Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Impulse response function analysis'

<p>An experimental method for determination and analysis of the impulse response function of linear, elastic, vibrating systems is developed. A deconvolution method is developed for estimation of the impulse response function. The estimator is shown to be unbiased in the presence of measurement noise. Modal parameters are extracted from impulse response estimates using a modification of the Pisarenko harmonic decomposition method. The advantages of a time-domain approach over traditional Fourier analysis procedures, including avoidance of leakage and enhanced statistical significance, are described. Several tests used to determine the performance of the impulse response estimator are described, and the results of these tests, are presented. It is shown that the method can provide accurate estimates of modal parameters even for short data sets or high noise levels.</p><br>Master of Science

this thesis presents a new approach in dealing with characterize LPVT and proposes determining the impulse response of LPVT, purposing to find transfer function (h(t)) which contains most electrical characteristics of LPVTs as a dynamic system.

In this master thesis multiple time series of shipping industry and financial data are analysed in order to create a forecasting model to forecast freight rate indices. The data of main interest which are predicted are the two freight rate indices, BDI and BDTI, from the Baltic Exchange. The project investigates the possibilities for aggregated Vector Autoregression(VAR) models to outperform simple univariate models, in this case, an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) with seasonal components. The other part of this thesis is to model market shocks in the freight rate indices, given impulses in the other underlying VAR-model time series using the impulse response function. The main results are that the VAR-model forecast outperforms the ARIMA-model in forecasting the tanker freight rate index (BDTI), while the the bulk freight rate index(BDI) is better predicted by the simple ARIMA when calculating the forecast mean square error.<br>I denna avhandling analyseras multipla tidsserier över rederinärings- och finansiell data i syfte att skapa en prognosticerande modell för att prognosticera fraktratsindex. Dataserierna som i huvudsak prognosticeras är fraktratsindexen BDI och BDTI från Baltic exchange. I projektet undersöks om en aggregerad Vektor Autoregressiv(VAR) modell överträffar en univariat modell, i detta fall en Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) med säsongsvariabel. I andra delen av denna avhandling modelleras chocker i fraktratsindexen givet impulser i de andra underliggande tidsserierna i de aggregerade VAR-modellerna. Huvudresultaten är att VAR-modellens prognos överträffar ARIMA-modellen för tankerraterna (BDTI), medan bulkraterna(BDI) bättre prognosticeras av ARIMA-modellen, i avseende på prognosernas beräknade mean square error.

This paper analyzes empirically the effect of crude oil price change on the economic growth of Indian-Subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). We use a multivariate Vector Autoregressive analysis followed by Wald Granger causality test and Impulse Response Function (IRF). Wald Granger causality test results show that only India’s economic growth is significantly affected when crude oil price decreases. Impact of crude oil price increase is insignificantly negative for all three countries during first year. In second year, impact is negative but smaller than first year for India, negative but larger for Bangladesh and positive for Pakistan.

Perfusion magnetic resonance imaging is modern diagnostic method used mainly in oncology. In this method, contrast agent is injected to the subject and then is continuously monitored the progress of its concentration in the affected area in time. Correct determination of the arterial input function (AIF) is very important for perfusion analysis. One possibility is to model AIF by multichannel blind deconvolution but the estimated AIF is necessary to be scaled. This master´s thesis is focused on description of scaling methods and their influence on perfussion parameters in dependence on used model of AIF in different tissues.

Doutoramento em Sistemas Energéticos e Alterações Climáticas<br>Overall, amongst the most mentioned factors for Greenhouse Gases (GHG) growth are the economic growth and the energy demand growth. To assess the determinants GHG emissions, this thesis proposed and developed a new analysis which links the emissions intensity to its main driving factors. In the first essay, we used the 'complete decomposition' technique to examine CO2 emissions intensity and its components, considering 36 economic sectors and the 1996-2009 periods in Portugal. The industry (in particular 5 industrial sectors) is contributing largely to the effects of variation of CO2 emissions intensity. We concluded, among others, the emissions intensity reacts more significantly to shocks in the weight of fossil fuels in total energy consumption compared to shocks in other variables. In the second essay, we conducted an analysis for 16 industrial sectors (Group A) and for the group of the 5 most polluting manufacturing sectors (Group B) based on the convergence examination for emissions intensity and its main drivers, as well as on an econometric analysis. We concluded that there is sigma convergence for all the effects with exception to the fossil fuel intensity, while gamma convergence was verified for all the effects, with exception of CO2 emissions by fossil fuel and fossil fuel intensity in Group B. From the econometric approach we concluded that the considered variables have a significant importance in explaining CO2 emissions and CO2 emissions intensity. In the third essay, the Tourism Industry in Portugal over 1996-2009 period was examined, specifically two groups of subsectors that affect the impacts on CO2 emissions intensity. The generalized variance decomposition and the impulse response functions pointed to sectors that affect tourism more directly, i. e. a bidirectional causality between the intensity of emissions and energy intensity. The effect of intensity of emissions is positive on energy intensity, and the effect of energy intensity on emissions intensity is negative. The percentage of fossil fuels used reacts positively to the economic structure and to carbon intensity, i. e., the more the economic importance of the sector, the more it uses fossil fuels, and when it raises its carbon intensity, in the future the use of fossil fuel may rise. On the other hand, positive shocks on energy intensity tend to reduce the percentage of fossil fuels used. In fourth essay, we conducted an analysis to identify the effects that contribute to the intensity of GHG emissions (EI) in agriculture as well as their development. With that aim, we used the 'complete decomposition' technique in the 1995-2008 periods, for a set of European countries. It is shown that the use of Nitrogen per cultivated area is an important factor of emissions and in those countries where labour productivity increases (the inverse of average labour productivity in agriculture decreases), emissions intensity tends to decrease. These results imply that the way to reduce emissions in agriculture would be to provide better training of agricultural workers to increase their productivity, which would lead to a less need for energy and use of Nitrogen. The purpose of the last essay is to examine the long and short-run causality of the share of renewable sources on the environmental relation CO2 per KWh electricity generation- real GDP for 20 European countries over the 2001-2010 periods. It is important to analyze how the percentage of renewable energy used for electricity production affects the relationship between economic growth and emissions from this sector. The study of these relationships is important from the point of view of environmental and energy policy as it gives us information on the costs in terms of economic growth, on the application of restrictive levels of emissions and also on the effects of the policies concerning the use of renewable energy in the electricity sector (see for instance European Commission Directive 2001/77/EC, [4]). For that purpose, in this study we use Cointegration Analysis on the set of cross-country panel data between CO2 emissions from electricity generation (CO2 kWh), economic growth (GDP) and the share of renewable energy for 20 European countries. We estimated the long–run equilibrium to validate the EKC with a new approach specification. Additionally, we have implemented the Innovative Accounting Approach (IAA) that includes Forecast Error Variance Decomposition and Impulse Response Functions (IRFs), applied to those variables. This can allow us, for example, to know (i) how CO2 kWh responds to an impulse in GDP and (ii) how CO2 kWh responds to an impulse in the share of renewable sources. The contributions of this thesis to the energy-related CO2 emissions at sectorial level are threefold: First, it provides a new econometric decomposition approach for analysing and developing CO2 emissions in collaboration with science societies that can serve as a starting point for future research approaches. Second, it presents a hybrid energy-economy mathematic and econometric model which relates CO2 emissions in Portugal based on economic theory. Third, it contributes to explain the change of CO2 emissions in important economic sectors in Europe, in particular in Portugal, taking normative considerations into account more openly and explicitly, with political implications at energy-environment level within the European commitment.<br>De uma forma geral, entre os fatores mais apontados para o crescimento das emissões de Gases de Efeito de Estufa (GEE), estão o crescimento económico e o crescimento das necessidades energéticas. Para identificar os determinantes das emissões de GEE, esta dissertação propôs e desenvolveu uma nova análise que liga a intensidade das emissões aos seus principais responsáveis. No primeiro ensaio, foi utilizada a técnica da ‘decomposição total’ para examinar a intensidade das emissões de CO2 e os seus componentes, considerando 36 setores económicos e o período entre 1996-2009 em Portugal. A indústria (em particular cinco setores industriais) contribui fortemente para os efeitos da variação da intensidade de CO2. Conclui-se, entre outros, que a intensidade das emissões reage mais significativamente a choques no peso dos combustíveis fósseis no consumo total da energia, comparativamente a choques em outras variáveis. No segundo ensaio, conduziu-se uma análise para 16 sectores industriais (Grupo A) e para o grupo dos cinco setores industriais mais poluentes (Grupo B), baseada no estudo da convergência para a intensidade das emissões e para os seus principais determinantes, bem como numa análise econométrica. Concluiu-se que existe convergência sigma para todos os efeitos, à exceção da intensidade dos combustíveis fósseis, enquanto a convergência gama se verificou para todos os efeitos com a exceção das emissões de CO2 por combustível fóssil e intensidade de combustível fóssil, no Grupo B. A partir da abordagem econométrica, concluiu-se que as variáveis consideradas têm uma importância significativa na explicação da intensidade das emissões de CO2. No terceiro ensaio foi analisada a indústria do turismo em Portugal durante o período de 1996-2009, em particular para dois grupos de subsetores que afetam a intensidade das emissões de CO2. A decomposição generalizada de variância e as funções de impulso-resposta apontaram uma causalidade bidirecional entre intensidade de emissões e intensidade de energia para setores que afetam o turismo mais diretamente. O efeito da intensidade de emissões é positivo na intensidade da energia e o efeito da intensidade da energia na intensidade das emissões é negativo. A percentagem de combustíveis fósseis utilizados reage positivamente à estrutura económica e à intensidade do carbono, isto é, quando um setor ganha importância económica, tende a usar mais combustível fóssil e quando aumenta a intensidade do carbono, no futuro, o uso de combustíveis fósseis pode aumentar. Por outro lado, choques positivos na intensidade de energia tendem a reduzir a percentagem de combustíveis fósseis utilizados. O objectivo do quarto ensaio é identificar os efeitos que contribuem para a intensidade dos gases de estufa na agricultura, bem como a sua evolução, Para isso, utilizou-se a técnica de ‘decomposição total’ no período 1995-2008 para um grupo de países europeus. Ficou demonstrado que o uso de nitrogénio por área cultivada é um fator importante nas emissões e naqueles países cuja produtividade do trabalho aumenta, a intensidade das emissões tende a aumentar. O resultado implica que o caminho para reduzir as emissões na agricultura pode passar por uma melhor formação dos trabalhadores ligados à agricultura para melhorar a sua produtividade, o que pode conduzir a uma menor necessidade e uso de nitrogénio. O objectivo do último ensaio é examinar a causalidade de longo e curto prazo da quota de fontes renováveis na relação ambiental entre o desenvolvimento económico (PIB) e as emissões de CO2 por KWh de eletricidade produzida num conjunto de 20 países Europeus no período de 2001-2010. Esta nova abordagem sugere que a quota de fontes renováveis na produção de eletricidade é um determinante importante para explicar as diferenças na relação Rendimento-emissões de CO2 por Kwh nos países Europeus e que as evidências empíricas suportam a relação ambiental da curva de Kuznets. As contribuições desta dissertação para os assuntos relacionados com as emissões de CO2 a um nível setorial são as seguintes: primeiro, oferece uma nova abordagem econométrica da decomposição para analisar a evolução das emissões de CO2 que pode servir como um ponto de partida para futuras investigações. Segundo, apresenta uma abordagem híbrida, juntando a matemática e a economia de energia e um modelo econométrico para relacionar as emissões de CO2 na Europa e, em particular, em Portugal com base em teorias económicas. Terceiro, contribui para explicar as mudanças nas emissões de CO2 em setores económicos importantes para Portugal, conjugando considerações normativas aberta e explicitamente, com implicações políticas no comprometimento europeu, ao nível energético-ambiental.

