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ARCHIBALD, MARIE ALEXANDRA, LAUREN PAIGE HOEPFNER, FABIO ANDRE MIRE, ACACIA MARIE MOORE, and JESSICA JANE SCHULTE. "CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/613074.
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SCHULTE, JESSICA JANE. "CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/614166.
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A traditional part of the portfolio management course at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management, is that each year a team participates in the international CFA Institute Research Challenge. This challenge is an annual competition that permits university students around the world to gain intensive training and practice in financial analysis. Students work in teams of 4 or 5 over the course of a semester to research and analyze a publically traded company. This year we, along with all other schools participating in this competition were asked to value Sprouts. Being from the Southwest region, we and four other teams were further afforded the opportunity to speak with the CFO of Sprouts in addition to conducting our own research. Utilizing all the resources provided to us, we proceeded to develop a 10-page recommendation regarding our position on Sprouts' stock: buy, sell or hold. This competition culminated for our team in a verbal presentation given to a local panel of CFA Institute members which, when combined with our report score, afforded us second place.
The remainder of this thesis report details the research and work involved in producing both the 10-page report and the presentation for this challenge.
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Collins, Tessa Lee, and Tessa Lee Collins. "CFA Institute Research Challenge." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624947.
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As a group of finance students, we were tasked with valuing Western Alliance Bancorporation for the CFA Institute Research Challenge. The competition required us to submit an analyst report detailing our research and findings about the company. Through our research and analysis, we found a stock price of $41.36, which was below their trading price, which resulted in a "sell" decision for Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL: NYSE). Using a combination of background research on the company, industry and financial analysis and valuation techniques. Western Alliance Bancorporation is a smaller regional bank that with the current market environment for banks, the current political instability and the competitive nature of the banking industry was determined to not be outperforming and carries a lot of risk. When looking at their financials, we determined that they had a fairly small market capitalization and was trading at high multiples for the industry. Using several valuation techniques and building the model, looking at historical pricing and residuals we came to the sell decision. Ultimately, we were able to submit our analyst report, but were not chosen to continue on to the local competition. This was a great learning experience and we were able to learn a lot about the environment in this industry.
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Augusto, Arias Vernal Carlos. "Cfa Workshop-AF124-201702." Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/628606.
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CFA Workshop es un curso de especialidad de la carrera de Administración y Finanzas de carácter teórico-práctico dirigido a los estudiantes de décimo ciclo que busca desarrollar la competencia de "Evaluación de alternativas de inversión y financiamiento y gestión integral de riesgos" al nivel 3.En al ámbito financiero internacional contar con la mención Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) es un sinónimo de excelencia académica y profesional. Inversionistas y empleadores en todo el mundo utilizan esta certificación como un estándar para medir la integridad y competencia en las áreas de análisis de inversiones y administración de portafolios.La designación CFA requiere que sus candidatos demuestren un conocimiento estricto del currículo que abarca diferentes campos relacionados con las finanzas y las inversiones. Esta certificación se otorga a los candidatos después de aprobar los exámenes correspondientes a los niveles I II y III y demostrar una destacada experiencia laboral. Los tres niveles del examen CFA son ofrecidos en Junio de cada ano en más de 150 ciudades alrededor del mundo entre ellas Lima. En el Perú la Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros (SBS) publicó en el 2005 un marco normativo para asegurar un manejo más eficiente y profesional de los recursos que administran las entidades financieras las compañías de seguros y las administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP).El curso "CFA Workshop" pretende exponer en forma útil y práctica los conceptos criterios y herramientas de análisis y gestión de inversiones que le permitan al candidato al examen CFA Nivel I desarrollar las habilidades y estrategias necesarias para su práctica profesional y el logro con éxito de la certificación de analista financiero.
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Martin, Gomez Sanchez Arbulu Alvaro, and Arias Vernal Carlos Augusto. "Cfa Workshop-AF124-201801." Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/628607.
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CFA Workshop es un curso de especialidad de la carrera de Administración y Finanzas de carácter teórico-práctico dirigido a los estudiantes de décimo ciclo que busca desarrollar la competencia de "Evaluación de alternativas de inversión y financiamiento y gestión integral de riesgos" al nivel 3.En al ámbito financiero internacional contar con la mención Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) es un sinónimo de excelencia académica y profesional. Inversionistas y empleadores en todo el mundo utilizan esta certificación como un estándar para medir la integridad y competencia en las áreas de análisis de inversiones y administración de portafolios.La designación CFA requiere que sus candidatos demuestren un conocimiento estricto del currículo que abarca diferentes campos relacionados con las finanzas y las inversiones. Esta certificación se otorga a los candidatos después de aprobar los exámenes correspondientes a los niveles I II y III y demostrar una destacada experiencia laboral. Los tres niveles del examen CFA son ofrecidos en Junio de cada ano en más de 150 ciudades alrededor del mundo entre ellas Lima. En el Perú la Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros (SBS) publicó en el 2005 un marco normativo para asegurar un manejo más eficiente y profesional de los recursos que administran las entidades financieras las compañías de seguros y las administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP).El curso "CFA Workshop" pretende exponer en forma útil y práctica los conceptos criterios y herramientas de análisis y gestión de inversiones que le permitan al candidato al examen CFA Nivel I desarrollar las habilidades y estrategias necesarias para su práctica profesional y el logro con éxito de la certificación de analista financiero.
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Martin, Gomez Sanchez Arbulu Alvaro, and Arias Vernal Carlos Augusto. "Cfa Workshop-AF124-201802." Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/628608.
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CFA Workshop es un curso de especialidad de la carrera de Administración y Finanzas de carácter teórico-práctico dirigido a los estudiantes de décimo ciclo.En al ámbito financiero internacional contar con la mención Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) es un sinónimo de excelencia académica y profesional. Inversionistas y empleadores en todo el mundo utilizan esta certificación como un estándar para medir la integridad y competencia en las áreas de análisis de inversiones y administración de portafolios.La designación CFA requiere que sus candidatos demuestren un conocimiento estricto del currículo que abarca diferentes campos relacionados con las finanzas y las inversiones. Esta certificación se otorga a los candidatos después de aprobar los exámenes correspondientes a los niveles I II y III y demostrar una destacada experiencia laboral. Los tres niveles del examen CFA son ofrecidos en Junio de cada ano en más de 150 ciudades alrededor del mundo entre ellas Lima. En el Perú la Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros (SBS) publicó en el 2005 un marco normativo para asegurar un manejo más eficiente y profesional de los recursos que administran las entidades financieras las compañías de seguros y las administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP).El curso "CFA Workshop" pretende exponer en forma útil y práctica los conceptos criterios y herramientas de análisis y gestión de inversiones que le permitan al candidato al examen CFA Nivel I desarrollar las habilidades y estrategias necesarias para su práctica profesional y el logro con éxito de la certificación de analista financiero.
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Martin, Gomez Sanchez Arbulu Alvaro, and Arias Vernal Carlos Augusto. "Cfa Workshop-AF124-201901." Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/628609.
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CFA Workshop es un curso de especialidad de la carrera de Administración y Finanzas de carácter teórico-práctico dirigido a los estudiantes de décimo ciclo.En al ámbito financiero internacional contar con la mención Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) es un sinónimo de excelencia académica y profesional. Inversionistas y empleadores en todo el mundo utilizan esta certificación como un estándar para medir la integridad y competencia en las áreas de análisis de inversiones y administración de portafolios.La designación CFA requiere que sus candidatos demuestren un conocimiento estricto del currículo que abarca diferentes campos relacionados con las finanzas y las inversiones. Esta certificación se otorga a los candidatos después de aprobar los exámenes correspondientes a los niveles I II y III y demostrar una destacada experiencia laboral. Los tres niveles del examen CFA son ofrecidos en Junio de cada ano en más de 150 ciudades alrededor del mundo entre ellas Lima. En el Perú la Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros (SBS) publicó en el 2005 un marco normativo para asegurar un manejo más eficiente y profesional de los recursos que administran las entidades financieras las compañías de seguros y las administradoras de fondos de pensiones (AFP).El curso "CFA Workshop" pretende exponer en forma útil y práctica los conceptos criterios y herramientas de análisis y gestión de inversiones que le permitan al candidato al examen CFA Nivel I desarrollar las habilidades y estrategias necesarias para su práctica profesional y el logro con éxito de la certificación de analista financiero.
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Guggenheim, Dennis. "Die Bindung des Franc CFA an den Euro Auswirkungen auf die CFA-Mitglieder und die Europäische Währungsunion /." St. Gallen, 2004. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/00914226001/$FILE/00914226001.pdf.
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Aberkane, Arezki. "Détection de contours dans les images CFA." Thesis, Lille 1, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017LIL10222/document.
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Cette thèse est consacrée à la détection des contours à partir d'images acquises par des caméras couleur mono-capteur. Dans ces dispositifs, le capteur est recouvert d'une mosaïque de filtres chromatiques (Color Filter Array, ou CFA) et forme une image (dite <> ou CFA) qui ne comporte qu'une seule composante couleur par pixel. Une procédure de dématriçage est classiquement appliquée à cette image pour estimer les deux composantes couleur manquantes en chaque pixel et obtenir une image couleur. Cependant, les artéfacts générés par le dématriçage peuvent altérer les performances des méthodes d'analyse bas-niveau des images. Ceci nous amène à éviter le dématriçage pour la détection des contours. Dans une approche de type gradient, nous proposons d'estimer les dérivées partielles soit en calculant les dérivées partielles dans les trois plans couleur (approche vectorielle), soit en estimant une luminance adaptée à la détection des contours (approche scalaire). L'état de l'art met en évidence que l'exploitation directe de l'image brute a été peu abordée et que les approches développées dans cette thèse sont originales. Pour l'approche vectorielle, nous proposons une adaptation de l'implantation récursive du filtre de Deriche au treillis du CFA. Pour l'approche luminance, nous utilisons un filtre optimal qui lisse et dérive conjointement les données brutes. Nous évaluons les performances des méthodes développées sur une base d'images synthétiques dont la vérité terrain est connue. Nous montrons ainsi que la détection des contours à partir des données brutes peut être satisfaisante tout en étant peu coûteuse en temps de calculThis thesis is devoted to edge detection from the raw image acquired by single-sensor cameras. Such cameras are fitted with Bayer Color Filter Array (CFA, generally Bayer one) and deliver raw CFA image, in which each pixel is characterized by only one out of the three colour components (red, green, or blue). A demosaicing procedure is necessary to estimate the other two missing colour components at each pixel, so as to obtain a colour image. This however produces artefacts that may affect the performance of low-level processing tasks applied to such estimated images. We propose to avoid demosaicing to compute partial derivatives for edge detection. Simple differentiation kernels, Deriche filters or shifted Deriche filters can be used either in a vector or a scalar approache. The vector approach computes partial derivatives for the three channels and the scalar approach first estimates a luminance image, then computes derivatives. The partial CFA derivatives are then used to compute Di Zenzo gradient for edge detection. We assess the performance of our methods on a large dataset of synthetic images with available edge ground truth. We show that CFA-based approaches may provide as accurate edge detection results as colour vector-based ones at much reduced computation cost
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Diop, Mame Diarra <1996>. "French monetary neo-colonialism: the CFA franc." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/19203.
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The CFA franc - which originally meant "franc of the French colonies of Africa" - was born in 1945, when it became the official currency of the French colonies in Africa, which until then had used the French franc.
The CFA franc, in fact, was issued and controlled by the French Ministry of Finance: France could thus decide the external value of the currency - its exchange rate against the French franc - according to its needs. And it immediately proved it, by imposing on the colonies a highly overrated exchange rate.
Today France is the only former colonial power that maintains its monetary zone in Africa, called the franc zone. Indeed, 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa still use the CFA franc (now pegged to the euro since 1 January 1999).
This currency is still today subject to the more or less explicit and more or less disinterested protection - depending on the side of the debate that has been chosen to believe - of France.
