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Ashqar, Huthaifa Issam. "Strategic Design of Smart Bike-Sharing Systems for Smart Cities." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/97827.
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Traffic congestion has become one of the major challenging problems of modern life in many urban areas. This growing problem leads to negative environmental impacts, wasted fuel, lost productivity, and increased travel time. In big cities, trains and buses bring riders to transit stations near shopping and employment centers, but riders then need another transportation mode to reach their final destination, which is known as the last mile problem. A smart bike-sharing system (BSS) can help address this problem and encourage more people to ride public transportation, thus relieving traffic congestion.
At the strategic level, we start with proposing a novel two-layer hierarchical classifier that increases the accuracy of traditional transportation mode classification algorithms. In the transportation sector, researchers can use smartphones to track and obtain information of multi-mode trips. These data can be used to recognize the user's transportation mode, which can be then utilized in several different applications; such as planning new BSS instead of using costly surveys. Next, a new method is proposed to quantify the effect of several factors such as weather conditions on the prediction of bike counts at each station. The proposed approach is promising to quantify the effect of various features on BSSs in cases of large networks with big data. Third, these resulted significant features were used to develop state-of-the-art toolbox algorithms to operate BSSs efficiently at two levels: network and station. Finally, we proposed a quality-of-service (QoS) measurement, namely Optimal Occupancy, which considers the impact of inhomogeneity in a BSS. We used one of toolbox algorithms modeled earlier to estimate the proposed QoS. Results revealed that the Optimal Occupancy is beneficial and outperforms the traditionally-known QoS measurement.PHD
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Christoffer, Siudzinski, and Stjepan Dodik. "Val av revisionsbyrå : fördelning av Big Four och non-Big Four bland små bolag inom svenska fastighetsförmedlingsbranschen." Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Fakulteten för ekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-21192.
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Val av revisionsbyrå är ett viktigt beslut för samtliga företag. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka ifall små bolag inom den svenska fastighetsförmedlingsbranschen föredrar revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four. Det som ska undersökas mer noggrant är ifall dessa bolag väljer en revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four utifrån olika interna faktorer hos företag. Studien präglas av en kvantitativ metod för att försöka besvara syftet där empiri har samlats in från 84 olika små bolag tillhörande den svenska fastighetsförmedlingsbranschen. Vidare bygger uppsatsen på legitimitetsteorin som teoretisk referensram samt olika vetenskapliga artiklar som presenteras i litteraturöversikten. Utifrån referensramen och litteraturöversikten har fyra olika hypoteser tagits fram. Dessa hypoteser testades sedan med hjälp av olika statistiska verktyg. Studiens resultat indikerar på att det inte finns något positivt samband mellan val av revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four och någon av studiens fyra hypoteser. I studiens slutsats redogörs det att totala tillgångar, omsättning, eget kapital samt personalkostnader inte är förknippade med val av revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four.
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Huynh, Victoria. "An Analysis of Gender and Racial Diversity in the Big Four Accounting Firms." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2065.
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This thesis examines various diversity initiatives at the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC). It begins by establishing the benefits gender and racial diversity can have for firm performance, providing the motivation for firms to implement diversity initiatives. Additionally, it provides an overview of the current state of gender and racial diversity at the Big Four. It then moves into an analysis of general best and worst practices for diversity initiatives. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of diversity initiatives at the Big Four and how they are measuring up to the best and worst practices. While the Big Four do have areas for improvement in their diversity programs, the majority of their initiatives are consistent with the best diversity practices. As a result, the Big Four accounting firms are effectively committing their resources to diversity initiatives that are successfully increasing workplace diversity.
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Wu, Jingwen. "Model-based clustering and model selection for binned data." Thesis, Supélec, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014SUPL0005/document.