Ultra Wideband (UWB) communication has recently drawn considerable attention from academia and industry. This is mainly owing to the ultra high speeds and cognitive features it could offer. The employability of UWB in numerous areas including but not limited to Wireless Personal Area Networks, WPAN's, Body Area Networks, BAN's, radar and medical imaging etc. has opened several avenues of research and development. However, still there is a disagreement on the standardization of UWB. Two contesting radios for UWB are Multiband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) and DS-UWB (Direct Sequence Ultra Wideband). As nearly all of the reported research on UWB hasbeen about a very narrow/specific area of the communication system, this thesis looks at the end-to-end performance of an MB-OFDM approach. The overall aim of this project has been to first focus on three different aspects i.e. interference, antenna and propagation aspects of an MB-OFDM system individually and then present a holistic or an end-to-end system analysis finally. In the first phase of the project the author investigated the performance of MB-OFDM system under the effect of his proposed generic or technology non-specific interference. Avoiding the conventional Gaussian approximation, the author has employed an advanced stochastic method. A total of two approaches have been presented in this phase of the project. The first approach is an indirect one which involves the Moment Generating Functions (MGF's) of the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratio (SINR) and the Probability Density Function (pdf) of the SINR to calculate the Average Probabilities of Error of an MB-OFDM system under the influence of proposed generic interference. This approach assumed a specific two-dimensional Poisson spatial/geometric placement of interferers around the victim MB-OFDM receiver. The second approach is a direct approach and extends the first approach by employing a wider class of generic interference. In the second phase of the work the author designed, simulated, prototyped and tested novel compact monopole planar antennas for UWB application. In this phase of the research, compact antennas for the UWB application are presented. These designs employ low-loss Rogers duroid substrates and are fed by Copla-nar Waveguides. The antennas have a proposed feed-line to the main radiating element transition region. This transition region is formed by a special step-generating function-set called the "Inverse Parabolic Step Sequence" or IPSS. These IPSS-based antennas are simulated, prototyped and then tested in the ane-choic chamber. An empirical approach, aimed to further miniaturize IPSS-based antennas, was also derived in this phase of the project. The empirical approach has been applied to derive the design of a further miniaturized antenna. More-over, an electrical miniaturization limit has been concluded for the IPSS-based antennas. The third phase of the project has investigated the effect of the indoor furnishing on the distribution of the elevation Angle-of-Arrival (AOA) of the rays at the receiver. Previously, constant distributions for the AOA of the rays in the elevation direction had been reported. This phase of the research has proposed that the AOA distribution is not fixed. It is established by the author that the indoor elevation AOA distributions depend on the discrete levels of furnishing. A joint time-angle-furnishing channel model is presented in this research phase. In addition, this phase of the thesis proposes two vectorial or any direction AOA distributions for the UWB indoor environments. Finally, the last phase of this thesis is presented. As stated earlier, the overall aim of the project has been to look at three individual aspects of an MB-OFDM system, initially, and then look at the holistic system, finally. Therefore, this final phase of the research presents an end-to-end MB-OFDM system analysis. The interference analysis of the first phase of the project is revisited to re-calculate the probability of bit error with realistic/measured path loss exponents which have been reported in the existing literature. In this method, Gaussian Quadrature Rule based approximations are computed for the average probability of bit error. Last but not the least, an end-to-end or comprehensive system equation/impulse response is presented. The proposed system equation covers more aspects of an indoor UWB system than reported in the existing literature.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited<br>In this thesis, the ocean was modeled as a waveguide with an ideal pressure - release surface, and an ideal rigid bottom. The ocean waveguide was then treated as a linear, time - invariant, space - variant (TISV) filter or communication channel. The filter is time - invariant because no motion was modeled and because the properties of the ocean were assumed to be constant. The filter is space - variant because of the presence of the two boundaries, that is, the ocean surface and ocean bottom. This thesis investigates the ocean as a linear TISV filter by evaluating 1) the complex frequency response, 2) the impulse response, and 3) the transfer function of the ocean with respect to depth. It is shown that the TISV impulse response of the ocean contains information that can be used to help localize a target in range and whether the target is above or below the receiver. Computer simulation results were obtained by evaluating the three filter functions for several different test cases.<br>Ensign, United States Navy

Thesis (M.S. in Applied Science (Signal Processing))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004.<br>Thesis advisor(s): Lawrence J. Ziomek. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47). Also available online.