Considering that from my point of view this monetary system is a full-fledged form of neo-colonialism, this thesis article aims to point out the interests of France to remain at the head of this monetary system, by examining not only the advantages granted to the Elysée, but also the benefits that African leaders derive from it.
Indeed, one might wonder why the Member States of the franc zone are not abandoning the CFA system which is so damaging to them. Of course, if this system still exists, it not only provides benefits to France, which, in any case, has no qualms about using all the means of pressure at its disposal against those countries which question the CFA system, but also to other actors: the African elites. After all, many African leaders came to power with the support of the French government.
The thesis begins by sketching out the colonial origins of the CFA franc before moving on to scrutinize the functioning of the CFA mechanism. I will then analyse the benefits and obstacles created by this system, and how circumstances have changed due to two major events that have marked the history of the CFA franc: the devaluation of 1994 and the transaction from the French franc to the euro.
After mentioning certain heads of state who have rebelled against this currency, I will conclude by focusing on the Pan-African movement and on a possible end of the CFA franc with the creation of the ECO.
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MIRE, FABIO ANDRE, MARIE ARCHIBALD, LARUEN HOEPFNER, JESSICA SCHULTE, and ACACIA MOORE. "CFA RESEARCH CHALLENGE: SPROUTS FARMERS MARKET INITIATING REPORT." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/613271.
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The CFA research competition is a global competition that allows university teams to engage in financial analysis of a publicly traded company. This year the company chosen to analyze was Sprouts Farmers Market, a low cost, health-oriented grocer based out of Phoenix, Arizona. The competition included a visit with Sprouts management in Phoenix, research on Sprouts and the industry, and the creation of a research report with a buy/sell/hold recommendation on Sprouts’ stock. Our research report synthesized our research and issued a sell recommendation for the company based on an analysis of the industry, analysis of Sprouts strengths and weaknesses, analysis of macroeconomic conditions, risks, and a comprehensive valuation of Sprouts. After producing this research report our team presented our research to judges in Phoenix in a 10 minute presentation for the second part of the competition.
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Opoumba, Marcel. "Stabilisation macro - économique et dévaluation du franc CFA." Paris 1, 1997. http://www.theses.fr/1997PA010075.
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La dévaluation du franc CFA de janvier 1994 a marqué un tournant important dans l'évolution de l'économie des pays africains de la zone franc d'après les indépendances. Les conséquences de cette décision procèdent d'une thérapie de choc par rapport aux ajustements structurels, aux mutations du commerce international et au processus démocratique. Les observateurs étrangers et quelques acteurs africains considèrent les résultats obtenus à la suite de la dévaluation conformes à leurs attentes (surtout en matière de croissance économique). Mais nous pensons que la dévaluation seule n'explique probablement pas cette reprise de la croissance. En effet, dans un environnement caractérise par la hausse des cours des matières premières, elle a bénéficié aux exportations qui ont très rapidement augmente et ont tire la croissance entre 1994 et 1995. Cependant, parallèlement a la croissance, elle a entrainé un creusement des déficits externes et de l'endettement de la zone, de même un accroissement du secteur informel. Il serait donc souhaitable pour les pazf de profiter de cette dévaluation afin de mettre en place des conditions d'intégration plus efficientes, plus proches au plan théorique des recommandations en vigueur de l'économie. Pour cela, il faut faire jouer les effets dynamiques de l'intégration économique régionale, à savoir les rendements à l'échelle croissants, et les économies d'envergures, avec l'impulsion de projets de développement à l'échelle régionale. C'est l'unique issue pour un développement d'une agriculture cliente grâce à un élargissement de la dimension des marches africains, et de la crédibilité de la stratégie de diversification souhaitée des filières d'exportationsThe devaluation of the CFA franc of january 1994 has marked an important move of the evolution of the economy of african countries from the franc zone after the independances. The consequences of this decision represent a shock therapy in relation to the structural adjustments, the changes of international trade and the democratic process. Foreign observers and some african figures consider that the obtained results following the devaluation are conforming to their expectations (especially in terms of economic growt). But we think that the devaluation only probably does not explain this of growt. Indeed, in an environment caracterized by the rise of the quotation of raw materials, it has benefit exports that have increased quite quickly and grown between 1994 and 1995. However, parallell to this growth, it has implicated a sagging of external shortage, and indebtedness of the zone, and increase of the underground sector. It would be thus hopeful for the pazf to benefit from this devaluation in order to install more efficient integration conditions, closer theoretically to the actual recommendations of the economy. For this, it is necessary to use the dynamic effects of the regional economic integration, thus the increasing productivity on the scale, and higher range ecinomies with the impulse of development projects at a regional scale. It is the only way to develop an agriculture that is a client thanks to an enlargement of the dimension of the african markets and the credibility of the strategy of diversification dreamed by the export networks
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Rafi, Nazari Mina. "Denoising and Demosaicking of Color Images." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/35802.
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Most digital cameras capture images through Color Filter Arrays (CFA), and reconstruct the full color image from the CFA image. Each CFA pixel only captures one primary color component at each pixel location; the other primary components will be estimated using information from neighboring pixels. During the demosaicking algorithm, the unknown color components will be estimated at each pixel location. Most of the demosaicking algorithms use the RGB Bayer CFA pattern with Red, Green and Blue filters.
Some other CFAs contain four color filters. The additional filter is a panchromatic/white filter, and it usually receives the full light spectrum. In this research, we studied and compared different four channel CFAs with panchromatic/white filter, and compared them with three channel CFAs. An appropriate demosaicking algorithm has been developed for each CFA. The most well-known three-channel CFA is Bayer. The Fujifilm X-Trans pattern has been studied in this work as another three-channel CFA with a different structure.
Three different four-channel CFAs have been discussed in this research: RGBW-Kodak, RGBW-Bayer and RGBW- $5 \times 5$. The structure and the number of filters for each color are different for these CFAs. Since the Least-Square Luma-Chroma Demultiplexing method is a state of the art demosaicking method for the Bayer CFA, we designed the Least-Square method for RGBW CFAs. The effect of noise on different CFA patterns will be discussed for four channel CFAs. The Kodak database has been used to evaluate our non-adaptive and adaptive demosaicking methods as well as the optimized algorithms with the least square method.
The captured values of white (panchromatic/clear) filters in RGBW CFAs have been estimated using red, green and blue filter values. Sets of optimized coefficients have been proposed to estimate the white filter values accurately. The results have been validated using the actual white values of a hyperspectral image dataset.
A new denoising-demosaicking method for RGBW-Bayer CFA has been presented in this research. The algorithm has been tested on the Kodak dataset using the estimated value of white filters and a hyperspectral image dataset using the actual value of white filters, and the results have been compared. The results in both cases have been compared with the previous works on RGB-Bayer CFA, and it shows that the proposed algorithm using RGBW-Bayer CFA is working better than RGB-Bayer CFA in presence of noise.
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von, Eye Alexander, and Patrick Mair. "A Functional Approach to Configural Frequency Analysis." Department of Statistics and Mathematics, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 2007. http://epub.wu.ac.at/1488/1/document.pdf.
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Standard Configural Frequency Analysis (CFA) is a one-step procedure that determines which cells of a cross-classification contradict a base model. Selecting these cells out does not guarantee that the base model fits. Therefore, the role played by these cells for the base model is unclear, and interpretation of types and antitypes can be problematic. In this paper, functional CFA is proposed. This model of CFA pursues two goals simultaneously. First, cells are selected out that constitute types and antitypes. Second, the base model is fit to the data. This is done using an iterative procedure that blanks out individual cells one at a time, until the base model fits or until there are no more cells that can be blanked out. In comparison to standard CFA, functional CFA is shown to be more parsimonious, that is, fewer types and antitypes need to be selected out. In comparison to Kieser and Victor's CFA which focuses exclusively on optimizing the fit of the base model, functional CFA needs, in most cases, more iteration steps, but the overall goodness-of-fit for the base model is better. The methods are illustrated and compared using data examples from the literature. (author's abstract)Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics
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Gero, Fulbert Macaire Pallade. "Essais sur les marches parallèles de devises." Orléans, 1990. http://www.theses.fr/1990ORLE0503.
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Cette thèse rassemble trois travaux qui s'intègrent parfaitement : le premier, relatif au "fonctionnement et implications des marches parallèles de devises : le cas du marche du naira contre F. CFA" (thèse de troisième cycle - université d'Orléans) se compose de trois chapitres. Le premier chapitre analyse les causes des marches parallèles de devises ainsi que la nature de leurs taux d'un point de vue général et théorique. Le second expose l'organisation et l'importance du marché parallèle du naira contre f. Cfa ainsi que les facteurs intervenant dans l'évolution de son taux de change. Le troisième chapitre examine les effets redistributifs de ce marché sur les économies béninoise et nigériane. La seconde étude intitulée "analyses et enjeux du marche parallèle du naira contre F. CFA : recherches complémentaires" constitue un approfondissement de la thèse de troisième cycle, oriente vers la recherche des principaux déterminants du taux de change parallèle du naira contre F. CFA, les conflits de politique économique qu'il suscite et les possibilités de remédier a un marche parallèle de devises. La troisième étude s'est intéressée quant à elle, à l'analyse des résultats de "quelques tests d'efficience de trois marches parallèles de devises". Elle conclut à l'efficience de ces marchés que l'on pourrait a priori supposes inefficientsThe present thesis is made up three different works that however are well connected. The first one analysing "the functioning and the implications of the black markets for foreign exchange: the case of the market between the naira and c. F. A. Franc" (third cycle thesis, university of orleans, 1984) is made of three chapters. The first chapter analyses the cause fo black markets for foreign exchange and the nature of the rates, a general and theorical analysis. The second chapter treats of the organisation and the importance of the black market of naira - c. F. A. France, as well as the factors that have any influence on the exchange rate evolution. The third and lzast chapter examines the redistributive effects of this black market of currency on the national economies of benin and nigeria. - the second step of the work is focused on the "analysis and the stakes of the black market of naira - c. F. A. Franc : complementary researches". This is, in fact a deepen analysis of the thrid cycle thesis theme and is supposed to find the most important factors that determine the rate on the black market naira - c. F. A. Franc, the economic conflicts that follow from, and the way to remedy to a black market of currency. - the third step of the work makes an analysis of the results of "some tests of efficiency of three different kind of black markets of currency" that study shows the efficiency of those markets that initially could be supposed to be inefficient
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Mohapi, Mahlohonolo. "The CFA Franc Zone: a modern reincarnation of a colonial relic." Master's thesis, Faculty of Law, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33859.
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This study assesses the French Community of Africa, commonly known as the CFA Franc zone. This is a monetary union comprising 14 African countries in West and Central Africa. The purpose of the study is to examine the manner in which this monetary union affects the development of these 14 African member states, with special reference to the membership of France in the union. For various reasons, including language, time and other resource constraints, and the prohibitive geographical distance, this study has had to rely heavily and exclusively on the review of literature on the subject matter, as opposed to other more popular research procedures. The key finding of this research is that the CFA Franc zone, from its inception, was never conceived as a union of equal partners. There are unmistakable features that point to the superiority of France in the union. For example, the union was proposed by France as a condition for the attainment of independence by these former colonies. They had to sign the colonial pact made up of economic, political and military arrangements, all of which give France the upper hand and huge advantages in the union. These include the fact that the African CFA Franc zone countries have to deposit 50 per cent of their foreign reserves into the French treasury; they have to peg their currencies to the Euro on a fixed exchange rate system; and they are not allowed to devalue their currencies as they see fit, because in the union agreement, this is the exclusive prerogative of France, which can itself devalue these currencies unilaterally. This study concludes that the CFA Franc zone is, indeed, a classical form of neo-colonialism. Thus, short of abandoning this union altogether, the study recommends a fundamental and momentous restructuring of the union to make it a win-win arrangement in which the union benefits both parties and facilitates the genuine socio-economic and political development of the CFA Franc zone countries.
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Halawana, Hachem. "Dématriçage partiel d’images CFA pour la mise en correspondance stéréoscopique couleur." Thesis, Lille 1, 2010. http://www.theses.fr/2010LIL10149/document.
