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The outbreak of COVID-19 weakened the world economy and the overall stock market crashed. The purpose of this thesis was to examine how the stock market reacted to key events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first event was the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Norway on February 26, 2020, the second event was WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and the third event was the Norwegian government's press conference regarding the second COVID-19 wave on October 23, 2020. Our main focus was to investigate Oslo Stock Exchange, but we also compared Norway to Sweden and Denmark. In addition to this, we also analyzed if any firm-specific factors affected the return. We conducted an event study methodology to measure abnormal returns. Then we regressed these abnormal returns from one of the events to analyze the causes. First, our results show that the stock market in Norway was negatively affected by COVID- 19. Second, we found that the day that WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic had the most impact on the stock markets out of the three events, and Norway was more negatively affected than Sweden and Denmark. Third, our additional study show that trading volume was the factor that had the most impact on the return. Profitability and firm size were also influential factors, but not to the same extent. Lastly, the health care sector was hit the hardest, followed by the financials and energy sectors. Industrials and consumer staples were the least negatively affected. ; submittedVersion

Abstract. Planning authorities are faced with a range of questions when planning flood protection measures: is the existing protection adequate for current and future demands or should it be extended? How will flood patterns change in the future? How should the uncertainty pertaining to this influence the planning decision, e.g., for delaying planning or including a safety margin? Is it sufficient to follow a protection criterion (e.g., to protect from the 100-year flood) or should the planning be conducted in a risk-based way? How important is it for flood protection planning to accurately estimate flood frequency (changes), costs and damage? These are questions that we address for a medium-sized pre-alpine catchment in southern Germany, using a sequential Bayesian decision making framework that quantitatively addresses the full spectrum of uncertainty. We evaluate different flood protection systems considered by local agencies in a test study catchment. Despite large uncertainties in damage, cost and climate, the recommendation is robust for the most conservative approach. This demonstrates the feasibility of making robust decisions under large uncertainty. Furthermore, by comparison to a previous study, it highlights the benefits of risk-based planning over the planning of flood protection to a prescribed return period.

An accurate budget of substance emissions is fundamental for protecting freshwater resources. In this context, the European Union asks all member states to report an emission inventory of substances for river basins. The river basin management system MoRE (Modeling of Regionalized Emissions) was developed as a flexible open-source instrument which is able to model pathway-specific emissions and river loads on a catchment scale. As the reporting tool for the Federal Republic of Germany, MoRE is used to model annual emissions of nutrients, heavy metals, micropollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), and certain pharmaceuticals. Observed loads at gauging stations are used to validate the calculated emissions. In addition to its balancing capabilities, MoRE can consider different variants of input data and quantification approaches, in order to improve the robustness of different modeling approaches and to evaluate the quality of different input data. No programming skills are required to set up and run the model. Due to its flexible modeling base, the effect of reduction measures can be assessed. Within strategic planning processes, this is relevant for the allocation of investments or the implementation of specific measures to reduce the overall pollutant emissions into surface water bodies and therefore to meet the requirements of water policy. ; German Environment Agency (UBA)

An accurate budget of substance emissions is fundamental for protecting freshwater resources. In this context, the European Union asks all member states to report an emission inventory of substances for river basins. The river basin management system MoRE (Modeling of Regionalized Emissions) was developed as a flexible open-source instrument which is able to model pathway-specific emissions and river loads on a catchment scale. As the reporting tool for the Federal Republic of Germany, MoRE is used to model annual emissions of nutrients, heavy metals, micropollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), and certain pharmaceuticals. Observed loads at gauging stations are used to validate the calculated emissions. In addition to its balancing capabilities, MoRE can consider different variants of input data and quantification approaches, in order to improve the robustness of different modeling approaches and to evaluate the quality of different input data. No programming skills are required to set up and run the model. Due to its flexible modeling base, the effect of reduction measures can be assessed. Within strategic planning processes, this is relevant for the allocation of investments or the implementation of specific measures to reduce the overall pollutant emissions into surface water bodies and therefore to meet the requirements of water ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate Anopheles species identification is key for effective malaria vector control. Identification primarily depends on morphological analysis of field samples as well as molecular species-specific identifications. During an intra-laboratory assessment (proficiency testing) of the Anopheles funestus group multiplex PCR assay, it was noted that Anopheles arabiensis can be misidentified as Anopheles leesoni, a zoophilic member of the An. funestus group. The aim of this project was, therefore, to ascertain whether other members of the Anopheles gambiae complex can also be misidentified as An. leesoni when using the standard An. funestus multiplex PCR. METHODS: The An. funestus multiplex PCR was used to amplify DNA from An. gambiae complex specimens. These included specimens from the laboratory colonies and field samples from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Amplified DNA from these specimens, using the universal (UV) and An. leesoni species-specific primers (LEES), were sequence analysed. Additionally, An. leesoni DNA was processed through the diagnostic An. gambiae multiplex PCR to determine if this species can be misidentified as a member of the An. gambiae complex. RESULTS: Laboratory-colonized as well as field-collected samples of An. arabiensis, An. gambiae, Anopheles merus, Anopheles quadriannulatus, Anopheles coluzzii as well as Anopheles moucheti produced an amplicon of similar size to that of An. leesoni when using an An. funestus multiplex PCR. Sequence analysis confirmed that the UV and LEES primers amplify a segment of the ITS2 region of members of the An. gambiae complex and An. moucheti. The reverse was not true, i.e. the An. gambiae multiplex PCR does not amplify DNA from An. leesoni. CONCLUSION: This investigation shows that An. arabiensis, An. gambiae, An. merus, An. quadriannulatus, An. coluzzii and An. moucheti can be misidentified as An. leesoni when using An. funestus multiplex PCR. This shows the importance of identifying specimens using standard morphological dichotomous keys ...