Valutamarknaden är världens största marknad och en nödvändig del av dagens globala samhälle, som gör det möjligt för företag att göra affärer i olika valutor och mellan olika gränser. Marknaden utgör en stor handelsplattform för både små och stora aktörer, för vilka det är viktigt att prognostisera valutakurser med gott resultat. Att modellera finansiella instrument i form av tidsserier är en av de vanligaste investeringsstrategierna och dess användningsområde sträcker sig från valutamarknaden till bland annat aktiemarknaden och råvarumarknaden. I denna uppsats undersöks fyra olika statistiska metoder för att modellera valutakursen Euro-US Dollar givet historisk data, och prognoser görs med de framtagna modellerna. Dessa metoder är slumpvandring, ARIMA, ARIMA-GARCH och VAR. Vidare undersöks för den dynamiska VAR-modellen hur valutamarkanden påverkar, och blir påverkad av, långa och korta räntan. Resultaten visar att ARIMA(3,1,2) förklarar valutakursen bäst medan VAR(2) med valutakursen och skillnaden mellan långa räntor som ingående variabler ger de bästa prediktionerna.<br>The foreign exchange market is the world’s largest market and is an essential part of the global society of today. The FX market enables companies to trade with different currencies across country borders. It is also a large trade-platform for both big and small financial actors, who greatly benefit from the advantages of good predictions. Modeling of financial instruments is one of the most commonly used investment strategies and its area of application ranges from the FX market to markets suchas the stock market and the commodity market. In this paper, four different statistical models are used to model the currency pair Euro-US Dollar. These methods are random walk, ARIMA, ARIMA-GARCH and VAR. Besides investigating which method that gives the best forecasts, the method that best describes the training datais also found. Furthermore, for the dynamic VAR model, it is explored how the FX market affects, and is affected by, the long term and short term interest. The results show that ARIMA(3,1,2) is the best at describing the exchange rate while VAR(2) with the exchange rate and the difference between long term interests as variables gives the best predictions.

One of the main problems associated with implementing transformer impulse frequency response (IFRA) test online is coupling of external interferences and noise with measured signals, which can lead to misinterpretation of the results. To resolve this issue, in this study, initially, the distribution properties of different types of noise and their impact on the transformer online IFRA signature are investigated and secondly, a filtering technique for elimination of external interferences and noise is proposed.

Abstract of thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Commerce and Management Dynamics of macroeconomic variables in Fiji : a cointegrated VAR analysis By Shiu Raj Singh The objective of this study is to examine how macroeconomic variables of Fiji inter-relate with aggregate demand and co-determine one another using a vector autoregression (VAR) approach. This study did not use a prior theoretical framework but instead used economic justification for selection of variables. It was found that fiscal policy, which is generally used as a stabilisation tool, did not have a positive effect on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the short term. Effects on GDP growth were positive over the long term but not statistically significant. Furthermore, expansionary fiscal policy caused inflationary pressures. Fiji has a fixed exchange rate regime, therefore, it was expected that the focus of monetary policy would be the maintenance of foreign reserves. It was, however, found that monetary expansion in the short term resulted in positive effects on real GDP growth and resulted in inflation. The long term effects of monetary policy on real GDP growth were negative, which are explained by the fixed exchange rate regime, endogenous determination of money supply by the central bank, an unsophisticated financial market and, perhaps, an incomplete transmission of the policy. Both merchandise trade and visitor arrivals growth were found to positively contribute to short term and long term economic growth. Political instability was found not to have significant direct effects on real GDP growth but caused a significant decline in visitor arrivals which then negatively affected economic growth in the short term.

Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico.<br>Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-17T05:38:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2016-01-08T23:14:27Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 140104.pdf: 20904431 bytes, checksum: e3e33bcc1c1a9195f296205a838a14bb (MD5)

The bootstrap procedure provides a way to test the significance of the regression coefficients and the stability of the estimates in response functions generated by regression on principal components. A subroutine RESBO, which calculates a bootstrapped response function, has been added to Fritts' program PRECON.

This thesis is composed of three chapters that propose some novel approaches on tail risk for financial market and forecasting in finance and macroeconomics. The first part of this dissertation focuses on financial market correlations and introduces a simple measure of tail correlation, TailCoR, while the second contribution addresses the issue of identification of non- normal structural shocks in Vector Autoregression which is common on finance. The third part belongs to the vast literature on predictions of economic growth; the problem is tackled using a Bayesian Dynamic Factor model to predict Norwegian GDP.Chapter I: TailCoRThe first chapter introduces a simple measure of tail correlation, TailCoR, which disentangles linear and non linear correlation. The aim is to capture all features of financial market co- movement when extreme events (i.e. financial crises) occur. Indeed, tail correlations may arise because asset prices are either linearly correlated (i.e. the Pearson correlations are different from zero) or non-linearly correlated, meaning that asset prices are dependent at the tail of the distribution.Since it is based on quantiles, TailCoR has three main advantages: i) it is not based on asymptotic arguments, ii) it is very general as it applies with no specific distributional assumption, and iii) it is simple to use. We show that TailCoR also disentangles easily between linear and non-linear correlations. The measure has been successfully tested on simulated data. Several extensions, useful for practitioners, are presented like downside and upside tail correlations.In our empirical analysis, we apply this measure to eight major US banks for the period 2003-2012. For comparison purposes, we compute the upper and lower exceedance correlations and the parametric and non-parametric tail dependence coefficients. On the overall sample, results show that both the linear and non-linear contributions are relevant. The results suggest that co-movement increases during the financial crisis because of both the linear and non- linear correlations. Furthermore, the increase of TailCoR at the end of 2012 is mostly driven by the non-linearity, reflecting the risks of tail events and their spillovers associated with the European sovereign debt crisis. Chapter II: On the identification of non-normal shocks in structural VARThe second chapter deals with the structural interpretation of the VAR using the statistical properties of the innovation terms. In general, financial markets are characterized by non- normal shocks. Under non-Gaussianity, we introduce a methodology based on the reduction of tail dependency to identify the non-normal structural shocks.Borrowing from statistics, the methodology can be summarized in two main steps: i) decor- relate the estimated residuals and ii) the uncorrelated residuals are rotated in order to get a vector of independent shocks using a tail dependency matrix. We do not label the shocks a priori, but post-estimate on the basis of economic judgement.Furthermore, we show how our approach allows to identify all the shocks using a Monte Carlo study. In some cases, the method can turn out to be more significant when the amount of tail events are relevant. Therefore, the frequency of the series and the degree of non-normality are relevant to achieve accurate identification.Finally, we apply our method to two different VAR, all estimated on US data: i) a monthly trivariate model which studies the effects of oil market shocks, and finally ii) a VAR that focuses on the interaction between monetary policy and the stock market. In the first case, we validate the results obtained in the economic literature. In the second case, we cannot confirm the validity of an identification scheme based on combination of short and long run restrictions which is used in part of the empirical literature.Chapter III :Nowcasting NorwayThe third chapter consists in predictions of Norwegian Mainland GDP. Policy institutions have to decide to set their policies without knowledge of the current economic conditions. We estimate a Bayesian dynamic factor model (BDFM) on a panel of macroeconomic variables (all followed by market operators) from 1990 until 2011.First, the BDFM is an extension to the Bayesian framework of the dynamic factor model (DFM). The difference is that, compared with a DFM, there is more dynamics in the BDFM introduced in order to accommodate the dynamic heterogeneity of different variables. How- ever, in order to introduce more dynamics, the BDFM requires to estimate a large number of parameters, which can easily lead to volatile predictions due to estimation uncertainty. This is why the model is estimated with Bayesian methods, which, by shrinking the factor model toward a simple naive prior model, are able to limit estimation uncertainty.The second aspect is the use of a small dataset. A common feature of the literature on DFM is the use of large datasets. However, there is a literature that has shown how, for the purpose of forecasting, DFMs can be estimated on a small number of appropriately selected variables.Finally, through a pseudo real-time exercise, we show that the BDFM performs well both in terms of point forecast, and in terms of density forecasts. Results indicate that our model outperforms standard univariate benchmark models, that it performs as well as the Bloomberg Survey, and that it outperforms the predictions published by the Norges Bank in its monetary policy report.<br>Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