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Cette thèse étudie les approches de classification automatique basées sur les modèles de mélange gaussiens et les critères de choix de modèles pour la classification automatique de données discrétisées. Quatorze algorithmes binned-EM et quatorze algorithmes bin-EM-CEM sont développés pour quatorze modèles de mélange gaussiens parcimonieux. Ces nouveaux algorithmes combinent les avantages des données discrétisées en termes de réduction du temps d’exécution et les avantages des modèles de mélange gaussiens parcimonieux en termes de simplification de l'estimation des paramètres. Les complexités des algorithmes binned-EM et bin-EM-CEM sont calculées et comparées aux complexités des algorithmes EM et CEM respectivement. Afin de choisir le bon modèle qui s'adapte bien aux données et qui satisfait les exigences de précision en classification avec un temps de calcul raisonnable, les critères AIC, BIC, ICL, NEC et AWE sont étendus à la classification automatique de données discrétisées lorsque l'on utilise les algorithmes binned-EM et bin-EM-CEM proposés. Les avantages des différentes méthodes proposées sont illustrés par des études expérimentalesThis thesis studies the Gaussian mixture model-based clustering approaches and the criteria of model selection for binned data clustering. Fourteen binned-EM algorithms and fourteen bin-EM-CEM algorithms are developed for fourteen parsimonious Gaussian mixture models. These new algorithms combine the advantages in computation time reduction of binning data and the advantages in parameters estimation simplification of parsimonious Gaussian mixture models. The complexities of the binned-EM and the bin-EM-CEM algorithms are calculated and compared to the complexities of the EM and the CEM algorithms respectively. In order to select the right model which fits well the data and satisfies the clustering precision requirements with a reasonable computation time, AIC, BIC, ICL, NEC, and AWE criteria, are extended to binned data clustering when the proposed binned-EM and bin-EM-CEM algorithms are used. The advantages of the different proposed methods are illustrated through experimental studies
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Dodik, Stjepan, and Christoffer Siudzinski. "Val av revisionsbyrå i fastighetsbolag." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21959.
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Vid val av revisionsbyrå är det flera interna och externa faktorer som är av betydande roll för bolag. Studiens syfte är att undersöka ifall det finns några skillnader vid val av revisionsbyrå för små- och stora fastighetsbolag i Sverige. Mer detaljerat syftar studien på att undersöka ifall revisionsbyråer tillhörandes Big Four förkommer mer frekvent för någon av de två storleksgrupperna förenat med olika faktorer. Studien är gjord genom analys av kvantitativ data där olika nyckeltal samlats in från de 100 största och minsta fastighetsbolagen i Sverige sett ur omsättning. Som teoretisk referensram har agentteorin använts. Teorin har kompletterats av olika vetenskapliga studier som sammanfattats i en litteraturöversikt. Genom teoretisk referensram och litteraturöversikt har studiens tre hypoteser bildats som det redogörs för i hypotesbildningen. I studiens resultat redogörs det för att de olika faktorer som undersökts i samband med val av revisionsbyrå inte har något positivt samband med varandra. Slutsatsen förtydligar att val av revisionsbyrå tillhörandes Big Four inte förekommer mer frekvent i vare sig små eller stora svenska fastighetsbolag.There are several internal and external factors that are highly important when companies choose auditing firms. The aim of this study is to investigate if there is any difference between small- and big Real Estate firms regarding choice of auditing firm in Sweden. The study will more precisely investigate if auditing firms belonging to Big Four appears more frequently in any of the groups in connection with different factors. An analysis with quantitative data has been used where indicators for the 100 smallest and biggest Real Estate firms in Sweden measured by revenue have been analysed. Agency Theory has been used as theoretical framework along with a literature review that has been the base of the hypotheses in the study. In the result of the study it is being stated that different factors that have been investigated do not have any positive correlation with the choice of auditing firm in small and big Swedish Real Estate firms. The conclusion of the study states that choice of auditing firm belonging to Big Four do not appear more frequently depending on any of the investigated factors in any of the size groups in Swedish Real Estate companies.
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MOHAMMADHASSAN, MOHAMMADI MAX. "An open health platform for the early detection of complex diseases: the case of breast cancer." Thesis, KTH, Entreprenörskap och Innovation, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-189621.