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La mise en correspondance stéréoscopique consiste à retrouver dans les images couleur gauche et droite les primitives homologues. Dans ce but, des mesures de similarité entre les pixels dans une paire d’images sont calculées. Un coût de correspondance est généralement calculé à chaque pixel de l’image gauche pour tous les décalages dans un champ prédéfini, c'est à dire pour un ensemble limité de pixels candidats dans l’image droite. Ensuite, le pixel candidat qui minimise le coût est retenu et sa position donne la disparité. Les coûts de mise en correspondance supposent que les pixels homologues ont presque les mêmes composantes couleur. Les composantes couleur sont dégradées par le dématriçage quand les images couleur ont été acquises par un caméra équipée d'un seul capteur. L'idée est de tenter une mise en correspondance directement à partir des images CFA. De cette façon, il serait possible de travailler sur des intensités de couleurs dont on est sûr. Le fait de travailler sur les images CFA soulève différents problèmes. Tout d'abord, le nombre d'informations est considérablement réduit par rapport à une image couleur idéale: nous en avons trois fois moins. Il faut donc que nous travaillions avec des outils capables de pallier cette carence. Ensuite, rien ne nous permet d'affirmer que des pixels homologues vont être codés dans des couleurs similaires dans les deux images stéréoscopiques CFA. Nous suggérons d'estimer partiellement les éléments manquants et ensuite de mettre en correspondance les pixels. Nous avons prouvé que ce dématriçage partiel donne de meilleurs résultats que le dématriçage totalMost color stereovision setups include single-sensor cameras which provide Color Filter Array (CFA) images. In those images, a single color component is sampled at each pixel rather than the three required ones (R,G,B). We show that standard demosaicing techniques, used to determine the two missing color components, are not well adapted when the resulting color pixels are compared for estimating the disparity map. In order to avoid this problem while exploiting color information, we propose a partial demosaicing designed for dense stereovision based on pairs of Bayer CFA images. Finally, experimental results obtained with benchmark stereo image pairs show that stereo matching applied to partially demosaiced images outperforms stereo matching applied to standard demosaiced images
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Giorgioni, Gianluigi. "Essays on a monetary union : the case of the CFA Franc zone." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.299056.
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Höglund, Marcus, and Oscar Forsén. "Erfarenheter från användning av sekantpålning som stödkonstruktion : Fallstudier från projekt i Sverige." Thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-174123.
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Målet med rapporten är att redovisa erforderliga maskiner, personal och erfarenhetsdata för sekantpålning. Detta kan utnyttjas vid jämförelse med andra pålningsmetoder av företag. Sekantpålning används som en stödkonstruktion, vars uppgift är att stötta jordmassor vid schakt. De positiva egenskaperna med denna är en bidragande faktor till ett ökat utnyttjande av metoden. Genom att uppnå lägre vibrationsnivåer och minimera grundvattensänkning får metoden ett ökat mervärde. Sekantpålningsmetoden används i större utsträckning utomlands och det är först nu den börjar brukas i Sverige. Genom att Trafikverket har godkänt sekantpålning som en permanent konstruktion, kan metoden bryta ny mark i Sverige. Sekantpålningsmetoden i sig påverkas ej av det svenska mark- och klimatförhållandet. Det är den teknik som man utnyttjar vid sekantpålningen, som påverkas av de geologiska och hydrogeologiska förutsättningarna. Mark som består av rikligt med stenblock eller varierande sten storlekar bör man använda CSP-tekniken med foderrörsborrning. Tekniker som inte klarar av dessa markförhållanden är CFA och CAP, som istället utnyttjar en augerborr. Dessa tekniker utnyttjas när marken består av fastlera eller friktionsjord, vilket gör arbetet för augerborren betydligt lättare än om marken består av stenblock. Slutsatsen i rapporten visar att sekantpålning är det dyrare alternativet och att metoden inte kan konkurrera med de mer konventionella stödkonstruktionerna ur kostnadssynpunkt. För att sekantpålningen ska vara fördelaktig måste metoden ses ur ett större perspektiv och hänsyn tas till omgivningspåverkan och markförhållanden. På så sätt kan ett mervärde skapas. Metoden lämpar sig väl i innerstadsmiljö med närliggande byggnader, då buller och vibrationer är en påverkande faktor. Projekt som har utnyttjat sekantpålningsmetoden har varierande kostnader, då de har använt olika sekantpålningstekniker. Vid Norra länken 12 och 22 tillämpades CSP-tekniken som hade en kapacitet till att göra 2,5 pålar per dag till en kostnad av 11.500 kr/m². Vid Bargers plats i Malmö tillämpades CFA-tekniken till en kostnad av 2.500 kr/m². Vid Folkungagatan i Stockholm användes CAP-tekniken till en kostnad av 4.500 kr/m². Metoden har både för och nackdelar. Fördelarna är att metoden är flexibel vilket innebär att den kan anpassas efter önskad geometri. Metoden bidrar till mindre vibrationer som i sin tur minimerar risken för sättningar. Nackdelarna är att sekantpålning är dyrare än konventionella stödkonstruktioner p.g.a. att metoden är tidskrävande. Vid sekantpålning som permanent stödkonstruktion görs efterspänning av ankarstag som är tidskrävande. I rapporten presenteras byggprojekt där sekantpålning använts. Projekt som redovisas i rapporten är Odenplan station, Spjutmo kraftstation, Norra länken 12 och 22, Bagers plats och Folkungagatan.The goal of the report is to present machines, staff and requisite experience data within secant piling. The information may be utilized in comparison with other piling methods by corporations. Secant piling is used as a support structure whose task is to keep the soil from sliding in to the pit during excavation. Its positive aspects of the environment are a contributing factor to increased use of the method. By achieving lower vibration levels and minimize the reduction in the groundwater level, the method adds value. The secant pile method is extensively used abroad and nowadays it begins to be operated in Sweden. Now when Trafikverket has approved secant piling as a permanent structure, the method can lead to more usage in Sweden. The secant pile method in itself is not affected by the Swedish soil and climatic condition. It is the technique you are utilizing when using secant piling that’s affected by the geological and hydrogeological conditions. Soil that is consisting of boulders or variable stone sizes should use CSP technology with casing drilling. Techniques that don’t work in these soil conditions is CFA and CAP, which instead uses an auger drill. These techniques are utilized when the soil consists of solid clay or friction soil, which makes the work of the auger drill much easier than if the land consists of stone blocks. The conclusion of the report indicate that secant piles are the more expensive option, and that the method cannot compete with the more conventional support structures in that regard. To understand that secant piles will be beneficial the method must be seen from a broader perspective and you have to look at the impact of the surroundings and the soil conditions. In this way, added value is created. The method is suitable in urban setting with nearby buildings, where noise and vibration is an influencing factor. Projects that have embraced the secant pile method have varying costs, since they have used different secant pile techniques. At Norra länken 12 and 22 they used the CSP technology that had a capacity to make 2.5 piles per day at a cost of 11,500 SEK/m². In Bagers Plats in Malmö they used the CFA technology at a cost of 2,500 SEK/m². At Folkungagatan in Stockholm they used the CAP technology at a cost of 4,500 SEK/m². The method has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the method is flexible which means that it can be adapted to the desired geometry. This method helps to reduce vibration, which in turn minimizes the risk of subsidence. The disadvantages are that secant piling is more expensive than conventional supporting structures because of the method is time consuming. When secant piles that are used as a permanent support structure the anchor rods have to be tightened often and that is time consuming. The report presents the construction projects where secant piling is used. Projects presented in the report are Odenplan station, Spjutmo kraftstation, Norra länken 12 and 22, Bagers plats and Folkungagatan.
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Yamb, Elie. "Mésalignement et dynamique de convergence du taux de change réel en zone CFA." Phd thesis, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, 2007. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00326328.
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La thèse étudie et met en évidence les mésalignements (déviation du taux de change réel par rapport à sa valeur d'équilibre) du taux de change pour un certain nombre de pays des deux zones franc CFA, à savoir la Côte d'Ivoire et le Mali pour l'UEMOA, le Tchad, la République Centrafricaine et le Cameroun pour la CEMAC. En fait, il s'agit de savoir si l'organisation des unions monétaires en change fixe avec l'euro, avec leurs règles monétaires et les règles de convergence budgétaires adoptées ne conduisent pas à une surévaluation structurelle et chronique des taux de change réels des pays qui seraient préjudiciables à leur croissance ou plus généralement à leur développement ceci en dépit des gains de crédibilité obtenus en matière d'inflation et les avantages en terme de risque pays que procure des règles strictes, mais claires et constantes au cours du temps. Cela dit le taux de change réel d'équilibre de long terme est apprécié dans la thèse en fonction des termes de l'échange, de la part des biens non échangeables et échangeables internationalement, de la balance courante, de la demande intérieure, des droits et taxes sur les importations et exportations, du degré d'ouverture et des dépenses publiques. Nous en arrivons à la conclusion selon laquelle les taux de change réels ont été en général surévalués (en moyenne sur la période 1965-2003) quoique de manière diverse selon les pays, ce qui justifie après coup la dévaluation de 1994, les mésalignements ne se résorbant pas plus vite dans les « petits pays » que dans les « grands ». Un développement en quatre parties est proposé : la première décrit l'évolution des économies des zones franc selon le régime de change (dévaluation de 1994, passage à l'euro en 1999), la situation de la dette (crise de la dette et politiques d'ajustement structurelles entre 1986 et 1994), la spécialisation du commerce extérieur et le taux de croissance du PIB. Le problème récurrent du déficit extérieur et les taux de croissance faibles sont également mis en exergue. La seconde partie passe en revue les théories du taux de change réel d'équilibre et se termine par une évaluation très précise et originale des taux de change réels. La troisième partie étudie et discute une spécification d'une forme réduite de taux de change réel d'équilibre dans l'esprit de la théorie d'Edwards et développe les modèles VAR et VAR à correction d'erreur qui permettent de penser l'évolution du taux de change vers sa valeur de long terme considérée comme une fonction des fondamentaux décrite par une relation de cointégration. La quatrième partie enfin présente les estimations complètes pour les cinq pays étudiés, les discutent et les utilisent pour produire les conclusions rappelées au début de ce résumé.
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Magheshimangiende, Magnaga Corrine. "Dévaluation et commerce international : une étude sur quelques pays de la zone CFA." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ35696.pdf.
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Yamb, Elie Blaise Benjamin. "Mésalignement et dynamique de convergence du taux de change réel en zone CFA." Paris 1, 2007. https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00326328.
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La thèse met en relief les mésalignements du taux de change réel pour un certain nombre de pays de la zone franc CFA. L'auteur utilise une relation de cointégration de long terme en appliquant la méthode des moindres carrés dynamiques pour déterminer les fondamentaux qui influences significativement le taux de change et par ricochet les mésalignements. Un modèle à correction d'erreur est utilisé à cet effet pour étudier la dynamique de convergence à l'équilibre du taux de change suite à des chocs exogènes et les réponses du taux de change réel consécutif aux chocs exogènes sont étudiées à travers les différentes fonctions de réponse impulsionnelle et de la décomposition de la variance.
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Magheshimangiende, Magnaga Corrine. "Dévaluation et commerce international : une étude sur quelques pays de la zone CFA." Sherbrooke : Université de Sherbrooke, 1998.
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Silva, Vanessa Rafaella Foletto da. "A medula espinhal modula a simetria da artrite induzida por CFA em ratos." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 2015. https://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/159883.