There are several reasons for using non-Cartesian k-space sampling methods in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Such a method is radial sampling, which includes the advantage of continuous coverage of the k-space center which results in higher robustness to motion. On the other hand, radial imaging does have some limitations that must be considered. The method is more sensitive to gradient imperfections, such as eddy currents and gradient delays, resulting in inconsistencies between the nominal and actual gradient waveforms. This leads to distortions in the sampling trajectory, also called trajectory errors, yielding reconstructed images with artifacts caused by the gradient imperfections. The aim of this project was therefore to implement a method that takes these errors into account and perform a correction of the trajectory errors to yield images with reduced artifacts. Various methods have been proposed for correction of the gradient errors, some more effective than others. The method implemented in this project was based on the gradient impulse response function (GIRF) which characterizes the gradient system responses. When GIRF was acquired, the actual gradient waveforms played-out during the imaging measurement could be predicted by first modeling the nominal gradient waveforms and then performing a convolution with the corresponding GIRF for each gradient axis. The imaging experiments involved measurements on two different resolution phantoms and in-vivo measurements to note possible differences in correction performance. The used pulse sequences for imaging were FLASH and bSSFP. The results showed that the applied method using GIRF did reduce the artifacts caused by gradient imperfections in the reconstructed images taken with the FLASH sequence. On the other hand, the results for the bSSFP sequence were not as successful due to incomplete modeling of the gradient waveforms. The conclusion to be drawn is that the GIRF-correction does adequately compensate for the trajectory errors when using a radial sampling trajectory for the FLASH sequence and hence yield images with almost eliminated artifacts. A suggestion for future work would be to further investigate the bSSFP sequence modeling to obtain better bSSFP-images.<br>Det finns flera anledningar till att använda icke-Kartesiska k-space samplingsmetoder i magnetisk resonanstomografi. En sådan metod är radiell sampling, som har fördelen att kontinuerligt samla in mätdata från mittpunkten av k-space, vilket resulterar i lägre rörelsekänslighet under bildtagningstillfället. Radiell sampling har dock begränsningar som måste tas i beaktande, som gradient imperfektioner och gradientfördröjningar. Dessa leder till förvrängningar i samplingspositioneringen i k-space, även känt som trajektoriefel, vilket ger upphov till artefakter vid bildrekonstruktion. Syftet med projektet är att korrigera för dessa trajektoriefel så att den rekonstruerade bilden innehåller färre artefakter. Olika metoder har föreslagits för korrektion av gradientfel. Metoden som användes i detta projekt baseras på gradient impulsresponsfunktionen (GIRF), som karaktäriserar gradient systemet. För att estimera de verkliga samplingspositionerna i k-space beräknades de förvrängda gradientvågformerna efter varje mätning. Detta gjordes genom att först modellera de nominella gradientvågformerna och därefter utföra en faltning med GIRF. De utförda experimenten under projektets gång bestod av bildtagning av två fantomer och ett antal in-vivo mätningar för att identifiera eventuella skillnader i de rekonstruerade bilderna. Pulssekvenserna som användes under projektet var FLASH och bSSFP. Resultaten visade att GIRF-korrektionen reducerade artefakter orsakade av gradient imperfektioner i de rekonstruerade bilderna tagna med FLASH-sekvensen. Erhållna resultat med bSSFP-sekvensen var å andra sidan inte lika lyckade på grund av inkomplett modellering av gradientvågformerna. Slutsatsen som kan dras är att GIRF-korrektionen kompenserar för trajektoriefel i radiell sampling för FLASH-sekvensen och ger rekonstruerade bilder där artefakterna nästan eliminerats. Ett förslag för framtida arbeten är att vidare undersöka modelleringen av bSSFP-sekvensen för att erhålla bättre bilder.

Previous studies found large biases between individual observational and model estimates of historical ocean anthropogenic carbon uptake. We show that the largest bias between the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) ensemble mean and between two observational estimates of ocean anthropogenic carbon is due to a difference in start date. After adjusting the CMIP5 and observational estimates to the 1791-1995 period, all three carbon uptake estimates agree to within 3Pg of C, about 4% of the total. The CMIP5 ensemble mean spatial bias compared to the observations is generally smaller than the observational error, apart from a negative bias in the Southern Ocean and a positive bias in the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans compensating each other in the global mean. This dipole pattern is likely due to an equatorward and weak bias in the position of Southern Hemisphere westerlies and lack of mode and intermediate water ventilation.

After Harberger published his influential paper in 1962, many authors have assessed empirically whether the incidence of the corporate income tax (CIT) falls on capital owners, consumers, or workers (Krzyzaniak and Musgrave, 1963; Gordon, 1967; Arulampalam et al., 2008). Today, there is little agreement among economists about who bears the incidence of the CIT (Gruber, 2007; Harberger, 2008a,b). The reason for the little convincing evidence is that the econometric models used in the literature ignore that the factors that motivate changes in corporate tax policy are sometimes correlated with other developments in the economy and disentangling those effects from exogenous policy changes requires tremendous effort. Using annual information at the industry level for the United States, I propose to investigate the consequences of exogenous changes in corporate tax policy. The identification of these exogenous events follows the work of Romer and Romer (2009, 2010), who provide an extensive analysis of the U.S. federal tax legislation using narrative records from presidential speeches and congressional reports, among other documentations. The results validate the original predictions from Harberger (1995, 2008a). That is, in the short-term, capital owners bear the full burden of the tax. Over time, however, capital owners are able to shift this burden either by raising consumers' goods prices, or decreasing workers' wages. The magnitude of these e ects depends on the degree of capital intensity as well as the access to international markets and the availability of substitutes for the industry under consideration.

Three different response-function programs are applied to three tree-ring chronologies, two of Pinus ponderosa Laws. and one of Juniperus occidentalis Hook. These data were analyzed before and after ARMA modeling was applied. The results are described and compared to one another as well as to those obtained from all-steps multiple regression, stepwise multiple regression, ridge regression, and simple correlation. In spite of methodological differences all multivariate methodsproduced remarkably similar results. The results from simple correlation differed the most. Some differences among the response functions were apparent, especially in the coefficients associated with prior growth. The response-function results have smaller error estimates than ridge regression. According to Cropper (1985) this error in the response-function results is underestimated by approximately 40 %. The rationale for the different response-function solutions is discussed.

I report the identification of phosphorylation sites in MDC1 that are phosphorylated by ATM in response to ionizing radiation (IR), and demonstrates that these motifs are required for the efficient recruitment of BRCA1 and 53BP1 into IRIF. We identified the E3 Ubiquitin ligase RNF8 as critical for this process, and show that upon phosphorylation, these MDC1 sites are bound directly by the FHA domain of RNF8, directing it to generate ubiquitinated proteins at DSB sites. We demonstrate that it is the formation of these ubiquitin conjugates at DSB sites that facilitate BRCA1 and 53BP1 recruitment into IRIF. I report a novel interaction-surface in MDC1 that is phosphorylated constitutively by the protein kinase CK2. These phosphorylation sites in MDC1 are bound directly by NBS1, in a manner dependent on its FHA and tandem BRCT domains. I demonstrate that this interaction surface on MDC1 is essential for promoting MDC1-NBS1 interactions and NBS1 retention on chromatin flanking DSB sites. We have elucidated the structure of the FHA-tandem-BRCT domains of Schizosaccharomyes pombe Nbs1 by X-ray crystallography. Phosphorylated MDC1 Ser-Asp-Thr-Asp (pSDpTD)-like motifs are evolutionarily conserved NBS1 binding motifs <i>In vitro</i>. I identified similar CK2-consensus sites conserved in the fission yeast DNA repair protein Ctp1 (CtIP). Nbs1 FHA domain-mediated binding of these Ctp1 sites is crucial for MRN-dependent functions in yeast. These findings suggest that the unique and specialist domain architecture of NBS1<i> </i>underpins an evolutionary conserved adaptor-function mode for MRN-dependent responses to DNA damage.