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Complex diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are often diagnosed too late, which significantly impairs treatment options and, in turn, lowers patient’s survival rate drastically and increases the costs significantly. Moreover, the growth of medical data is faster than the ability of healthcare systems to utilize them. Almost 80% of medical data are unstructured, but they are clinically relevant. On the other hand, technological advancements have made it possible to create different igital health solutions where healthcare and ICT meet. Also, some individuals have already started to measure their body function parameters, track their health status, research their symptoms and even intervene in treatment options which means a great deal of data is being produced and also indicates that patient-driven health care models are transforming how health care functions. These models include quantified self-tracking, consumer-personalized-medicine and health social networks. This research aims to present an open innovation digital health platform which creates value y using the overlaps between healthcare, information technology and artificial intelligence. This platform could potentially be utilized for early detection of complex diseases by leveraging Big Data technology which could improve awareness by recognizing pooled symptoms of a specific disease. This would enable individuals to effortlessly and quantitatively track and become aware of changes in their health, and through a dialog with a doctor, achieve diagnosis at a significantly earlier stage. This thesis focuses on a case study of the platform for detecting breast cancer at a ignificantly earlier stage. A qualitative research method is implemented through reviewing the literature, determining the knowledge gap, evaluating the need, performing market research, developing a conceptual prototype and presenting the open innovation platform. Finally, the value creation, applications and challenges of such platform are investigated, analysed and discussed based on the collected data from interviews and surveys. This study combines an explanatory and an analytical research approach, as it aims not only to describe the case, but also to explain the value creation for different stakeholders in the value chain. The findings indicate that there is an urgent need for early diagnosis of complex diseases such as breast cancer) and also handling direct and indirect consequences of late diagnosis. A significant outcome of this research is the conceptual prototype which was developed based on the general proposed concept through a customer development process. According to the conducted surveys, 95% of the cancer patients and 84% of the healthy individuals are willing to use the proposed platform. The results indicate that it can create significant values for patients, doctors, academic institutions, hospitals and even healthy individuals.
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Moen, Selmer, and Charles Jones. "BIT RATE AGILITY FOR EFFICIENT TELEMETRY." International Foundation for Telemetering, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/606754.
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International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, NevadaThe Bit Rate Agile Onboard Telemetry Formatting (BRAOTF) system was developed by Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing to address increasing demands on the efficiency of telemetry systems. The BRAOTF thins and reorders data streams, adjusting the bit rate of a pulse code modulation (PCM) stream using a bit-locked loop to match the desired information rate exactly. The BRAOTF accomplishes the adjustment in hardware, synthesizing a clock whose operating frequency is derived from the actual timing of the input format. Its firmware manages initialization and error management. Testing has confirmed that the BRAOTF implementation meets its design goals.
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David, Emily, and Simon Brorsson. "Partnerstrukturens påverkan på försäljningen av Non-Audit Services : En explorativ studie om hur Big Four-byråernas partnerstruktur påverkar försäljningen av NAS till bolag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-129646.
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IntroduktionRevisionsbranschen anses ha utvecklats från att tidigare ha fokuserat på professionella principer och bedömningar, till att idag fokusera mer på kommersiella intressen. Hög NAS-försäljning har antytts utgöra en utmärkande faktor gällande avancemanget till partnerskapet. Vi undersöker hur konkurrensen om partnerskapet påverkar försäljningen av NAS, då den har antytts påverka revisorns arbetsutförande. NAS-försäljning är ett aktuellt ämne som nyligen har reglerats av EU vilket motiverar och aktualiserar studien. SyfteSyftet med studien är att utforska hur partnerstrukturen i revisionsbolagen påverkar försäljningen av NAS. MetodStudien har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi, en deduktiv forskningsansats och är av explorativ art. Genom dokumentstudier har data från svenska noterade bolag och revisionsbyråer samlats in för två enskilda år och har med hjälp OLS-regressioner analyserats. NAS har mätts som det logaritmerade värdet av bolagens