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Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmacologia, Florianópolis, 2015.Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T04:04:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 337680.pdf: 39867224 bytes, checksum: aa1fb541ef4c32f9c62b09d17db51970 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015
A apresentação bilateral de sinais clínicos de uma doença sugere um envolvimento do sistema nervoso na sua fisiopatogenia. Neste estudo em ratos, a partir de um modelo animal, um estímulo pró-inflamatório de adjuvante incompleto de Freund (CFA) (250 µg de Mycobacterium tuberculosis e 100 µl de adjuvante), unilateral e não sistêmico na pata, conduziu ao comprometimento articular da pata contralateral homóloga após 21 dias do estímulo flogístico. Durante o desenvolvimento do quadro inflamatório foi possível observar uma inter-relação entre o aumento de volume da pata ipsilateral com o aumento da contralateral nos animais onde a lateralização ocorreu. Quanto aos mecanismos dessa simetria, a incidência da doença contralateral foi reduzida quando uma potente neurotoxina para TRPV1, a resiniferatoxina, foi administrada (760 ng) pela via intratecal, cinco dias antes do CFA. A redução da magnitude do quadro bilateral também, foi reduzida com a administração intratecal do bloqueador do co-transportador de Cl- (NKCC1), a bumetanida (60 µg) 30 minutos após o CFA e diariamente por mais 4 dias. Sendo assim, ficou demonstrado haver uma participação de fibras nervosas TRPV1 positivas com envolvimento do Reflexo da Raiz Dorsal (RRD). O RRD dá origem a uma transmissão que percorre de forma antidrômica as fibras sensoriais primárias (fibras C e Ad) e libera neuropeptídeos na periferia que são pró-inflamatórios e pró-artritogênicos com participação do NKCC1. A compreensão da passagem da informação de um hemisfério ao outro considerou a notável relação entre as células neuronais e não neuronais, que identifica as células gliais como responsivas aos sinais vindos da periferia, implicando a capacidade dessas células em intermediar um efeito contralateral. A ativação microglial, vista pelo aumento da imunorreatividade `a marcação pelo anticorpo anti- Iba-1, foi observada em ambos os hemisférios do modelo de artrite simétrica deste estudo, mas também, com a administração intratecal de Zymosan A (0,01 ou 100 ng), um ligante exógeno do receptor TLR2 que é, principalmente, encontrado em microglia. Concomitantemente, houve um aumento da incidência de lateralização em ambos os casos. A prevenção da ocorrência da simetria foi associada ao bloqueio da ativação microglial pela administração intratecal prévia e repetida de minociclina (50 µg), o que não ocorreu com a administração intraperitoneal da mesma droga, mostrando por essa dose e via um mecanismo medular exclusivo. Um ponto de partida para especular a forma como ocorre a comunicação entre as células da microglia e as fibras TRPV1 positivas, capaz de promover a ocorrência de um processo inflamatório em articulação contralateral, foi obtido com a administração IT prévia de Fractalcina (CX3CL1) (30 ng) e TNF-a (3 ng). Ambos os tratamentos aumentaram e anteciparam o desenvolvimento de simetria associado a uma maior ativação microglial bilateral. Por consequência, considerando-se o papel da medula na etiologia de enfermidades, o tratamento de muitas doenças não se resumiria apenas na inibição da atividade neuronal aferente, mas também poderia envolver igualmente estratégias para reduzir a atividade eferente das fibras sensoriais e do estado de interação neurônio-glia. A medula espinhal não é apenas uma simples via de transmissão de uma informação sensorial da periferia para o cérebro, mas um local potencial para a modulação da resposta inflamatória durante um insulto periférico.
Abstract : The bilateral expression of clinical signs of a disease suggests the involvement of the nervous system in its physiopathology. In the present study in rats, an animal model of joint damage with unilateral, non-systemic pro-inflammatory CFA stimulus (250 µg) on the paw showed the development of arthritis in the homologous contralateral paw after 21 days of the inflammatory stimulus. In addition, an inter-relation was found between the increased volume of the ipsilateral paw and the increase of the contralateral paw among the animals that showed lateralization. This model  which offers an ideal opportunity to study the mechanisms and develop treatment strategies of the progressions in arthritic lesions  shows a role in the symmetry of TRPV1-positive and capsaicin-sensitive nervous fibers with the involvement of the dorsal root reflex (DRR). DRR originates a transmission that runs antidromically across the primary sensory fibers (fibers C and Ad) and releases pro-inflammatory and pro-arthritogenic neuropeptides in the periphery. The understanding of the passage of information from one hemisphere to the other considered the notable relation between neuronal and non-neuronal cells, which identifies the glial cells as responsive to the signs from the periphery, thus implying the ability these cells have to intermediate a contralateral effect. The microglial activation, noticed through the increase in immunoreactive marking by the anti-Iba-1 antibody, was observed in both hemispheres in the symmetric arthritis model in this study, but also through the intrathecal administration of Zymosan A, an exogenous ligand of the receptor TLR2 mainly found in microglia. At the same time, the incidence of lateralization increased in both cases. Symmetry prevention was associated with the blocking of the microglial activation by the prior repeated intrathecal administration of minocycline, which did not occur with the intraperitoneal administration of the same drug, thus showing an exclusive medullar mechanism through this dose and administration pathway. One starting point to speculate about how the communication takes place between the microglia cells and the TRPV1-positive and capsaicin-sensitive fibers, able to promote an inflammatory process in the contralateral joint, was obtained by previous IT administration of Fractalkine (CX3CL1) and TNF-a. Both treatments increased and brought forward the development of symmetry associated with greater bilateral microglial activation. Consequently, given the role of the medulla in the etiology of disorders, the treatment of many diseases would not be limited to simply inhibiting the afferent neuronal activity, but could also equally involve strategies to reduce the efferent activity of the sensory fibers and of the neuron-glia interaction status. The spinal cord is not only a simple transmission path of sensory information from the periphery to the brain, but rather a potential site to modulate the inflammatory response during a peripheral injury.
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MILIA, CHIARA. "Evaluation of pain components in an animal model of chronic inflammatory pain: a study towards new therapeutics." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/199051.
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Il dolore cronico è una patologia cronica invalidante attualmente trattata con farmaci prevalentemente oppioidi, che comportano gravi effetti collaterali come stitichezza, depressione respiratoria, dipendenza e tolleranza. I ligandi I2 possiedono proprietà analgesiche e contrastano lo sviluppo della tolleranza se co-somministrati con oppioidi. CR4056, un nuovo farmaco I2-agonista, possiede efficacia analgesica dimostrata in diversi modelli animali di dolore cronico, in cui, inoltre, è stato osservato un forte effetto sinergico con la morfina.
Lo scopo del mio studio era quindi quello di esaminare l'interazione tra morfina e CR4056 per quanto riguarda la tolleranza agli oppioidi, per chiarire la loro interazione farmacologica.
A questo scopo, ho valutato gli effetti comportamentali della sinergia tra CR4056 e morfina sullo sviluppo e l'espressione della tolleranza nel modello CFA di dolore cronico. E’ stata anche valutata l'azione putativa di CR4056 sugli effetti collaterali indotti da oppioidi e sulla microgliosi spinale. È noto, infatti, che la microglia spinale ha un ruolo importante nel dolore cronico e nella tolleranza indotta da oppioidi, poiché in queste condizioni è stata osservata un'attivazione prolungata della microglia, legata al rilascio di fattori proinfiammatori.
Infine, abbiamo mirato a comprendere meglio la sinergia della morfina CR4056 a livello molecolare. Infatti, è stato dimostrato che i neuroni DRG di modelli animali di dolore cronico mostrano una maggiore attivazione del recettore TRPV1, dipendente della fosforilazione di PKCε e dalla sua traslocazione sulla membrana cellulare. Inoltre, molti analgesici sono in grado di inibire la fosforilazione di PKCε in neuroni sensoriali in coltura. In dati preliminari non pubblicati, abbiamo osservato che morfina e CR4056 contrastano la traslocazione di PKCε indotta da fattori infiammatori in colture primarie di DRG di ratto. Pertanto, in questo lavoro abbiamo mirato a chiarire gli effetti delle somministrazioni acute di morfina o CR4056 in DRG ex vivo da ratti trattati con CFA, mediante quantificazione della fosforilazione di PKCε e dell'espressione di TRPV1, e nel midollo spinale, mediante valutazione della microgliosi.
I miei risultati hanno dimostrato che l'infiammazione indotta da CFA ha innescato l'iperalgesia meccanica, contrastata dalla morfina o dal CR4056 in acuto. La somministrazione combinata di morfina e CR4056 ha causato una prevenzione dose-dipendente della tolleranza alla morfina, rispetto al gruppo trattato con sola morfina, in un paradigma breve (4 giorni) e lungo (14 giorni). Inoltre, quando CR4056 è stato co-somministrato con la morfina in ratti già tolleranti, è stato in grado di migliorarne l'attività analgesica. Negli stessi animali, l'attivazione della microglia spinale era maggiore nei ratti CFA, trattati con veicolo o morfina, ma non nel gruppo con somministrazione combinata di CR4056-morfina. Inoltre, la sinergia non era accompagnata da una modulazione additiva della costipazione da oppioidi.
Nei DRG L4-L5 di ratti CFA abbiamo riscontrato un aumento significativo della fosforilazione di PKC-ε e della colocalizzazione tra PKC-ε e VR1, rispetto ai controlli e agli animali trattati in acuto (con CR4056 o morfina). Negli stessi animali, la microglia spinale è risultata significativamente attivata negli animali trattati con CFA rispetto ai controlli e agli animali trattati con CR4056, ma non ai ratti trattati con morfina.
In conclusione, questi dati suggeriscono CR4056 come farmaco valido per prevenire e revertire la tolleranza agli oppioidi senza esacerbarne gli effetti collaterali. Inoltre, i dati in vitro su CR4056 e il meccanismo sinergico con morfina su PKCε sono stati validati in DRG ex vivo da ratti trattati con CFA. Ulteriori studi chiariranno gli effetti del trattamento combinato su DRG e midollo spinale al fine di comprendere il meccanismo della sinergia tra CR4056 e oppioidi.Chronic pain is a disabling and long-lasting cross-pathology condition, currently treated with mostly opioid drugs, which are leading to severe side-effects such as constipation, respiratory depression, addiction and tolerance. I2 ligands showed analgesic properties and to contrast tolerance development in co-administration with opioids. CR4056, a novel I2-agonist drug, has proved to have analgesic efficacy in several animal models of chronic pain, in which, moreover, a strong synergistic effect with morphine has been observed. The aim of my study was therefore to examine the interaction between morphine and CR4056 regarding opioid tolerance, and to elucidate their pharmacological interaction. To this scope, I assessed behavioral effects of the synergy between CR4056 and morphine on tolerance development and expression in the CFA model of chronic pain. Putative CR4056 action on opioid-induced side effects and spinal microgliosis were also assessed. It is known, in fact, that spinal microglia have an important role in chronic pain and opioid-induced tolerance, since, in these conditions, a sustained microglia activation has been observed, linked to the release of pro-inflammatory factors. Lastly, we aimed to better understand CR4056-morphine synergy at molecular level. In fact, it has been shown that DRG neurons of animal models of chronic pain display higher activation of TRPV1 receptor, depending on PKCε phosphorylation and translocation to cell membrane. Moreover, there is evidence that several analgesics are able to inhibit PKCε phosphorylation in cultured sensory neurons. Interestingly, in preliminary unpublished data, we observed that morphine and CR4056 can contrast PKCε translocation induced by inflammatory factors in primary rat DRG cultures. Therefore, in this work we aimed to elucidate the effects of acute administrations of morphine or CR4056 in ex vivo DRG from CFA-treated rats, by quantification of PKCε phosphorylation and TRPV1 expression, and in the spinal cord, by evaluation of microgliosis. My results demonstrated that CFA-induced inflammation triggered mechanical hyperalgesia, acutely counteracted by morphine or CR4056. Combined administration of morphine with CR4056 caused a dose-dependent prevention of morphine tolerance, which was established in the morphine alone treated group, in a short (4 days) and in a long paradigm (14 days). Moreover, when CR4056 was co-administered with morphine in already tolerant rats, it was able to improve morphine analgesic activity. In the same animals, spinal microglia activation was augmented in CFA-injected rats, either vehicle- or morphine-treated, but not in the group with CR4056-morphine combined administration. Besides, the synergy was not accompanied by an additive modulation of opioid-induced constipation. In L4-L5 DRG of CFA-injected rats we found a significant increase in the phosphorylation of PKC-ε, as well as in the colocalization between PKC-ε and VR1, compared to sham animals and to acutely treated animals (with CR4056 or morphine). In the same animals, activated microglial cells were significantly increased in CFA vehicle-treated animals compared to control and CR4056-treated animals, but not to morphine-treated rats. In conclusion, these data suggest that CR4056 seems to be a valid drug to prevent and rescue opioid tolerance without exacerbate side-effects. Moreover, in vitro data on CR4056 and morphine synergistic mechanism on PKCε were validated in ex vivo DRG from CFA-treated rats. Further studies will be needed to elucidate effects of combined treatment on DRG and spinal cord in order to understand the mechanism of CR4056 and opioids synergy.