External economic shocks cause domestic macroeconomic aggregates to fluctuate. This may call for a macroeconomic policy intervention. Since the early 1990s an increasing number of countries have adopted an inflation targeting framework. In reality, inflation targeters do not have perfect information when determining the interest rate in order to maintain their goal of price stability and stable economic growth. Therefore it is relevant to understand how shocks affect the domestic macroeconomic aggregates theoretically and investigate whether the theoretical predictions hold empirically. I use the New Keynesian model by Clarida, Galí and Gertler from 1999 and investigate explicitly the theoretical effects of expected and unexpected supply and demand-side shocks on the monetary policy instrument and the two monetary policy target variables – the interest rate, output gap and inflation rate. By analysing the impulse-response functions of a structural VAR model applied to quarterly Swedish and British data from 1994 to 2011, I test empirically the theoretical predictions according to the New Keynesian model. I find that the empirical results are in line with the theoretical predictions.

This research examines the impact of external shocks on Nigeria’s output performance for the period 1981 – 2015. It aims to bring to the fore the importance of considering external shocks during policy design and implementation. The multivariate VAR and VECM frameworks were used to evaluate the impact of the shock variables on Nigeria’s output performance and to achieve the stated objectives. Findings show that the external shock and domestic policy variables have short-run effects on Nigeria’s output performance. Also, all the measures of external shocks and domestic policies display some viable information in explaining the variabilities in Nigeria’s output performance over the horizon. The comparison between the results of the VECM and the unrestricted VAR shows that the unrestricted VAR model outperformed the VECM. The overall result of the study confirms the view about the vulnerability of the Nigerian economy to external shocks. These shocks explain more than half of the variance in real output performance and have varying effects on output performance in Nigeria. The dynamic response of output performance to each of the defined shock variables show that output performance responds rapidly to the shock variables, while its response to the domestic economic variables is seemingly moderate. Finally, the variance decomposition show that international crude oil price and terms of trade have the largest share in accounting for the variability in output performance, followed closely by the shares of capital inflows and monetary policy.

AtravÃs da utilizaÃÃo de instrumentais estatÃsticos e economÃtricos para a anÃlise de sÃries temporais, buscou-se verificar as relaÃÃes entre as taxas de crescimento dos paÃses desenvolvidos e emergentes. Para tanto, utilizou-se de uma amostra contendo a taxa real de crescimento econÃmico desses paÃses no perÃodo de 1970-2007. Com base nesse estudo, verificou-se que existe causalidade, no sentido Granger, do crescimento econÃmico dos paÃses desenvolvidos em direÃÃo aos paÃses emergentes. A funÃÃo de resposta a impulsos mostrou que a resposta dos paÃses emergentes a choques no crescimento dos paÃses desenvolvidos foi a mais significativa e duradoura.<br>Through the use of statistical and econometric instrumentals for the analysis of time series, this work aims to verify the relationships between the economic growth rate of developed and emergent countries. For so much, it was used of a sample containing the real economic growth rate of those countries in the period of 1970-2007. With base in this study, it was verified that causality exists, in the sense of Granger, of the economic growth rate of the countries developed towards the emerging countries. The impulse response function showed that the answer of the emerging countries to impacts in the economic growth of the developed countries was the most significant and durable.

The hospital sound environment is complex. Emergency Departments (EDs), in particular, have proven to be hectic work environments populated with diverse sound sources. Medical equipment, alarms, and communication events generate noise that can interfere with staff concentration and communication. In this study, sound measurements and analyses were conducted in six hospitals total: three civilian hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia and Dublin, Ohio, as well as three Washington, DC-area hospitals in the Military Health System (MHS). The equivalent, minimum, and maximum sound pressure levels were recorded over twenty-four hours in several locations in each ED, with shorter 15-30 minute measurements performed in other areas. Acoustic descriptors, such as spectral content, level distributions, and speech intelligibility were examined. The perception of these acoustic qualities by hospital staff was also evaluated through subjective surveys. It was found that noise levels in both work areas and patient rooms were excessive. Additionally, speech intelligibility measurements and survey results show that background noise presents a significant obstacle in effective communication between staff members and patients. Compared to previous studies, this study looks at a wider range of acoustic metrics and the corresponding perceptions of staff in order to form a more precise and accurate depiction of the ED sound environment.

Bilindustrin är i ständig utveckling och är väl medvetna om de ökande kraven från kundermed avseende på körkomfort och körupplevelse. Lastbilar med tunga laster är ofta utrustademed en påbyggnad, till exempel en låda för pallar och gods, en sopsamlare eller en stödram förbärning av timmer. SCANIA Bodybuilding Center utvecklar riktlinjer för val av olika typer avkarosseri, dvs typ av stödram och antal , fästpunkter. Målet med detta arbete är att utvecklaen bättre förståelse för hur det stödjande ramverket och dess infästningar i en lastbil påverkarrammens dynamik och sedan föreslå förbättringar till dessa riktlinjer.Viktiga parametrar som påverkar chassisdynamiken identifierades och beskrivs från början.Fysisk vibrationstestning av chassiet och påbyggnadsram med fasthållningsfäste utfördes vidi testrigg på Scania R&amp;D. Frekvensresponsfunktionerna från mätningarna användes för attbestämma modala parametrar. Olika test utfördes genom att ändra parametrarna och upptagningenav mätningarna. Testresultaten användes för att studera egenfrekvenser egna frekvenser,modifieringsformer och dämpning i systemet. Även en ny metod för att bygga en dynamiskfinit element (FE) modell eller chassi och påbyggnadsram är presenterad i denna undersökning.Modalanalys av chassi-påbygnadsramssystemet gjordes för att studera FEMs egna frekvenseroch modeformer. Den föreslagna metoden för koppling av chassit och delramen i FEM är kritisktbedömd genom att korrelera FE-simuleringen med de experimentella resultaten. Baserat på deutförda experimenten och den numeriska simuleringen föreslås från experiment och numerisksimulering, föreslås nya rekommendationer med avseende på påbyggnadsanslutningarnas konfigurationi lastbil.<br>The automotive sector is continuously evolving and the companies are well aware of therising demands from customers with regard to driving comfort and experience. Trucks carryingheavy loads are often equipped with on-built bodywork, for example a box for pallets and goods, agarbage collector device or a supporting frame for carrying timber. SCANIA bodybuilding centredevelops guidelines for selecting different types of bodywork, i.e. the type of supporting frame,design and number of attachment brackets, attachment points. The purpose of this master thesisis to develop a better understanding of how the supporting frame and its attachments in a truckinfluence the chassis frame dynamics and to propose improvements to these guidelines.Major parameters influencing the chassis dynamics were identified and described from theoutset. Physical vibration testing of the chassis-subframe assembly was carried out at roadsimulator. The frequency response functions from the measurements were used to determinethe modal parameters. Several tests were performed by altering the parameters and recordingthe measurements. The results from the test cases were used to study and analyse the eigenfrequencies, mode shapes and damping in the system. Also, a new method to build a dynamicfinite element (FE) model of chassis and subframe is presented in this study. Modal analysisof the chassis-subframe assembly was done to study the eigen frequencies and mode shapes byFEM. The proposed method of coupling the chassis and the subframe is critically assessed bycorrelating the results from FE simulation with the experimental results. Based on the resultsfrom experiment and numerical simulation, new recommendations are proposed with regard tothe bodywork attachments’ configuration in the truck.

The recent massive growth volume of “big data” and the rise of user-authored content (e.g weblogs, Twitter, Facebook) and use of search engines (e.g Google, Wikipedia) resulting from human interaction with the Web 2.0 tools may offer a new insights on the behavior of market players in periods of large market movements. By analyzing the social media sentiment extracted from economic blogs’ posts, Google and Wikipedia query volumes for search terms related to financial crisis, it was found that this data can have a statistically significant impact on financial markets indicators. The results suggest that the combination of widespread behavioral data sets offers can be a useful tool to better understand collective human behavior

