the firm. The asset bankrupt companies lost an average of 46.84 % of the value. Regarding the creditor recovery rates in the liquidation it was, on average, 12.40 % and 25.36 % in the reorganization. The results led to the indication that the Brazilian bankruptcy law is slower than results of international studies and the difficulty in maximizing the value of the bankrupt\'s assets and repay creditors in both procedures is a challenge not only to Brazil.

Bibliography: p. 281-289. Electronic publication; Full text available in PDF format; abstract in HTML format. Electronic reproduction.[Australia] :Australian Digital Theses Program,2001.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / An exciting trend in enterprise computing lies in the integration of applications across an organisation and even between organisations. This allows the provision of services by automated business processes that coordinate business activity among several collaborating organisations. The best successes in this type of integrated distributed system come through use of Web Services and Service-based Architecture, which allow interoperation between applications through open standards based on XML and SOAP. But still, there are unresolved issues when developers seek to build a reliable and robust system. An important goal for the designers of a loosely coupled distributed system is to maintain consistency for each long running business process in the presence of failures and concurrent activities. Our approach to assist the developers in this domain is to guide the developers with the key principles they must consider, and to provide programming models and protocols, which make it easier to detect and avoid consistency faults in service-based system. We start by defining a realistic e-procurement scenario to illustrate the common problems faced by the developers which prevent them from building a reliable and robust system. These problems make it hard to maintain the consistency of the data and state during the execution of a business process in the occurrence of failures and interference from concurrent activities. Through the analysis of the common problems, we identify key principles the developers must consider to avoid producing the common problems. Then based on the key principles, we provide a framework called GAT in the orchestration infrastructure. GAT allows developers to express all the necessary processing to handle deviations including those due to failures and concurrent activities. We discuss the GAT framework in detail with its structure and key features. Using an example taken from part of the e-procurement case study, we illustrate how developers can use the framework to design their business requirements. We also discuss how key features of the new framework help the developers to avoid producing consistency faults. We illustrate how systems based on our framework can be built using today’s proven technology. Finally, we provide a unified isolation mechanism called Promises that is not only applicable to our GAT framework, but also to any applications that run in the service-based world. We discuss the concept, how it works, and how it defines a protocol. We also provide a list of potential implementation techniques. Using some of the implementation techniques we mention, we provide a proof-of-concept prototype system.