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Bassoum, Mamadou Khalidou. "Intégration économique et monétaire des pays africains : de la zone franc CFA au projet d'union monétaire : bilan et perspectives." Dijon, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009DIJOE003.
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L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser l’intégration économique et monétaire de la zone franc CFA et des autres pays africains dans le cadre d’une union monétaire commune. L’intégration économique et monétaire est un facteur de paix sociale, de cohésion et la stabilité monétaire est une condition nécessaire au bon fonctionnement des économies des pays membres d’une union. Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié ainsi l’union monétaire en allant au-delà de la monnaie. Nous étudions ici la démarche et l’origine de la zone franc CFA. Fruit d’une histoire politico-économique longue entre quatorze pays africains entre eux et la France, cette zone demeure un modèle d’union monétaire unique dans son genre. Divers sujets sont soulevés dans cette thèse, notamment les limites de la zone franc CFA, les problèmes récurrents des économies africaines, leurs dépendances vis-à-vis des importations, leurs performances macro-économiques, le problème de la dette extérieure et leur manque d’insertion à l’économie mondiale. Nous étudions la faisabilité d’une seconde zone monétaire entre les pays africains de la zone franc CFA et les autres pays de la CEDEAO. Cette nouvelle union monétaire appelle à la disparition du Franc CFA et à la création d’une nouvelle monnaie en Afrique de l’Ouest. Nous étudions enfin la dynamique d’une intégration économique et monétaire africaine. Ce projet est ambitieux et réaliste. Il permettrait aux pays africains de se doter d’une monnaie unique, d’une Banque Centrale Commune, d’harmoniser leurs politiques économiques, de multiplier les échanges commerciaux…Mais seulement ce projet est difficilement réalisable à court terme. Nous défendons dans cette thèse que la stabilité monétaire est une condition nécessaire mais pas suffisante pour tirer les économies africaines vers le développement économique. Afin de sortir du piège de la pauvreté et du sous-développement, nous montrons l’importance et l’intérêt des liens entre une intégration économique et monétaire et la politique de solidarité régionale. Il s’agit là de mettre en place pour les pays africains, notamment les pays africains de la zone Franc CFA, de véritables structures permettant de favoriser les micro-crédits, l’accumulation du capital, valoriser l’éducation, la santé…Face aux enjeux et aux urgences, pour face à la dette extérieure, à la mondialisation, à la pauvreté, les politiques de développement deviennent fondamentales. Sans cela, toute intégration économique et monétaire sera vouée à l’échecThis dissertation studies the economic and monetary integration of African nations within areas of the franc CFA and other African countries that have similar economic frameworks of currency unions. Economic and monetary integration plays a role in maintaining peace and creating monetary stability between the participating countries. Furthermore, this dissertation examines economic and monetary integration and goes beyond just currency. This work proposes solutions for developing policies, like those that promote healthcare, education and micro-finance, that help African countries to overcome underdevelopment
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Butler, Kevin A. "A Covariance Structural Analysis of a Conceptual Neighborhood Model." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1212006826.
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Coleman, Simeon. "The macroeconomics of the monetary union of sub-Saharan Africa, the CFA Franc zone." Thesis, University of Leicester, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2381/30154.
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This thesis assesses the extent of macroeconomic convergence among the countries that make up the CFA Franc zone. The analysis addresses the following issues: (i) Do the CFA Franc zone countries differ in the ways they respond to macroeconomic shocks?; (ii) To what extent has real exchange rate misalignment in individual member states differed over 1960-99? There is a school of thought that the only devaluation in the history of the Franc zone, in January 1994, was implemented for the sake of the larger economies. This part of the thesis determines whether there is an empirical basis for this claim; (iii) Following a shock to inflation, how do member states of the Franc zone differ in terms of persistence in food and non-food price inflation?;Chapters 1-3 review the background of the Franc zone. Chapters 4-6 are empirical studies, each addressing a separate perspective, as listed above. To address the first issue, we apply the method of Blanchard and Quah (1989) in order to identify and estimate a structural VAR model appropriate for a small open economy. By decomposing the variance of the macroeconomic shocks in this way, the method extends the atheoretic VAR analysis and uses economic theory and time-series analysis to determine the sources of disturbances to economic variables in Chapter 4. Next, defining real exchange rate misalignment as the percentage deviation of the actual from the estimated equilibrium value, Chapter 5 estimates the degree of misalignment in the real exchange rate for twelve individual member states of the Franc zone. Chapter 6 investigates the degree of inflation persistence in the food and non-food sectors of thirteen individual Franc zone countries; for robustness of our estimates, we avoid the knife edge I(0) / I(1) classification and make use of three semi-parametric methods [Geweke and Porter-Hudak (1983), Phillips (1999a,b) and Robinson (1995a)] of estimating the fractional integration parameter in an ARFIMA (p.d.q) model. Findings from all three perspectives provide substantial evidence of some heterogeneity among the macroeconomies of the Franc zone countries. The research findings suggest that the conduct of uniform policy, such as monetary policy, within the monetary union by the central bank is likely to result in some net losers and net beneficiaries.
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Lucas, Amber Yvana, Tessa Collins, Robert McCollister, Shivani Patel, Henry Roden, Amber Yvana Lucas, Tessa Collins, Robert McCollister, Shivani Patel, and Henry Roden. "CFA Institute Research Challenge: An Experience in Research and Valuation of a Financial Corporation." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625072.
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I participated in the CFA Institute Research Challenge as a part of my senior thesis. The Challenge involves researching a publically traded company and writing an equity research report on that company. This year, four other students and I researched Western Alliance Bancorporation. We recommended a "Sell" rating. Concerning the competition, despite receiving high scores, we were not given the opportunity to advance past the local round. Still, we produced a high quality product while utilizing all the resources of the University and Eller. Overall, I found this experience both successful and rewarding.
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Pereira, Mattedi Rafael. "A toughened composite for improving the anchoring of composite tensile armors of flexible risers." Thesis, Université Paris-Saclay (ComUE), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019SACLC072.
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L'utilisation de composites et nano composites est une tendance croissante dans des industries telles que l'aérospatiale, l'automobile et l'énergie. Pour de nombreuses applications, l'adhésion entre des structures pour bien transférer les efforts est un problème difficile à résoudre. Dans l’industrie pétrolière, par exemple, une technique utilisée pour ancrer les armures de traction d’une conduite flexible est à travers un époxy intégré car elle fournit une bonne résistance mécanique et chimique. Cependant, des fissures et des défauts peuvent apparaître dans le bloc époxy pendant les opérations ou le montage lors de l'étape de cuisson de l'époxy, et ces fissures pourraient affecter les performances d'ancrage, en particulier pour les armures composites en fibre de carbone (CFAs). Dans ce contexte, ce travail propose le renforcement de l'époxy pour l'ancrage du CFA, focalisé sur les propriétés mécaniques et d'adhérence. Un modèle analytique est développé pour le mécanisme d'ancrage du CFA et vérifié par analyse numérique pour évaluer la sensibilité du système aux caractéristiques de l’époxy. Ainsi, l'augmentation de ces propriétés est proposée par l'ajout de nanotubes de carbone multi-feuilles (MWCNTs) et des essaies sont réalisées avec le époxy pur et renforcés pour caractériser l’augmentation des propriétés mécaniques et adhésives. Ensuite, la morphologie des nanotubes et l'homogénéité de la matrice sont investiguées pour corréler avec des résultats mécaniques. La recherche a confirmé une amélioration de la résistance à l'ancrage en renforçant la matrice époxy avec des MWCNTsThe use of composite and nanocomposites is a growing trend in many industries such as aerospace, automotive and energy. For many applications, the adhesion between structures for efficiently transferring loads is a difficult problem to solve. In oil and gas segment, for instance, a common technique used for anchoring the tensile armors of flexible riser within the end fitting is through an embedded epoxy since it provides good mechanical and chemical resistance. Even though, cracks and defects can arise in the epoxy block during operations or mounting at epoxy curing step, and such cracks could affect the anchoring performance, in particular for carbon fiber composite armors (CFA). In this context, this work proposes the improvement of the epoxy for anchoring the CFA, with a focus on the mechanical and adhesion properties. An analytical model is developed for CFA anchoring mechanism and verified by numerical analysis to evaluate the sensitivity of the system to the epoxy characteristics. Thus, the increase of these properties is proposed by adding multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and some experiments are carried out with neat and toughened epoxies to characterize the gain of mechanical and adhesive properties. Then, nanotubes morphology and the matrix homogeneity are expertized to correlate with mechanical results. The research confirmed an improvement of anchoring resistance by toughening the epoxy matrix with MWCNTs
O uso de compósitos e nano compósitos é uma tendência crescente em muitas indústrias, como aeroespacial, automotivo e energia. Para muitas aplicações, a adesão entre estruturas para transferência eficiente dos esforços é um problema de difícil solução. No segmento de óleo e gás, por exemplo, uma técnica comum utilizada para ancorar as armaduras de tração do tubo flexível dentro do conector é através de um epóxi embebido, pois proporciona boa resistência mecânica e química. No entanto, trincas e defeitos podem surgir no bloco de epóxi durante as operações ou montagem, na etapa de cura do epóxi, e tais defeitos podem afetar a performance de ancoragem, em particular para armaduras de compósito de fibra de carbono (CFA). Neste contexto, este trabalho propõe a melhoria do epóxi para ancorar o CFA, com foco nas propriedades mecânicas e adesivas. Um modelo analítico é desenvolvido para o mecanismo de ancoragem do CFA e verificado por análise numérica para avaliar a sensibilidade do sistema às características do epóxi. Assim, o aumento dessas propriedades é proposto pela adição de nano-tubos de carbono de múltiplas paredes (MWCNTs) e alguns experimentos são realizados com os epóxis puro e modificado para caracterizar o ganho de propriedades mecânicas e adesivas. Em seguida, a morfologia dos nano-tubos e a homogeneidade da matriz são investigadas para correlacionar com os resultados mecânicos. A pesquisa confirmou uma melhoria da resistência à ancoragem ao tenacificar a matriz de epóxi com MWCNTs
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Jalajakumari, Meachery Bhaskaran. "Molecular organization and functional analysis of the CFA/II CS3 region of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli /." Title page, abstract and contents only, 1992. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phj26.pdf.
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Gado, Babatundé Mohamed Sanny. "Education, distribution des revenus et dynamique économique : le cas des pays de la zone CFA." Dijon, 2000. http://www.theses.fr/2000DIJOE009.
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L'objectif de cette thèse est de mettre en évidence les effets de l'éducation sur la distribution des salaires et la dynamique économique dans les pays de la zone CFA. Revenant sur les évolutions des systèmes éducatifs de la zone, nous montrons que celles-ci, en dépit de progrès indéniables, font face à de sérieuses difficultés (faiblesse de la couverture scolaire, discrimination en faveur des garçons, faible niveau des acquisitions des élèves, etc. ). En second lieu, nos analyses soulignent une influence positive de l'éducation sur les revenus dans l'agriculture, le secteur urbain informel et le secteur moderne. Au plan macro-économique, avec des données de panel (1970-1997) et une fonction de production agregée à trois facteurs (capital, travail non alphabétisé, travail alphabétisé), nous mettons en évidence le rôle prépondérant de l'éducation, et plus précisément du travail alphabétisé dans la croissance des PIB. Enfin, en conclusion, nous suggérons qu'une priorité absolue soit accordée à l'éducation primaire, compte tenu de ces effets sur les secteurs potentiellement porteurs plutôt qu'une extension des enseignements secondaire et supérieur dont chacun sait que les débouchés sont incertains. Cependant, considérant le rôle important de la recherche scientifique et de l'innovation pour la croissance dans un contexte de mondialisation croissante - afin de profiter des économies d'échelle - un transfert de compétence au niveau régional (CEMAC et UEMOA) pour le pilotage des enseignements secondaire (surtout technique et professionnel) et supérieur.