This study examines the effect of openness on inflation for the Pakistan economy over the period 1973-2015. In the first of its kind, this paper investigates the openness-inflation relationship with Johansen’s maximum likelihood cointegration procedure along with impulse response functions and forecast error variance decomposition of vector autoregressive models in the Pakistan context. The framework of the analysis is a five-variable vector autoregressive model with different permutation of variables. The results show that there is significance of openness and inflation relationship in the long run but not in the short run. In the long run openness is positively related to inflation (although the effect is small), hence refutes the well-known Romer (1993) hypothesis. Moreover, no causality was found between inflation and trade openness as investigated by the Toda-Yamamoto approach. The impulse response functions indicate that an innovation to openness has a significant positive effect on growth rates of inflation in the short run but the effect becomes negative in the long run. However, when we use financial openness as an alternative openness measure, the effect in inflation is negative in the short run but becomes significantly positive in the long run. The variance decomposition analysis indicates that shocks to import prices and exchange rate in the short run, and output and money supply in the long run, have greater impact on inflation than does the openness shock; Abertura ao Exterior e Inflação no Paquistão: Uma Análise de Cointegração e causalidade (1973-2015). Resumo: Este estudo examina o efeito da abertura ao exterior na inflação para a economia paquistanesa no período 1973-2015. Esta relação é investigada conjugando, pela primeira vez, a abordagem de cointegração de máxima verosimilhança de Johansen com as funções impulso resposta e a decomposição da variância do erro de previsão de modelos autorregressivos vetoriais, no contexto paquistanês. A base da análise é um modelo autorregressivo vetorial com cinco variáveis em diferentes permutações. Os resultados mostram que a relação entre abertura e inflação é significativa no longo prazo, mas não no curto prazo. No longo prazo a abertura ao exterior relaciona-se positivamente com a inflação (embora o efeito seja pequeno em magnitude), o que refuta a conhecida hipótese de Romer (1993). Além disso, não se encontrou causalidade entre inflação e abertura comercial ao exterior através da abordagem de Toda-Yamamoto. As funções impulso resposta indicam que uma inovação na abertura ao exterior tem um efeito positivo e significativo no crescimento da inflação no curto prazo, mas o efeito torna-se negativo no longo prazo. No entanto, quando se usa a abertura financeira ao exterior como uma medida alternativa de abertura, o efeito na inflação é negativo no curto prazo é negativo no curto prazo, mas torna-se positivo e significativo no longo prazo. A análise de decomposição da variância indica que os choques nos preços de importação e na taxa de câmbio no curto prazo, e no produto e na oferta de moeda no logo prazo, têm maior impacto na inflação do que os choques na abertura ao exterior.

Rod and cone photoreceptors in the human eye operate simultaneously under dim (mesopic) illuminations, however, it's not clear how their signals interact to regulate our visual experience. These photoreceptor interactions were investigated using a new methodology designed to isolate rod-mediated vision by separating it from the effects of cone photoreceptor-specific noise. The outcomes revealed a mechanism requiring cone-directed transmission of rod signals through the primary visual pathways that optimizes human vision under twilight illumination.

Att konstruktioner som innehållande roterande element riskerar att utsättas för resonans är något en konstruktör alltid bör ha i åtanke. Alla konstruktioner har naturliga frekvenser även kallat egenfrekvenser, naturliga rörelsemönster, vars frekvens beror på dess massa och styvhet. Resonans uppstår då dessa naturliga frekvenser ligger nära angripande krafters frekvens. Resonansfenomenet amplifierar den dynamiska lasten och ofta uppstår väldigt höga påfrestningar på konstruktionen. Denna rapport redogör för en vibrationsanalys av en fläktkonstruktion, samt ett utvecklingsarbete för att optimera denna fläkt utifrån uppsatta krav från samarbetspartnern Quant Service Sweden AB. Fläktkonstruktionen finns hos kabeltillvärkaren NKT i Karlskrona. Arbetet har utförts tillsammans med Quant Service, ansvariga för underhållet på NKT. Fläktkonstruktionen har under flera tillfällen havererat genom att motorfästets skruvförband har gett vika efter allt för stora påfrestningar. Mycket tyder på att konstruktionen utsätts för stora vibrationer, där man tror att orsaken är resonans. Detta eftersom roterande delar enligt leverantör och egna tester ska vara balanserade inom givna gränsvärden. Samarbetspartnern Quant vill nu ha en redogörelse för om de höga vibrationerna orsakas av resonans eller inte, samt hur problemet kan lösas på bästa sätt. Arbetet innehåller två olika experiment, ett impulstest med impulshammare och ett test där fläktens motor startas och körs under två minuter. Konstruktionens respons har mätts med en accelerometer och den erhållna datan har använts för att beräkna en frekvensresponsfunktion, samt ett Power Spectra Density (PSD) i Matlab. Syftet med dessa experiment var att kartlägga konstruktionens egenfrekvenser och dynamiska laster för att se om dessa ligger nära varandra, och på så vis bekräfta att resonansfenomenet orsakat de kraftiga vibrationerna. Det experimentella resultatet visar på att konstruktionen har en dynamisk last på 48,3 Hz vilket motsvarar motorns varvtal på 2900 rpm. Denna dynamiska last ligger väldigt nära en utav konstruktionens egenfrekvenser, 45 Hz, vilket stärker hypotesen om resonans. De experimentella resultaten har validerats med hjälp av en modalanalys gjord i FEM-programmet Simulation Mechanical. Det experimentella impulstestet har också simulerats i programmet. Arbetet innehåller även utveckling av tre olika typer av förstärkning av fläktkonstruktionen. Syftet var att förstärka konstruktionen för att höja dess naturliga frekvenser och på så vis undvika resonansfenomenet. De tre konstruktionerna är rankade utifrån uppsatta krav med hjälp av en konceptbedömningsmatris enligt modellen concept scooring. Modalanalyser i FEM-programmet har gjorts för samtliga tre konstruktioner för att undersöka dess egenfrekvenser. Samtliga tre konstruktioner har inga egenfrekvenser under 100 Hz. Efter arbetet har Quant möjligheten att välja en utav de tre konstruktionerna för vidare implementering.<br>A designer must have in mind that constructions containing rotating elements risks being subjected to resonance. All constructions have got natural frequencies, also called eigenfrequencies, natural motions, where the frequency depends on its mass and stiffness. This report describes a work consisting a vibrational analysis of a fan construction. The fan construction is located at the cable manufacture NKT in Karlskrona. The work has been performed together with Quant Service, a company responsible for the maintenance at NKT. The fan construction struggle with recurrent breakdowns where the screw joints for the engine attachment were broken after large vibrations. The problem seems to occur due to the resonance phenomena, this because the rotating elements are balanced within limits according to the supplier of the fan wheels and own test performed by Quant themselves. The partner Quant service want to know if the large vibrations occurs due to resonance. The work contains two different experiments, one impulse test with an impulse hammer, and one experiment where the fan’s engine was running and driven for 2 minutes. The construction response was sampled with an accelerometer and the obtained data was used to calculate a frequency response function, and a power spectra density (PSD) in Matlab. The aim of these experiments were to obtain a survey of the constructions natural frequencies and dynamic force to analyse if they are close to each other, and by that confirm that resonance is the causing factor. The experimental result show that the construction has got a dynamic force acting with 48,3 Hz, which corresponds to the engine speed at 2900 rpm. This dynamic force is very close to one of the constructions natural frequencies at 45 Hz. This supports the hypothesis that the problems occur due to resonance. The experimental results have been validated with a modal analysis in the FEM program Simulation Mechanical. The experimental impulse test has been simulated in the program as well. The work also consists a development of three different types of strengthening of the fan construction. The aim is to increase the natural frequencies and by that avoid the resonance phenomena. The three constructions are ranked based on the requirements set by using a concept scooring matrix. Modal analysis for each of the three new constructions were created to confirmed the increased natural frequencies. The constructions all seems to have the first natural frequencies over 100 Hz. When the work was finished Quant had the possibility to pick one of the new constructions for further implementation.