kostnader till revisionsbyrån utöver den lagstadgade revisionen. SlutsatsStudien visar på ej samstämmiga resultat då vi för år 2014 fann att ökad konkurrens om partnerskapet leder till minskad försäljning av NAS, medan inget samband upptäcktes för år 2009. Möjliga förklaringar till resultatet återfinns i Turneringsteorin, som säger att anställdas motivation och prestation kan minska vid för hög intern konkurrens. Att inget samband upptäcktes för år 2009 tyder istället på att revisorn är professionell i sin roll och agerar därmed i professionens linje.IntroductionThere has been an evolution away from the founding values of the audit industry, which centered on professional values and judgements toward profit-minded commercial interests. High sales of NAS has been implied to be a factor that make auditors prominently conspicuous on their path to becoming a partner. We are exploring the possibility that a competitive environment affect sales of NAS, which has been suggested to impact the way the auditor works. NAS is a current topic that recently was regulated by the EU, which is a motivating factor for this study. PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how the audit firms’ partnership structure impacts Non-Audit Services. MethodThis study has a quantitative research strategy and a deductive research approach that is exploratory in nature. Data from the Swedish listed firms and audit firms have been collected for two years through document studies and have been analyzed with an OLS-regression. NAS was measured as the natural logarithm of the listed firms’ cost to the audit firm beyond the statutory audit costs. ConclusionOur study shows inconsistent results. In 2014 we found that an increased competition for the partnership leads to a decrease in sales of NAS, while in 2009, no correlation was found. The results in 2014 can be explained by the Tournament Theory, whereas the employee’s motivation and accomplishments may decrease if there is high competition within the firm. A lack of correlation in 2009, suggests a professionalism among the auditors that is in accordance with the auditing profession.
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Hsiung, Sanna. "The organizing and the balance between profession and profit in the Big Four accounting firms." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för ekonomistyrning och logistik (ELO), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-31574.
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Title: The organizing and the balance between profession and profit in the Big Four accounting firms Introduction: Globalization has lead to a world with increasing similarities and a larger market where only efficient organizations survive why information is important for survival and success. Accounting firms fulfill an important role by securing information and contribute to the prosperity of society through an efficient market. But they differ both from non-PSF and among each other due to the need of managing the balance between profession and profit. The current research on accounting firms is limited and lacking. This thesis contributes to the current research by providing a new perspective to the existing research on accounting firms. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the Big Four accounting firms organize in order to manage the balance between profession and profit. Method: The thesis uses a qualitative research method in which data and information is collected from financial statements and websites that is compiled into multiple case studies on the Big Four accounting firms to give a detailed description of how they organize to manage the balance between profession and profit. Conclusions: The result demonstrates that there are similarities between how the Big Four accounting firms organize to manage the balance between profession and profit. The thesis moreover shows that there are connections between the factors of organizing (goal, environment, strategy and structure latter of which is divided in organizational structure, partnership, knowledge, reward system, informal and formal management processes and responsibility distribution) and the balance between profession and profit which indicates that the Big Four accounting firms considers the balance between profession and profit in the organizing for the survival and success in the market.
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Maisonneuve, Lise. "Vegetable oils as a platform for the design of sustainable and non-isocyanate thermoplastic polyurethanes." Thesis, Bordeaux 1, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013BOR15218/document.