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Ferguson, Angela. "Using Conditioned Food Aversion (CFA) to reduce Pied Crow (Corbus albus) predation of plover nests." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20781.
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Nest predation is one of the principle constraints on bird breeding success, accounting for 20 to 80% of all nest failures. It can be exacerbated by anthropogenic factors and the resultant increased predation pressure has caused the decline of numerous bird species worldwide. Identifying management strategies to reduce nest predation is consequently a priority for biodiversity conservation. Many lethal and non-lethal methods of predator control can be ineffective, unethical, time-consuming and expensive to implement. An alternative is the use of Conditioned Food Aversion (CFA), a method by which animals are deliberately induced to avoid nests following consumption of eggs treated with an illness-inducing toxin. Previous studies suggest that this technique is effective but many have been subject to several methodological flaws that limit their applicability. Here I employ an improved experimental design that uses both spatial and temporal controls and incorporates quantification of predator identity and abundance. By so doing the resultant effects can be attributed to CFA treatment with higher certainty. In the Berg River Estuary, South Africa, nest losses of the Kittlitz's Plover (Charadrius pecuarius) are high due to Pied Crow (Corvus albus) nest predation. I used this common plover as a model species to test whether CFA can be used as a conservation management tool to reduce nest predation. I used a field experiment to assess whether provisioning quail eggs treated with carbachol, an illness-inducing chemical, resulted in reduced nest predation. To assess the effects of treatment, nest survival data for both artificial plover nests containing quail eggs and natural Kittlitz's plover nests, as well as predator abundance were compared across three experimental phases (pre-treatment, treatment and post-treatment) and according to treatment type (carbachol versus water).
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Hjälmarö, Andreas. "Perceived meaningfulness in life: a matter of what makes life meaningful." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-131034.
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The existential psychology’s concern with the feeling of meaningfulness in life forms the basis for the present study aiming to investigate the relationship between perceived meaningfulness, and search for meaningfulness in life, and level of conformity. An online survey was distributed to employees at a university in Sweden, and included two questionnaires; the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Concern for Appropriateness (CFA) questionnaire. One hundred and two respondents completed the survey. CFA was found to significantly correlate with MLQ-Presence (r = -.456 p = <.001) and MLQ-Search (r = .307 p = .002). The present study found that the feeling of present meaningfulness was significantly lower among those who cared more about fitting into others´ norms concerning how to behave.
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Gnahoui, Simon-Pierre. "La dévaluation du franc CFA, les politiques d'ajustement et ses conséquences dans les pays de l'UEMOA." Paris 1, 2000. http://www.theses.fr/2000PA010086.
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L'échec des politiques d'ajustement structurel dans les pays africains de la Zone Franc (PAZF) a conduit les Institutions Internationales à modifier la parité du franc CFA en janvier 1994, moins pour des raisons de "surévaluation" au sens traditionnel de la parité des pouvoirs d'achat que pour permettre un rééquilibrage des finances publiques. En effet, depuis le début des années quatre-vingts, et avec l'extension rapide des programmes d'ajustement structurel, les actions volontaristes sur le taux de change figuraient désormais en bonne place dans pratiquement tous les accords signés avec le Fond Monétaire International. La réponse apportée par cette institution à la majorité des Pays en Voie de Développement (PVD) connaissant des difficultés au niveau de leur balance de paiements, était de promouvoir dans ces pays, une efficace redistribution des ressources vers le secteur exportateur et limiter le recours à l'importation. L'instrument privilégié de cette politique était le taux de change. Dans les pays africains de la Zone Franc (PAZF), cet instrument semblait plus difficile à manoeuvrer pour deux raisons essentielles: La première raison tenait aux régies de fonctionnement de la zone, car celles-ci, jusqu'en 1986, avaient permis aux PAZF de réaliser des performances économiques bien meilleures que leurs voisins d'Afrique Subsaharienne ; ceci par le fait que l'appartenance à la zone franc aurait sans doute influencé le choix pour une stratégie d'ouverture, grâce à la garantie de la convertibilité du franc qui faciliterait la promotion des transactions commerciales, dès lors que les intrants et les biens de consommation seraient plus facilement disponibles.
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Hamann, Fernanda Regina. "EXTRATO BRUTO DE Vitex megapotamica APRESENTA EFEITO ANTINOCICEPTIVO E TIPO-ANTIDEPRESSIVO EM RATOS." Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 2016. http://repositorio.ufsm.br/handle/1/11248.
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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorVitex megapotamica (Spreng) Moldenke is a native tree of South America, popularly known as Tarumã, has been used in folk medicine to treat inflammatory diseases. Although the effects of V megapotamica in animal models of inflammatory pain and depression have not been evaluated to date, a preliminary phytochemical analysis of leaves of V. megapotamica revealed the presence of flavonoid, compounds that exhibit anti-inflammatory and antidepressant-like effects described in literature, in addition to evidence that other plants of the same genus Vitex have analgesic effect dependent on the opioid system and mood modulation. This study investigated whether the crude leaf extract of V. megapotamica exhibit antinociceptive and antidepressant-like effects in models of chronic inflammation and depression induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Chronic inflammation and like-depressive behavior were induced by intraplantar injection of CFA (100 ul/paw) in rats. The effect of oral crude extract of V. megapotamica (VmE; 3 30 mg/kg, p.o.) on nociception (thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical allodynia and arthritis score), inflammation (edema, myeloperoxidase activity), antidepressant-like (forced swimming test), locomotor activity (open field), gastrointestinal transit, hyperalgesia and naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal syndrome was evaluated. Naloxone (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) was used to investigate the involvement of opioid system in the currently described effects of VmE. Crude extract caused antinociceptive/antidepressant-like effects in the CFA-induced chronic inflammation model, which was prevented by naloxone. The VmE extract (10 mg/kg, p.o.) did not alter locomotor activity, gastrointestinal function and inflammatory parameters and besides did not cause hyperalgesia. V. megapotamica induces opioid-dependent antinociception and antidepressant-like effect, without anti-inflammatory activity. The results support the use of VmE as a new analgesic and antidepressant.
Vitex megapotamica (Spreng) Moldenke é uma árvore nativa da América do Sul, conhecida popularmente como Tarumã, que tem sido utilizada na medicina popular para o tratamento de doenças inflamatórias. Embora os efeitos de V. megapotamica em modelos animais de dor inflamatória e depressão sejam desconhecidos até o momento, uma análise fitoquímica preliminar das folhas de V. megapotamica revelou a presença de flavonoides, compostos que apresentam atividade anti-inflamatória e tipo-antidepressiva já descritas na literatura, além de evidências de que outras plantas do mesmo gênero Vitex apresentam efeito antinociceptivo dependente do sistema opioide e de modulação do humor. Neste estudo investigamos se o extrato bruto das folhas de V. megapotamica causa efeitos antinociceptivo e tipo-antidepressivo em modelos de inflamação crônica e depressão induzida por adjuvante completo de Freund (CFA). A inflamação crônica e o comportamento tipo-depressivo foram induzidos pela injeção intraplantar de CFA (100 μl/pata) em ratos. O efeito do extrato bruto de V. megapotamica (VmE; 3 30 mg/kg, v.o.) sobre parâmetros nociceptivos (hiperalgesia térmica, alodínia mecânica e escore de artrite), inflamatórios (edema de pata e atividade da mieloperoxidase), tipo-antidepressivo (teste do nado forçado), atividade locomotora (teste do campo aberto), trânsito gastrointestinal, hiperalgesia e síndrome de retirada de morfina desencadeada por naloxona foram avaliados. Naloxona (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) foi usada para investigar o envolvimento do sistema opioide sobre os efeitos de VmE. O extrato bruto causou efeitos antinociceptivo e tipo-antidepressivo em um modelo de inflamação crônica induzida por CFA, que foram bloqueados pela naloxona. VmE (10 mg/kg, v.o.) não alterou a atividade locomotora, função gastrointestinal e parâmetros inflamatórios, além de não causar hiperalgesia. V. megapotamica induziu seu efeito antinociceptivo e tipo-antidepressivo de maneira dependente do sistema opioide, sem apresentar atividade anti-inflamatória. Esses resultados suportam o uso de VmE como um novo analgésico e antidepressivo.
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Neuhoff, Emily. "Beyond The Good Soldier: A Structural Equation Model Examining The Relationships Between Procedural Justice, Leadership, Job Satisfaction, And Organizational Commitment On Extra-Role Work Behavior." OpenSIUC, 2020. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/1820.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational variables (procedural justice, transformational leadership, job satisfaction, identification with leader, organizational commitment) and prosocial behaviors (Organizational Citizenship Behaviors) as well as harmful behaviors (Counterproductive Work Behaviors). Previous research treats OCB and CWB as two ends of a spectrum, with the assumption that individuals that engage in one kind of behavior refrain from the other. However, the present study aimed to examine intricate relationships between organizational variables to show that individuals can engage in both types of behavior, even in the same day. This is due to the intentionality and direction of targeted behaviors. Specifically, OCBs and CWBs can be targeted at individuals or at the organization as a whole. A structural equation model was used to explain the complex relationships between these variables. Specifically, it was hypothesized that procedural justice is positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which in turn influence both OCB and CWB. Additionally, transformational leadership was hypothesized to be positively associated with job satisfaction, identification with leader, and organizational commitment. Approximately 300 participants were recruited from two sources (one public health and one online panel) to participate in the online web survey. Findings from the present study indicate that both identification with leader and organizational commitment mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB. Organizational commitment also mediated the relationship between procedural justice and OCB. Finally, similar to the OCB outcomes, identification with leader mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and CWB; however, unlike the outcomes with OCB, organizational commitment did not predict CWB. Results from this study identify key factors such as transformational leadership, identification with the leader and organizational commitment on which organizations could focus in predicting the behaviors they desire and discouraging behaviors that are harmful.
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Bedford, Lee. "Measurement Invariance of a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Measure (PCL-5) in College Student and Amazon's Mechanical Turk Samples." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2020. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1707346/.
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College student and Amazon's Mechanical TURK (MTURK) samples are regularly utilized in trauma research. Recent literature, however, has criticized these samples for not being generalizable to the general U.S. population. Measurement invariance (MI) using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), is rarely utilized in trauma research, even though the analysis can determine whether groups are invariant across factor structure, factor loadings, item intercepts, and residual error variances on a given measure of PTSD symptom severity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether college student (n = 255) and MTURK (n = 316) samples are invariant on the PCL-5. Model fit indices indicated the 7-factor Hybrid model was the best fitting model, but the 6-factor anhedonia model was the most parsimonious model. Both models demonstrated equivalence in factor structures (configural invariance), factor loadings (metric invariance), intercepts (scalar invariance), and residuals (strict invariance), indicating MTURK and college student samples are similar in regards to PTSD symptom severity. These findings provide evidence that these groups can be combined in future studies to increase sample size for trauma research. Only the Anhedonia factor exhibited mean differences between groups, which may be related to true differences between college students and MTURK survey-takers. Thus, there is further evidence that the findings from trauma studies using these populations are generalizable to each other.
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Dorsey, Jill Melissa. "Fat Malabsorption in Cystic Fibrosis: Comparison of Quantitative Fat Assay and a Novel Assay Using Fecal Lauric/Behenic Acid." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1249932560.