Both herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) are human pathogens that are capable of causing significant disease. More than 600 million people are infected with HSV-2 genital herpes and every day >40,000 new HSV-2 infections are transmitted to naïve recipients. The public health community has long agreed that a preventative vaccine is necessary to reduce the prevalence of HSV-2, but we continue to lack a vaccine to prevent the spread of this sexually transmitted disease. Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) establish a life-long infection in their host where they alternate between a state of latency and productive replication. One of principle determining factors of whether HSV reactivates from a latent state to cause disease is the accumulation of the immediate early viral protein, infected cell protein 0 (ICP0). ICP0 is a potent transactivator of HSV mRNA synthesis. However, in addition to the nuclear transactivating function of ICP0, our lab demonstrated that at later times during infection, ICP0 translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm where it reorganizes the host microtubule network (PLoS ONE 5(6): e10975). In the first part of my dissertation, we used the anti-neoplastic drug paclitaxel to determine if ICP0’s microtubule-reorganizing activity is required for efficient replication of HSV- 1. Surprisingly, we observed that paclitaxel prevented ICP0 from dispersing cellular microtubules and inhibited the spread of HSV-1 and HSV-2. Paclitaxel reduced HSV-1 plaque size by up to 100-fold, and inhibition of viral spread was proportional to the efficiency with which doses of paclitaxel stabilized microtubules against ICP0-induced dispersal. Analysis of infected Vero cells confirmed that paclitaxel treatment did not reduce the efficiency of HSV-1 mRNA, protein, DNA, or virion synthesis by more than 3-fold. In contrast, paclitaxel treatment caused an ~20-fold decrease in infectious virus release from HSV-1 infected cells. Comparison of ICP0+ versus ICP0- viruses yielded genetic evidence that ICP0 promotes infectious virus release from HSV-1-infected cells. These results provide the first evidence suggesting that ICP0’s microtubule-reorganizing activity may promote the release of infectious virus from HSVinfected cells. In the second part of my dissertation, I focus less on the basic-science quest to elucidate the function of ICP0 but instead focus on characterizing the antibody response elicited by a highly protective HSV-2 ICP0- vaccine that was developed in our lab. Specifically, despite the belief that virion glycoproteins such as glycoprotein D (gD-2) are the dominant antigens of herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) we have demonstrated mice immunized with a live HSV-2 ICP0- mutant virus, HSV-2 0ΔNLS, are 10 to 100 times better protected against genital herpes than mice immunized with a HSV-2 gD subunit vaccine (PLoS ONE 6:e17748). In light of these results, we sought to determine which viral proteins were the dominant antibody-generators (antigens) of the live HSV-2 0ΔNLS vaccine. Western blot analyses indicated the live HSV-2 0ΔNLS vaccine elicited an IgG antibody response against 9 or more viral proteins. Many antibodies were directed against infected-cell proteins of >100 kDa in size, and only 10 ± 5% of antibodies were directed against gD. Immunoprecipitation (IP) of total HSV-2 antigen with 0ΔNLS antiserum pulled down 19 viral proteins. Mass spectrometry suggested 44% of immunoprecipitated viral peptides were derived from two HSV-2 infected cells proteins, RR-1 and ICP8, whereas only 14% of immunoprecipitated peptides were derived from HSV-2's thirteen glycoproteins. Collectively, the results suggest the immune response to the live HSV-2 0ΔNLS vaccine includes antibodies specific for infected cell proteins, capsid proteins, tegument proteins, and glycoproteins. This increased breadth of antibody-generating proteins may contribute to the live HSV-2 vaccine's capacity to elicit superior protection against genital herpes relative to a gD subunit vaccine. In the final section of my dissertation, I focus on the construction of stable Vero cell lines using a system that relies on Sleeping Beauty transposase to introduce two genetic elements into the chromosomes of target cells: 1. a Tet-regulatable gene-of-interest driven by the VP16- inducible HSV-1 ICP0 promoter and 2. a highly expressed bicistronic gene that expresses the Tet-repressor protein and a puromycin selection marker. The modified bidirectional HSV-1 ICP0 promoter used in this novel expression system 1. drives constitutive expression of a cell surface marker (tNGFR) from the reverse side of the ICP0 promoter, while 2. the Tetregulatable, forward side of the ICP0 promoter allows the expression of a downstream gene-ofinterest to be regulated over an ~100-fold range of gene expression through doxycyclineinduced derepression and induction with VP16. Using this system, stable and regulatable Vero cell lines are reproducibly obtained within one month of initial transfection by using puromycin selection followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate a pure population of tNGFR+ cells that contain the target gene-of-interest. Vero cell lines that carry a toxic gene, such as HSV-1 ICP0, can be routinely passaged and maintained in cell culture because basal expression of the gene-of-interest can be reduced to low to undetectable levels. However, when the same cell lines are de-repressed, they express adequate levels of HSV-1 ICP0 or HSV-1 origin-binding protein (OBP) to complement an HSV-1 ICP0- mutant . These data suggest this novel gene expression system may have broad uses in biological research because it allows for the efficient generation of stable cell lines that express a gene-of-interest in a highly regulatable manner.

p53 is an important tumor suppressor gene which is mutated in ~50% of all human cancers. Some of the p53 mutants appear to have acquired novel functions beyond merely losing wild-type functions. To investigate these gain-of-function effects in vivo, we interbred MMTV-v-Ha-ras transgenic mice to either p53-/- knock-out mice or p53R172H/+ knock-in mice to generate mice of three different genotypes: MMTV-ras, MMTV-ras/p53-/-, and MMTV-ras/p53R172H/R172H. Male mice of each of these genotypes were characterized with regard to age of salivary tumor onset and the tumors were characterized with regard to mean growth rates, proliferation fraction, apoptotic levels, and tumor histopathology, as well as responses to doxorubicin treatment. Microarray analysis was also performed to profile gene expression.The MMTV-ras/p53-/- and MMTV-ras/p53R172H/R172H mice display similar properties in age of tumor onset, tumor growth rates, and tumor histopathology, as well as response to doxorubicin. However, a subset of genes show differential expression between the two groups of tumor , and do not appear to be regulated by wild-type p53. At the same time, the MMTV-ras/p53R172H/R172H and MMTV-ras/p53+/+ tumors share similar expression levels of a group of genes that are differentially expressed in the MMTV-ras/p53-/- tumors. Thus, the gain-of-function effects may be caused in part by perturbed regulation of genes not normally regulated by wild-type p53, in addition to imbalances in the regulation of normal p53 target genes.

This study examines the dynamic relationship between changes in oil prices and the economic policy uncertainty index for a sample of both net oil-exporting and net oil-importing countries over the period 1997:01-2013:06. To achieve that, we extend the Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012) dynamic spillover index using structural decomposition. The results reveal that economic policy uncertainty (oil price shocks) responds negatively to aggregate demand oil price shocks (economic policy uncertainty shocks). Furthermore, during the Great Recession of 2007-2009, total spillovers increase considerably, reaching unprecedented heights. Moreover, in net terms, economic policy uncertainty becomes the dominant transmitter of shocks between 1997 and 2009, while in the post-2009 period there is a significant role for supply-side and oil specific demand shocks, as net transmitters of spillover effects. These results are important for policy makers, as well as, investors interested in the oil market. (authors' abstract)<br>Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Bakgrund och Problem: Aktiemarknaden påverkas både av inhemska och utländska faktorer. Därför är det av intresse att se vilka makroekonomiska variabler som påverkar den svenska aktiemarknaden. Anledningen till att Sverige har valts som den geografiska punkten är att det är av intresse att se hur ett litet land som Sverige, som har en öppen ekonomi påverkas av de utvalda makroekonomiska variablerna. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att med hjälp av information samt analys, studera hur de olika makroekonomiska variablerna påverkar den inhemska aktiemarknaden. Olika faktorer som påverkar aktiemarknaden kommer att lyftas fram för att i sin tur även se till de olika branscherna. Metod: Då data enbart består av hämtning av tidigare information fokuseras det enbart på sekundärdata i form av historiska siffror samt historiska undersökningar. De statistiska tester som tillämpas är Granger Causality test, Johansens Cointegration test, Impulse Response Function test, ADF test, KPSS test, Mulitpel regression. Slutsats: Med de resultat som presenterades i denna studie, skulle vi nog inte kunna säga att vi har ett svar över vilka aktier en investerare ska införskaffa. Dock skulle vi kunna poängtera att den potentiella investeraren bör ha dessa variabler i beaktning vid beslut. Genom att studera dessa variabler kan man få en känsla om vilket håll variablerna kommer att röra sig och på så sätt säga att de kan påverka aktieindexen. Att bara kolla på de makroekonomiska variabler som denna studie belyser räcker inte för att förstå hur aktieindex kommer att se ut i framtiden, men det är en bit på vägen till att förstå aktiemarknadens rörelse.