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Cette thèse porte sur la synthèse de polyuréthanes thermoplastiques plus durables à partir de dérivés des huiles végétales. La première voie étudiée est basée sur la réaction, largement utilisée, entre un diol et un diisocyanate. Aussi, pour s’affranchir de l’utilisation des diisocyanates toxiques, une approche via la polyaddition entre un bis carbonate cyclique et une diamine a également été étudiée. Pour ce faire des précurseurs bi-fonctionnels : diols, bis carbonates cycliques à 5 et 6 chainons et diamines ont été préparés à partir de dérivés de l’huile de tournesol (oléate de méthyle) et de l’huile de ricin (undécénoate de méthyle et acide sébacique). Les propriétés thermo-mécaniques des polyuréthanes et poly(hydroxyuréthane)s thermoplastiques obtenus ont pu être ajustées par le choix adapté de la structure chimique des précurseurs (gras) utilisés. Les travaux réalisés démontrent un effet de la taille du cycle du carbonate sur la réactivité. En effet, les (bis) carbonates cycliques à 6 chainons se sont avérés plus réactifs que leurs homologues à 5 chainons. De plus, la synthèse de diamines via un intermédiaire dinitrile semble très prometteuse pour le « design » d’une plateforme de diamines issues d’acides gras et de poly(hydroxyuréthane)s entièrement bio-sourcésThis thesis aims to synthesize more sustainable thermoplastic polyurethanes from vegetable oil derivatives. The first route that has been investigated is based on the well-known reaction between a diol and a diisocyanate. Then to avoid the use of diisocyanates, the route via the polyaddition of a bis cyclic carbonate and a diamine have been studied as well. For this purpose, bifunctional precursors such as diols, bis 5- and 6-membered cyclic carbonates and diamines have been prepared from sunflower oil derivative (methyl oleate) and castor oil derivatives (methyl undecenoate and sebacic acid) The thermo-mechanical properties of the PUs have been modulated by designing and selecting the chemical structure of the (fatty acid-based) monomers. The performed model reaction kinetics revealed the higher reactivity of the 6-membered cyclic carbonates compare to the 5-membered ones. Finally, the developed route to fatty acid-based diamines via dinitriles synthesis in mild conditions was really efficient and this route is really promising to develop a fatty acid based-diamines platform and fully bio-based poly(hydroxyurethane)s
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Johansson, Martin, and Anders Ölund. "Thinking about thinking : A study of anxiety, neuroticism and Need for Cognition." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för psykologi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-135853.
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Previous studies have shown that the FFM factor neuroticism was negatively correlated with Need for Cognition. Anxiety has been shown to be highly correlated with neuroticism. It has also been shown that women tend to score higher on both neuroticism and anxiety. Need for Cognition has been shown to predict long term academic success. This study aims to contribute to the current understanding of anxiety, neuroticism and Need for Cognition by examining these three constructs together. The study will also analyzes how gender can affect the relationships between the constructs. 272 participants responded to three questionnaires measuring the constructs. 86 were men, 183 were women and 3 defined themselves as "other". 246 of the respondents were university students and 26 responded did not currently study at university. Results indicate that anxiety is a negative predictor for Need for Cognition. This is speculated to be because anxiety has an effect on working memory which in turn is associated with Need for Cognition. Gender differences are significant regarding all three constructs. Findings are complicated by a negative suppressor effect. Results, limitations, and future research are discussed.Tidigare studier har visat att FFM faktorn neuroticism var negativt korrelerad med Need for Cognition. Ångest har visat sig vara starkt korrelerat med neuroticism. Det har också visat sig att kvinnor tenderar att skatta högre på både neuroticism och ångest. Need for Cognition har visat sig förutsäga långsiktig akademisk framgång. Denna studie syftar till att bidra till aktuell kunskap om ångest, neuroticism och Need for Cognition genom att undersöka dessa tre konstrukt tillsammans. Studien analyserar också hur kön påverkar relationerna mellan konstruktionerna. 272 deltagare svarade på tre enkäter som mäter dessa konstrukt. 86 var män, 183 kvinnor och 3 definierade sig som "övrigt". 246 av de svarande var universitetsstuderande och 26 svarande studerade inte för närvarande på universitet. Resultaten tyder på att ångest kan vara en negativ prediktor för Need for Cognition. Detta spekuleras kunna bero på att ångest har en effekt på arbetsminnet, som i sin tur kan påverka Need for Cognition. Det fanns signifikanta könsskillnader gällande alla tre konstrukt. Resultaten kompliceras av en negativ suppressor effekt. Resultat, begränsningar och framtida forskning diskuteras.
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Jansson, Ann, Trifa Kader, and Zehra Koyuncu. "Revisionsbolagen – professionella eller affärsmässiga?" Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-155424.
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Olofsson, Marcus, and Bobby Puttonen. "Konjunkturens påverkan på revisionsbyråerna : en studie över stora svenska revisionsbyråer." Thesis, Kristianstad University, Department of Business Administration, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-6865.
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Under år 2007 började ekonomin vända från hög till lågkonjunktur, senare fick denna lågkonjunktur namnet finanskrisen. När konjunkturen vänder neråt påverkas de allra flesta i samhället på något plan, företags vinster kan blir lägre och arbetslösheten ökar.