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Jareczek, Francis Josef. "Mechanistic bases for the adverse interaction of nicotine and chronic pain." Diss., University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6148.
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The adverse interaction between smoking and chronic pain has been known for decades. A variety of chronic pain conditions – ranging from headache to low back pain to fibromyalgia – markedly exacerbate smoking prevalence and intensity in packs per day among multiple patient populations. In patients seeking pain treatment, the prevalence of smoking approaches 50%, compared to less than 20% in the general population. Perhaps not surprisingly, the relationship is bidirectional: not only does persistent pain increase rates and intensity of smoking, but smoking also appears to exacerbate both the intensity and associated impairment of chronic pain. In fact, smoking appears to place individuals at risk for developing a chronic pain condition and may also facilitate the transition from acute to chronic pain. The growing body of literature documenting these associations has led to the proposition of a positive feedback loop: individuals smoke in part to cope with their pain, but smoking actually worsens the pain. Despite the strong evidence for the existence of this adverse interaction, the mechanisms responsible for it remain poorly understood.
A number of preclinical and clinical studies have documented that nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonists, e.g., nicotine, have analgesic efficacy in the acute pain setting, such as that produced experimentally in the research laboratory or experienced by patients postoperatively. In contrast, the role of nAChR activation in modulating chronic pain is less well characterized. The experiments described in this thesis determine whether persistent pain diminishes the antinociceptive (analgesic) efficacy of an α4β2 nAChR agonist in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), a key brainstem pain modulatory nucleus, and subsequently begin to elucidate the mechanisms by which persistent pain elicits this plasticity.
The complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) model of chronic pain was employed to test the hypothesis that persistent inflammatory injury diminishes the antinociceptive efficacy of the selective and potent α4β2 nAChR agonist epibatidine in key brainstem pain modulatory nuclei. Paw withdrawal latency to a noxious heat stimulus was used to evaluate the anti-hyperalgesic and antinociceptive effects of epibatidine microinjected in the RVM or periaqueductal gray (PAG) of male rats. The effects of epibatidine were assessed both in uninjured animals and in animals at different times after intraplantar CFA injection. Interestingly, pretreatment with an α4β2-selective antagonist demonstrated that the antinociceptive effects of epibatidine in naïve rats were mediated by α4β2 nAChRs in the RVM but not in the PAG. While the antinociceptive effects of epibatidine in the RVM were abolished after two weeks of inflammatory pain, the anti-hyperalgesic effects remained unchanged. Surprisingly, epibatidine no longer appeared to be acting primarily at α4β2 nAChRs as early as four hours after injury. Persistent inflammation did not alter the anti-hyperalgesic or antinociceptive effects of epibatidine in the PAG.
Radioligand binding studies were conducted to test the most parsimonious hypothesis that a global reduction in α4β2 nAChR number or binding affinity during persistent injury was in part responsible for the decreased efficacy of epibatidine in the RVM after intraplantar CFA. Saturation binding using [3H]-epibatidine in membrane homogenates prepared from RVM and PAG tissue revealed no differences in receptors between saline- and CFA-treated rats at any time after injury, suggesting that a whole-nucleus reduction in nAChRs could not explain the observed behavioral phenomena.
To query functional changes with greater resolution, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology was employed to begin assessing the consequences of nAChR activation by nicotine at the level of the neuron. Initial studies performed in the locus coeruleus demonstrated that all neurons responded to nicotine with an inward current that desensitized with continued exposure to the drug. Neurons in the RVM exhibited significantly more heterogeneity in their response to nicotine: desensitizing inward currents were seen in some; sustained outward currents in others; inward currents followed by outward currents in a third population; and still others had no response to nicotine exposure. The sustained outward currents persisted in the presence of the sodium channel blocker tetrodotoxin, were not blocked by an α4β2 nAChR-selective antagonist, and appeared to be mediated by G protein-coupled receptors and potassium channels.
Taken together, the present results demonstrate that persistent inflammatory injury produces adaptive changes in nicotinic signaling in the RVM such that the antinociceptive effects of epibatidine activation are abolished in a time-dependent manner. These changes cannot be attributed to a whole-nucleus reduction in α4β2 nAChRs. However, nicotinic signaling in the RVM is complex, and small alterations in the pre- or postsynaptic actions of nicotine may have significant ramifications for the overall nociceptive sensitivity of an animal. The data presented here suggest that plasticity in nicotinic signaling within the bulbospinal pain modulatory pathways may in part explain the adverse interaction between smoking and chronic pain observed in humans.
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Le, Quyet. "A study with a three-step method regarding countries happiness : An analysis with EFA, CFA AND MLR." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statistiska institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-385880.
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Parent, Alexandre. "Mise au point d'un modèle rongeur d'anxiété causée par une douleur chronique d'origine inflammatoire." Mémoire, Université de Sherbrooke, 2010. http://savoirs.usherbrooke.ca/handle/11143/4044.
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Selon l'Association canadienne de la douleur chronique (ACDC), plus de 18 % de la population souffre de douleur chronique, produisant un fardeau financier qui excède les 10 milliards de dollars. En plus d'avoir un impact néfaste sur la qualité de vie générale de la population, la douleur contribue largement à l'élévation du taux d'absentéisme au travail, créant ainsi une perte d'efficacité considérable. Environ 55 % des patients souffrant de douleur chronique ont aussi des troubles d'anxiété, contribuant davantage à la diminution de la qualité de vie. Bien que la douleur et l'anxiété semblent co-occurrentes, un analgésique ou un composé anxiolytique (ou antidépresseur) utilisé seul s'avère souvent inefficace pour entraver l'ensemble des symptômes. En combinaison, une telle polythérapie induit des effets secondaires additifs sévères. Pour ces raisons, le développement de composés analgésiques (opioïdergiques ou non) ayant des propriétés anxiolytiques pourrait s'avérer très intéressant pour le traitement de la douleur chronique. Afin de bien connaître les propriétés spécifiques des composés ciblés, il est essentiel de mettre au point un modèle animal de comportements anxieux associés à la douleur chronique. Le but du projet était donc de mettre en place un modèle de douleur inflammatoire chronique chez les rats Sprague-Dawley pour ( i ) caractériser l'apparition temporelle des comportements anxieux, (ii ) caractériser l'influence et les effets de composés analgésiques et anxiolytiques et ( iii ) déterminer les niveaux plasmatiques de corticostérone chez les rats au cours du développement de la douleur chronique. Dans notre modèle, l'allodynie mécanique causée par la douleur inflammatoire (mesurée avec le test du filament de von Frey) est présente sur une période de 2 mois. À des moments précis pendant cette période, les niveaux d'anxiété ont été évalués à l'aide de tests comportementaux (labyrinthe en croix surélevé, boîte sombre/éclairée, champ ouvert et interaction sociale). L'efficacité analgésique et/ou anxiolytique de la morphine, du diazépam et du kétorolac a aussi été caractérisée. Le contenu plasmatique en corticostérone a été mesuré pendant toute la durée du protocole expérimental. Considérant les résultats de l'étude, le modèle animal développé mime partiellement ce qui peut être observé cliniquement chez les patients souffrant de troubles d'anxiété co-morbides à la douleur chronique.
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Viallon, Stéphane. "La construction monétaire européenne et la Zone franc." Dijon, 1998. http://www.theses.fr/1998DIJOE004.
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En premier lieu, une etude de la zone franc telle qu'elle existe actuellement, et de sa problematique est developpee. Une analyse des concepts de la monnaie permet ensuite de situer la problematique de la monnaie internationale par rapport a celle des monnaies nationales. Cette analyse vise a mettre en evidence les concepts de la monnaie et la definition de la monnaie supranationale de bernard schmitt qui en resulte. Enfin, dans une troisieme partie, les differents scenarii envisageables pour la zone franc au regard du processus d'unification monetaire europeen en cours ont ete etudies. En particulier, le scenario de la remise en cause de la zone franc avec la disparition du franc francais, considere comme le plus vraisemblable, a ete etudie. Enfin, un scenario plus coherent a ete developpe autour de la mise en place d'une monnaie supranationale africaine. Il a ete notamment montre comment la zone franc, telle qu'elle existe actuellement, peut constituer un cadre approprie a une telle evolutionAt first, a study of the + zone franc ; such that it exists presently, and it's problematics is developed. An analysis of concepts of the currency allows then to situate the problematics of the international currency as compared to the national currencies' one. This analysis aims at bringing to the fore the concepts of the currency and the definition of the supranational money given by bernard schmitt that results from them. Finally, in a third part, the different scenarios conceivable for the + zone franc ; according to the current process of european monetary construction have been studied. Especially the scenario of the break-up of the + zone franc ; with the disappearance of the french franc, regarded as the likeliest, has been studied. At the end, a more coherent scenario has been developed with the institution of an african supranational currency. It has been notably shown how the + zone franc ;, such that it exists nowadays, can constitute a suitable framework to such an evolution
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Niang, Abdou-Aziz. "Croissance et convergence des pays de la zone CFA : une étude par les données de panel non stationnaires." Phd thesis, Université de Bourgogne, 2011. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00834421.
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Les pays africains de la zone CFA ont connu ces dernières années de multiples transformations économiques d'une part à travers les mesures initiées par les bailleurs de fonds bilatéraux et multilatéraux et d'autre part à travers les politiques d'intégration économique et monétaire. Ainsi, en partant de l'hypothèse selon laquelle du fait de ces nombreuses interventions, ces systèmes économiques incorporent divers phénomènes tels que les changements structurels et les dépendances inter-économies, nous avons étudié leurs principales implications sur la croissance, la convergence et la prévisibilité du taux de croissance. L'accent est d'abord mis sur les traits majeurs des politiques d'intégration dans le cadre d'une union monétaire tout en soulignant les éventuelles incidences de telles politiques sur la dynamique économique des pays membres principalement en termes de modélisation économétrique de la croissance et de la convergence. Les différentes études réalisées sur la base d'outils économétriques adaptés ont permis d'aboutir à des résultats nouveaux relatifs au processus de croissance et de convergence de ces économies comparativement à ceux basés sur les outils classiques de modélisation économétrique. Il ressort également de cette étude que la présence de facteurs communs et de ruptures structurelles est fortement liée aux politiques d'intégration mises en oeuvre au sein de la zone CFA. Ces résultats révèlent aussi que les chocs produisent des effets hétérogènes et ont généralement des dates d'occurrence différentes selon les pays et qu'il est nécessaire de faire varier les réponses de politique économique d'un pays à l'autre pour une croissance durable et mieux partagée.
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Minary, Laetitia. "Tabado : évaluation d'un programme d'aide au sevrage TABagique pour les ADOlescents en centres de formation des apprentis (CFA)." Thesis, Nancy 1, 2011. http://www.theses.fr/2011NAN10009/document.
