Modeling the Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts of Biofuels

This paper provides a general overview of the social, environmental, and economical issues related to biofuels and a review of economic modeling of biofuels. The increasing importance of biofuels is driven primarily by government policies since currently available biofuels are generally not economically viable in the absence of fiscal incentives or high oil prices. Also the environmental impacts of biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels are quite ambiguous. The literature review of the most recent economic models dealing with biofuels and their economic impacts provides a distinction between structural and reduced form models. The discussion of structural models centers primarily on computable general equilibrium models. The review of reduced models is structured toward the time series analysis approach to the dependencies between prices of biofuels, prices of agricultural commodities used for the biofuel production and prices of the fossil fuels.Biofuels; Ethanol; Biodiesel; Prices; Time-series

Posterior Instability of the Glenohumeral Joint

Seventeen patients underwent posterior capsulotendi nous tensioning procedures to eliminate recurrent pos terior glenohumeral instability. Fourteen patients were evaluated an average of 44 months (range, 18 to 98) after surgery. The average patient age was 27 years. Before surgery, all patients were unable to perform their activities of daily living, occupational activities, and athletic activities. Preoperatively, the average pain rating score on a visual analog scale was 5 of 10 at rest and 9 of 10 with activities. Six patients had previous anterior reconstructions. After surgery, the average range of motion was 174° of forward elevation and 69° of external rotation; internal rotation was to the thumb level of T-8. No patient had a recurrence of posterior instability. After surgery, the average pain rating score was 2 of 10 at rest and 4 of 10 with activities. All patients improved after their operations, but four pa tients were minimally disabled from activities of daily living; six patients experienced shoulder fatigue at work; and four patients had difficulty with sports activ ities. Overall, 13 of the 14 patients were satisfied with their surgical procedures and their outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66741/2/10.1177_036354659602400305.pd

Infrared photochemistry of ethylene clusters

Infrared irradiation of ethylene clusters formed in supersonic molecular beams, using a low power cw CO2 laser, results in the photodissociation of a large fraction of the van der Waals molecules. Under such conditions, infrared absorption intensity exhibits first-order power dependence and is readily detected as loss in molecular beam intensity. Intramolecular energy transfer rates, determined by measuring spectral linewidths, are shown to vary with the vibrational mode initially excited. Ethylene clusters containing one quantum of vibrational energy corresponding to the nun7 fundamental in the monomer (949 cm^–1) have a vibrationally predissociative lifetime of 0.33 psec. In comparison, the relaxation rate of ethylene-d4 clusters with one quantum of excitation corresponding to the nu12 (1078 cm^–1) mode of C2D4 is 0.7 psec

Jednoduchá kategorizace matematických objektů: zkoumání rozhodování žáků a studentů

Cílem disertační práce je popsat rozhodovací proces žáků a studentů při tzv. jednoduché kategorizaci, neboli rozhodnutí, zda konkrétní objekt je, nebo není prvkem dané kategorie. Tento proces je přitom zkoumán v kontextu kategorií matematických objektů. V teoretické části práce jsou představeny argumenty, proč je zkoumání jednoduché kategorizace matematických objektů důležité pro didaktiku matematiky. Tyto argumenty přitom nevycházejí pouze z dostupné literatury v didaktice matematiky, ale částečně čerpají také z literatury historické, matematické a psychologické. V prakticky zaměřených kapitolách práce je popsán návrh a pilotáž výzkumného nástroje vhodného ke zkoumání jednoduché kategorizace. Dominantními prvky tohoto nástroje je měření binárních odpovědí (ano/ne) respondenta a jeho reakčního času. Tento nástroj je poté využit v hlavní studii se smíšenou, kvalitativně-kvantitativní metodologií. Bylo zjištěno, že pomocí navrženého nástroje je při dodržení vhodných metodologických pravidel možno rozlišit různé přístupy respondentů ke kategorizaci. Navíc byly popsány základní vzory v rozhodovacím procesu respondentů. Těmi jsou například rozdíly v kategorizaci příkladů a "nepříkladů", rozdíly v kategorizaci jednodušších a komplikovanějších objektů, vztah mezi počty správných odpovědí respondenta a...The aim of the thesis is to describe the decision making process of students in the so-called simple categorization, i.e., decision whether a particular object is or is not an element of a category. This process is examined in the context of categories of mathematical objects. The theoretical part of the thesis presents arguments why the study of simple categorization of mathematical objects is important for mathematics education. These arguments are not only based on the available literature in mathematics education, but also partly draw on historical, mathematical and psychological literature. The practical chapters of the thesis describe the design and piloting of a research tool suitable for this research. The dominant elements of this tool are the measurement of the binary answers (yes / no) of the respondent and of his/her reaction time. This tool is then used in the Main study based on mixed, qualitative-quantitative methodology. It was found that with the help of the proposed tool, while adhering to appropriate methodological rules, it is possible to distinguish different approaches of respondents to categorization. In addition, the basic patterns in the decision-making process of the respondents were described. These are, for instance, differences in the categorization of examples and non-...Oddělení pro vědeckou činnostFaculty of EducationPedagogická fakult