Floors have traditionally been designed only for strength and deflection serviceability. As technological advances have been made in medical, scientific and micro-electronics manufacturing, many types of equipment have become sensitive to vibration of the supporting floor. Thus, vibration serviceability has become a routinely evaluated limit state for floors supporting sensitive equipment. Equipment vibration tolerance limits are sometimes expressed as waveform peak acceleration, and are more often expressed as narrowband spectral acceleration, or one-third octave spectral velocity. Current floor vibration prediction methods, such as those found in the American Institute of Steel Construction Design Guide 11, Floor Vibrations Due to Human Activity, the British Steel Construction Institute P354, Design of Floors for Vibration: a New Approach and the British Concrete Centre CCIP-016 A Design Guide for Footfall Induced Vibration of Structures, have limitations. It has been observed that non-structural components such as light-weight partitions could significantly change floor dynamic properties. Current prediction methods do not provide a fundamental frequency manual prediction method nor finite element modeling guidance for floors with non-structural components. Current prediction methods only predict waveform peak acceleration and do not provide predictions for frequency domain response including narrowband spectral acceleration or one-third octave spectral velocity. Also, current methods are not calibrated to provide a specific level of conservatism. This research project provides (1) a fundamental frequency manual prediction method for floors with lightweight partitions; (2) an improved finite element modeling procedure for floors with light-weight partitions; (3) a procedure to predict the vibration response in narrow-band spectrum and one-third octave band spectrum which can be directly compared with vibration tolerance limits; and (4) a simplified experimental procedure to estimate the floor natural frequencies. An experimental program including four steel-framed building floors and a concrete was completed. Modal tests were performed on two of the steel-framed buildings and the concrete building using an electrodynamic shaker. Experimental modal analysis techniques were used to estimate the modal properties: natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping ratios. Responses to walking excitation were measured several times in each tested bay for individuals walking at different walking speeds. During each test, the walker crossed the middle of the bay using a metronome to help maintain the intended cadence. The proposed method was used to predict the modal properties and responses to walking. The measurements are used to assess the precision of the proposed methods and to calibrate the prediction methods to provide a specific probability that the actual response will exceed the predicted response. Comparison of measurements and predictions shows the proposed methods are sufficiently accurate for design usage.

Traditional naval vessels with steel structures have the benefit of large safety factors and a distinct material endurance limit. However, as performance requirements and budget constraints rise, the demand for lighter weight vessels increases. Reducing the mass of vessels is commonly achieved by the use of aluminum or composite structures, which requires closer attention to be paid to crack initiation and propagation. It is rarely feasible to require a lengthy inspection process that removes the vessel from service for an extended amount of time. Structural health monitoring (SHM), involving continuous measurement of the structural response to an energy source, has been proposed as a step towards condition-based maintenance. Furthermore, using a passive monitoring system with an array of sensors has several advantages: monitoring can take place in real-time using only ambient noise vibrations and neither deployment of an active source nor visual access to the inspected areas are required. Passive SHM on a naval vessel is not without challenge. The structures of ships are typically geometrically complex, causing scattering, multiple reflections, and mode conversion of the propagating waves in the vessel. And rather than a distinct and predictable input produced by controlled active sources, the vibration sources are hull impacts, smaller waves, and even onboard machinery and activity. This research summarizes findings from data collected onboard a Navy vessel and presents recommendations data processing techniques. The intent is to present a robust method of passive structural health monitoring for such a vessel using only ambient vibrations recordings.

The aim of this work is understand how the Exchange rate volatility affects the cearensesâs exports. Many researchers have appointed that an increase in the exchange rate volatility generate risk factors on trade. Therefore, understand the relationship between volatility and trade is fundamental to forecast better the behavior of trade under instabilities of the exchange markets, as the recent international crisis. The period of analysis is from 2002 to 2011 and the data has monthly frequency. Two methodologies are used to investigate this relationship: short run, through impulse response function, obtained from a VEC; long run, through the Johansen cointegration test. The results showed that the exchange volatility reduces the exports of CearÃ.<br>O objetivo deste trabalho à entender como a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio afeta as exportaÃÃes cearenses. Diversos autores tÃm apontado que uma volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio mais elevada pode estar associada a fatores de risco de exportaÃÃo e importaÃÃo. Dessa forma, entender o relacionamento entre esses componentes à fundamental para aumentar o poder de previsibilidade, especialmente, em perÃodos de instabilidade econÃmica, em que a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio tende a ser maior. Nesse trabalho, utilizou-se de dados com frequÃncia mensal entre 2002 a 2012. Duas anÃlises foram feitas: uma de curto prazo, atravÃs da abordagem de funÃÃes impulso resposta obtidas a partir de um VEC e outra de longo prazo atravÃs do teste de cointegraÃÃo de Johansen (1991). Dos resultados encontrados, verificou-se que a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio tem efeito sobre as exportaÃÃes cearenses tanto no curto quanto no longo prazo. Ambos, longo e curto prazo, a volatilidade da taxa de cambio reduz o quantum exportado, indicando que tal volatilidade pode ser interpretada como risco associado as exportaÃÃes.

South Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) is the southernmost pine species in the United States and the foundation species of the globally endangered pine rockland communities in south Florida. To test if slash pine produces annual growth rings in the Lower Florida Keys, we counted the number of rings on samples collected from the North Big Pine Key site (NBP), which contained a fire scar from a known wildfire and a known date for hurricane-induced tree mortality (2006 or 2007). In addition, a crossdated tree-ring chronology (1871–2009) was developed from living trees and remnant wood found at the site and compared to divisional climate data to determine how the regional climate regime influences radial growth. Our analyses demonstrated that slash pine forms anatomically distinct, annual growth rings with the consistent year-to-year variability necessary for rigorous dendrochronological studies. Response-function and correlation analysis showed that annual growth of slash pine at NBP is primarily influenced by water availability during the growing season. However, no significant correlations were found between tree growth and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation or the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Our study reveals the potential of producing high-quality dendrochronological data in southern Florida from slash pine, which should prove useful in further studies on fire history and tree phenology and for assessing the projected impacts of impending climate change on the fragile pine rockland community.

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

This final thesis deals with the approximation of time delay in time invariant systems. First, the generalized Laguerre functions and their characteristics are presented. After this, the approximation of the Dirac delta function with the help of these functions is shown. Also, the choice of the free parameters is discussed and the results are evaluated with the help of energy. In the final part of the thesis, the approximations of systems with generalized and simple Laguerre functions are compared.

In this thesis, three improved analysis techniques for scatterometer wind estimation are presented. These techniques build upon previous methods that help validate scatterometer data. This thesis examines the theory connecting the 1D and 2D kinetic energy spectra and uses QuikSCAT data to measure the 2D kinetic energy spectrum of ocean winds. The measured 2D kinetic energy spectrum is compared to the traditional 1D kinetic energy spectrum. The relationship between the 2D kinetic energy spectra and the 1D kinetic energy spectra confirms findings from previous studies that ocean winds modeled in 2D are isotropic and nondivergent. The 1D and 2D kinetic energy spectra also confirm the known conclusion that the zonal and meridional components of ocean winds are uncorrelated. Through simulation, the wind response function (WRF) is calculated for three different QuikSCAT processing algorithms. The WRF quantifies the contribution that the wind at each point of the surface makes to a given wind estimate. The spatial resolution of the different processing algorithms is estimated by their WRFs. The WRFs imply that the spatial resolution of ultrahigh resolution (UHR) processing is finer than the spatial resolution of conventional drop-in-the-bucket (DIB) processing; the spatial resolution of UHR processing is ~5-10 km while the spatial resolution of DIB slice processing is ~12-15 km and the spatial resolution of coarse resolution DIB egg processing is ~30 km. Simulation is used to analyze the effectiveness of various wind retrieval and ambiguity selection algorithms. To assist in the simulation, synthetic wind fields are created through extrapolating the 2D Fourier transform of a numerical weather prediction wind field. These synthetic wind fields are sufficiently realistic to evaluate ambiguity selection algorithms. The simulation employs the synthetic wind fields to compare wind estimation with and without direction interval retrieval (DIR) applied. Both UHR and DIB wind estimation processes are performed in the simulation and UHR winds are shown to resolve finer resolution wind features than DIB winds at the cost of being slightly noisier. DIR added to standard QuikSCAT UHR wind estimation drops the wind direction root-mean-squared error by ~10° to ~24.74° in the swath sweet spot.