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Contexte - La majorité des fumeurs adultes ont commencé à fumer à l'adolescence et sont devenus dépendants avant l'âge de vingt ans. La plupart des efforts de lutte contre le tabagisme des jeunes se sont centrés sur la prévention de l'initiation et peu sur l'aide au sevrage. Sur ce constat, nous avons proposé de mettre en place une démarche originale de sevrage basée sur une offre de proximité associant le sevrage médicamenteux aux thérapies cognitivo-comportementales. Dans une perspective de réduction des inégalités sociales de santé, nous avons souhaité centrer notre action sur une population particulièrement vulnérable habituellement peu sollicitée, celle des jeunes apprentis. Avant de généraliser une telle intervention, il était important d'en évaluer l'efficacité. Objectif - 1) décrire les caractéristiques du tabagisme dans une population socialement défavorisée, les apprentis 2) puis mettre en évidence les déterminants de la dépendance au tabagisme dans cette population 3) et enfin répondre à l'objectif principal qui est l'évaluation de l'efficacité de l'offre d'un programme de sevrage tabagique au sein de cette population.Méthode - Cette étude quasi-expérimentale, prospective, comparative s'est déroulée au cours des 2 années d'apprentissage. La population était composée de l'ensemble des stagiaires de huit CFA (Centre de Formation des Apprentis) en Lorraine. Le groupe intervention (3 CFA) a bénéficié du programme TABADO, et le groupe témoin (5 CFA) n'a reçu aucune intervention spécifique autre que les services éducatifs généralement disponibles. Résultats - Parmi les 1.814 élèves interrogés (770 dans le groupe intervention, 1044 dans le groupe témoin), 52% étaient fumeurs dont 89,4% de fumeurs quotidiens, et 5,7% ex-fumeurs. L'âge moyen d'initiation au tabagisme était de 12,1 ans (ET=2,1) et celui du début du tabagisme régulier de 13,8 ans (ET=1,6). La consommation actuelle des fumeurs s'élevait en moyenne à 12,8 cigarettes par jour (ET=7,8). Le score moyen de dépendance des adolescents fumeurs interrogés était de 6,1 (ET=2,8), d'après le test du Hooked On Nicotine Checklist (score de 0 à 10= fortement dépendant). Les déterminants de la dépendance mis en évidence étaient : le genre féminin, le tabagisme quotidien, une forte consommation moyenne journalière, la co-consommation de cannabis, un environnement fumeur et un haut score de vulnérabilité perçue. Les facteurs perçus comme incitant à fumer (automatisme du geste, gestion du stress et soutien du moral) étaient également des facteurs de dépendance. Sur les 584 fumeurs à J0 suivis à J0+12 mois, 17% étaient devenus abstinents dans le groupe d'intervention vs. 11,9% dans le groupe témoin (p = 0,08 univariée, p = 0,008 ajusté ; odds ratio [OR] 2,1; 95% intervalle de confiance [IC] 1.2 à 3.6). Conclusion - Notre étude a permis de produire des données originales sur l'efficacité d'une action de sevrage tabagique dans une jeune population socialement défavorisée qui avait été très peu investiguée jusqu'à présent. La combinaison de la proximité de l'action d'information et de soutien psychologique, et d'une offre gratuite de substituts nicotiniques paraît comme une condition du succès. La mise en évidence d'un effet groupe devrait permettre à l'avenir d'élaborer des programmes facilitant cet effet des réseaux sociauxContext - Most smokers start smoking during adolescence and became smoking dependent before the age of 20. Efforts to fight against smoking in the teenage population have focused largely on programs to prevent rather than quit smoking. On this basis, we implemented an original approach of help to smoking cessation based on a nearness offer associating pharmacologic and cognitive-behavioural strategy with. In a perspective of reducing social health inequalities, we wanted to focus our efforts on a particularly vulnerable population usually not sought, the apprentices. Before expanding such programs, their efficacy must be assessed.Objective- 1) describe the characteristics of smoking in a socially disadvantaged population, the apprentices 2) then highlight the determinants of tobacco addiction in this population 3) and finally meet the main objective which is the evaluation of the effectiveness of offering a smoking cessation program in this population. Method - This quasi-experimental, prospective, comparative study was conducted during two years ofvocational training. The population was composed of all the students from eight VTC (Vocational Training Center) in Lorraine (France). The intervention group (3 CFA) has benefited from the TABADO program, and the control group (5 CFA) received no specific intervention other than educational services generally available. Results - Among the 1,814 students included (770 in the intervention group, 1044 in the control group), 52.0 % were smokers among whom 89.4 % daily smokers, and 5.7 % were ex-smokers. The average age of tobacco use initiation was 12.1 years (SD=2.1) and the average age at inception of regular cigarette smoking was 13.8 years (SD=1.6). Current consumption of the smokers was 12.8 cigarettes per day (SD = 7.8). The average score of smoking addiction was 6.1 (SD = 2.8), according to the Hooked On Nicotine Checklist test (score from 0 to 10 = strongly dependent). Factors significantly associated with dependence were female gender, daily cigarette use, high mean daily cigarette use, co-consumption of cannabis, a smoking environment and a high score of perceived vulnerability. Factors perceived as leading to smoking (automatic gesture, combating stress and supporting morale) were also dependence factors. Of 584 original smokers at 12-month follow-up, 17% in the intervention group were abstinent vs. 11.9% in the control group (univariate p=0.08; adjusted p=0.008; odds ratio [OR] 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.6). Conclusions - Our study has produced original data on the effectiveness of a smoking cessation in a socially disadvantaged young people who had hardly been investigated so far. The combination of proximity to the action of information and psychological support, and an offer of free nicotine replacement therapy seems to be a prerequisite for success. The demonstration effect of a group should allow the future to develop programs that facilitate this effect of social networks
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Linjouom, Njonap Mireille Simone. "Le choix d'un régime de change pour les pays membres de la zone "Euro CFA" : le cas du Cameroun." Paris 9, 2003. https://portail.bu.dauphine.fr/fileviewer/index.php?doc=2003PA090045.
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Yang, Yanqin. "Contribution à l'évaluation objective de la qualité d'images couleur estimées par dématriçage." Thesis, Lille 1, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009LIL10089/document.
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Les travaux menés dans cette thèse portent sur le dématriçage d'images intégré dans une caméra couleur mono capteur. Ce type de caméra acquiert une seule composante couleur en chaque pixel grâce à un filtre CFA (Colour Filter Array) spectralement sélectif. La procédure dite de dématriçage consiste à estimer les deux composantes couleur manquantes en chaque pixel pour obtenir une image couleur. Nous proposons donc de déterminer, parmi les méthodes de dématriçage, celles qui fournissent des images couleur les mieux adaptées à l’analyse automatique des images. Dans un premier temps, nous présentons les principes de l’acquisition d’images numériques couleur par les caméras mono capteur. Après avoir expliqué l’influence de la structure du CFA sur la performance du dématriçage, nous focalisons nos études sur le dématriçage d’image issue du CFA de Bayer. Une formalisation mathématique du dématriçage de l’image CFA en image couleur est ensuite proposée avant de présenter les nombreuses méthodes de dématriçage parues dans la littérature ainsi que les post-traitements qui corrigent les couleurs estimées par dématriçage. Puis, nous nous intéressons aux critères d'évaluation de la qualité des images estimées par dématriçage. En premier lieu, nous décrivons les différents artefacts pouvant être générés par le dématriçage ainsi que la formation de ces artefacts, ce qui permet de bien cerner les limites atteintes par les critères classiques d’évaluation de la qualité des images estimées. Nous proposons alors deux mesures originales qui quantifient la présence de chaque type d'artéfacts (fausse couleur et effet de fermeture éclair). Enfin, nous présentons de nouveaux critères basés sur l’analyse de primitives extraites des images, en mesurant la qualité des contours qui y sont détectésOur work deals with the quality of colour images provided by a mono-CCD colour camera, which acquires only one colour component at each pixel by means of the CFA (Colour Filter Array) which covers the CCD sensor. A procedure - called demosaicing - is necessary to estimate the other two missing colour components at each pixel, so as to obtain a colour image in this kind of cameras. We aim to determine which method of demosaicing provides the results that are best adapted to colour image analyses for the reconstruction of scene. First, we present the principles on how the mono-CCD cameras acquire digital colour images, as well as the different arrangements of CFA used in such cameras. Once the influence of the CFA arrangement on the performance of demosaicing has been presented, we focus our studies on the demosaicing methods based on the Bayer CFA. A mathematical formalization for demosaicing is proposed before we present the numerous demosaicing methods in the literature, as well as the post-processing algorithms to correct the demosaiced images. We then investigate the evaluation criteria for the quality of the colour images estimated by demosaicing. First are described the different possible artefacts generated by demosaicing and the reasons for their generation, which allow us to point out the limits of the classical measures used to evaluate the estimated images. We then propose two original measures to quantify the presence of the two main artefacts, namely false colour and zipper effect. At last, we present new criteria based on the analysis of features extracted from colour images, by measuring the quality of edge detection in the estimated images
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Enoh, Catherine. "Problématique des zones monétaires, questions monétaire et budgétaire au sein de la zone franc : application à la côte d'Ivoire." Paris, EHESS, 1999. http://www.theses.fr/1999EHES0093.
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Gehle, Silke. "Die Franc Zone als inhomogener Währungsraum : zur Optimalität der Währungskooperation der Franc Zone für ihre afrikanischen Mitgliedsländer /." Baden-Baden : Nomos, 1998. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41289134c.
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Cano, Marlene. "Pharmacological dissection of the actions of the Mu opioid receptor in the Rostroventral medial medulla." Diss., University of Iowa, 2013. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1561.
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Chronic pain is a significant healthcare problem. It is disabling and diminishes quality of life. Opioids, such as morphine, remain a primary pharmacologic management for chronic pain. Opioids act at mu opioid receptors (MOPr) in the rostroventral medial medulla (RVM) to produce their analgesic effect. The RVM is a critical relay in pain inhibitory and facilitatory pathways of pain modulation. Furthermore, chronic inflammatory pain, produced by CFA hindpaw injection, leads to adaptive changes in the RVM that change the balance of these pathways and increase the potency of opioids.
MOPr are known to produce their effects via Gi/o proteins.
Pretreatment of several pain modulatory regions with pertussis toxin (PTX) effectively attenuates the antinociceptive effects of MOPr agonists, such as DAMGO. In the RVM, PTX effectively reduced DAMGO stimulated GTPãS binding in uninjured rats. However, despite their effective inactivation of Gi/o proteins, PTX did not diminish the antinociceptive effects of DAMGO in the RVM of uninjured rats. In contrast, in rats with a chronic inflammatory injury, PTX completely abolished the antinociceptive effects of DAMGO. These results suggest a transition from Gi/o independent to Gi/o dependent mechanisms following CFA treatment. In addition, the anti-hyperalgesic effects of DAMGO were not inhibited by PTX, suggesting that DAMGO produces anti-hyperalgesia and antinociception by different mechanisms.
In the RVM, MOPr are present both postsynaptically and presynaptically. Postsynaptic MOPr are thought to produce antinociception by activating GIRK channels, resulting in hyperpolarization and inhibition of pain facilitatory neurons. Indeed, inhibition of GIRK channels in the RVM, via microinjection of tertiapin-Q, attenuated the antinociceptive effects of DAMGO in uninjured rats, providing the first behavioral evidence that MOPr agonists produce analgesia via this proposed mechanism. Interestingly, however, tertiapin-Q did not block the anti-hyperalgesic effects of DAMGO, nor did it diminish the antinociceptive effects of DAMGO in the contralateral hindpaw of CFA treated rats. Furthermore, these differential effects of tertiapin-Q in the uninjured and injured rats are not the result of transcriptional down regulation of GIRK channels in the RVM. Finally, tertiapin-Q alone in the RVM produced a modest antinociception in uninjured rats, providing the first evidence of constitutive GIRK channel activity in the RVM and demonstrating a role for these in pain modulation.
Presynaptic MOPr are thought to produce antinociception by decreasing GABA release onto pain inhibitory neurons. Indeed, microdialysis studies demonstrated that levels of GABA release were decreased in response to DAMGO perfused into the RVM, as well as to high potassium after perfusion of DAMGO. However, they were not decreased in rats after CFA treatment. This suggests that chronic inflammatory injury alters the presynaptic actions of MOPr agonists in the RVM. Interestingly, levels of GLU release where not altered by DAMGO in uninjured or injured rats. Moreover, basal levels of GLU and GABA were also unaltered by CFA treatment.
In conclusion, although MOPr mediate their antinociceptive effects in other pain modulatory regions via Gi/o proteins, this is not the case in the RVM during an uninjured state. However, MOPr-induced antinociception transitions from Gi/o independent to Gi/o dependent mechanisms after CFA treatment. Additionally, these results support both the presynaptic and the postsynaptic postulates by which MOPr agonists are thought to produce their analgesic effects. However, although CFA treatment alters the activity of neurons in the RVM and promotes changes that result in an enhanced anti-hyperalgesic and antinociceptive response to DAMGO in the RVM, neither the postsynaptic nor the presynaptic mechanism, in isolation, seem to account for this enhancement.