Functional thinking of high school students

Cílem diplomové práce Funkční myšlení u žáků středních škol je analýza a popis vybraných problémových aspektů z výuky teorie funkcí na střední škole. V první části práce jsou popsány základní teoretické koncepce v oblasti didaktiky matematiky se zaměřením na uvedenou problematiku a shrnuty vybrané výzkumy z hlediska jednotlivých aspektů. Druhá část práce je věnována analýze původního výzkumu realizovaného v hodinách matematiky na střední škole. V závěrečné kapitole jsou shrnuty výsledky výzkumu z hlediska jednotlivých aspektů a diskutován jejich význam a způsob využití ve výuce.The aim of the thesis Functional thinking of high school students is an analysis and descrip- tion of chosen aspects of function theory at high school, which seems to be problematic. The first chapter of the thesis summarizes basic theoretical concepts of didactics of mathematics focusing on and describing selected researches in the framework of aspects. The second part deals with the analysis of the research realized in standard math lessons at high school. The final chapter of the thesis recapitulates the results of the research from the points of view of particular aspects and discuses their importance and the way of utilization in education.Katedra matematiky a didaktiky matematikyFaculty of EducationPedagogická fakult

The Bankart repair illustrated in cross-section

The Bankart repair for chronic anterior shoulder insta bility effectively addresses the pathologic components responsible for repeated dislocation or subluxation. However, contrary to popular belief, the Bankart repair does not precisely restore the premorbid anatomy. The capsule is reattached to the boney rim of the anteroin ferior glenoid deep to and lateral to the torn cartilagen ous labrum, thus excluding the labrum from the joint anteriorly. This was demonstrated by cross-sectional cadaver dissections performed to illustrate this complex surgical anatomy to orthopaedic residents in training. In addition, when correlated with double-contrast com puterized axial tomography, we noted five predominant patterns of anatomical lesions which by common use have been collectively termed the "Bankart lesion." These are: 1) the rare "classic" Bankart lesion in which the cartilagenous labrum and capsular origin are torn from the glenoid rim; 2) the capsule stripped from the scapular neck and the labrum detached from the gle noid rim remaining fixed to the overlying capsule; 3) the capsule stripped from the scapular neck and the labrum separated from the glenoid rim, but separately; 4) the labrum abraded away and no longer radiographically detectable; and 5) glenoid rim fracture.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66610/2/10.1177_036354658901700507.pd

Pursuing a net-zero carbon future for all: Challenges for commercial real estate

The commercial real-estate industry faces both opportunities and challenges in reaching net-zero carbon goals. Successful low-carbon strategies rely on organizational decision-making, including cooperation between diverse groups of stakeholders. Not all landlords and tenants are equal, so a key challenge will be activating change across the industry as a whole

Credit risk modelling: default probabilities for Portuguese municipalities

This paper investigates whether the economic adjustment program and post-program surveillance contributed positively to the structural recover of the Portuguese economy. This examination was conducted observing evidences related to several objectives included in the programs and on a sample of data collected from local defaulted and non-defaulted municipalities. Our results confirm that the financial aid provided by EC, ECB, and IMF had a small impact on the internal economic adjustment. There is a residual positive impact from the implemented reforms to promote growth, jobs, public debt, deficit, and stability of the country’s financial sector. The evidence is revealed by the measurement of the key program achievements and by the indicators related to the current high default probabilities of a large number of local municipalities

Credit risk modelling: default probabilities for Portuguese municipalities

This paper investigates whether the economic adjustment program and post-program surveillance contributed positively to the structural recover of the Portuguese economy. This examination was conducted observing evidences related to several objectives included in the programs and on a sample of data collected from local defaulted and non-defaulted municipalities. Our results confirm that the financial aid provided by EC, ECB, and IMF had a small impact on the internal economic adjustment. There is a residual positive impact from the implemented reforms to promote growth, jobs, public debt, deficit, and stability of the country’s financial sector. The evidence is revealed by the measurement of the key program achievements and by the indicators related to the current high default probabilities of a large number of local municipalities