Denna studie undersöker hur revisionsbyråerna i Big Four påverkas i en lågkonjunktur, både hur de påverkas som ekonomisk verksamhet och vad de gör för att vara fortsatt framgångsrika. För att få reda på dessa frågor bygger uppsatsens empiriska studie på kvalitativa intervjuer med tre revisorer, samtliga verksamma i tre olika Big Four byråer i Sverige.
Teoriavsnittet innehåller rapporter från internationella organisationer som studerat hur Big Four påverkas ekonomiskt. Det följs därefter av tre stycken guider från konsulter som ger tips på hur företag ska bli framgångsrika under en lågkonjunktur. Slutligen i teoriavsnittet presenteras forskning om relationsmarknadsföring och kundvärde.
Efter genomförd undersökning har vi kommit fram till att revisionsbyråerna påverkas av konjunkturförändringar. Byråernas omsättning minskar från den starka tillväxten de hade under den tidigare högkonjunkturen. Anledningarna till att omsättningen inte minskar mer drastiskt beror på att revisionsbyråerna arbetar med att erbjuda ett högt kundvärde, vilket i sin tur gör att priset inte blir något konkurrensmedel, förutom i vissa undantagsfall. Byråerna samarbetar även inom sina nätverk med att flytta personal till de kontor med hög efterfrågan, detta för att behålla nuvarande personal och vara väl förberedda när konjunkturen vänder uppåt igen.
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Neveu, Matthieu Rullière Jean-Louis. "Financement volontaire d'un bien public une analyse expérimentale de la coopération /." [S.l.] : [s.n.], 2000. http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/sdx/theses/lyon2/2000/neveu_m_notice.
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Branchini, Simone <1985>. "Volunteer-based coral reef monitoring: reliability of data, environmental education and implications for conservation." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2015. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6884/.
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Coral reefs are the most biodiverse ecosystems of the ocean and they provide notable ecosystem services. Nowadays, they are facing a number of local anthropogenic threats and environmental change is threatening their survivorship on a global scale. Large-scale monitoring is necessary to understand environmental changes and to perform useful conservation measurements. Governmental agencies are often underfunded and are not able of sustain the necessary spatial and temporal large-scale monitoring. To overcome the economic constrains, in some cases scientists can engage volunteers in environmental monitoring. Citizen Science enables the collection and analysis of scientific data at larger spatial and temporal scales than otherwise possible, addressing issues that are otherwise logistically or financially unfeasible. “STE: Scuba Tourism for the Environment” was a volunteer-based Red Sea coral reef biodiversity monitoring program. SCUBA divers and snorkelers were involved in the collection of data for 72 taxa, by completing survey questionnaires after their dives. In my thesis, I evaluated the reliability of the data collected by volunteers, comparing their questionnaires with those completed by professional scientists. Validation trials showed a sufficient level of reliability, indicating that non-specialists performed similarly to conservation volunteer divers on accurate transects. Using the data collected by volunteers, I developed a biodiversity index that revealed spatial trends across surveyed areas. The project results provided important feedbacks to the local authorities on the current health status of Red Sea coral reefs and on the effectiveness of the environmental management. I also analysed the spatial and temporal distribution of each surveyed taxa, identifying abundance trends related with anthropogenic impacts. Finally, I evaluated the effectiveness of the project to increase the environmental education of volunteers and showed that the participation in STEproject significantly increased both the knowledge on coral reef biology and ecology and the awareness of human behavioural impacts on the environment.
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Lakoju, Mike. "A strategic approach of value identification for a big data project." Thesis, Brunel University, 2017. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/15837.
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The disruptive nature of innovations and technological advancements present potentially huge benefits, however, it is critical to take caution because they also come with challenges. This author holds fast to the school of thought which suggests that every organisation or society should properly evaluate innovations and their attendant challenges from a strategic perspective, before adopting them, or else could get blindsided by the after effects. Big Data is one of such innovations, currently trending within industry and academia. The instinctive nature of Organizations compels them to constantly find new ways to stay ahead of the competition. It is for this reason, that some incoherencies exist in the field of big data. While on the one hand, we have some Organizations rushing into implementing Big Data Projects, we also have in possibly equal measure, many other organisations that remain sceptical and uncertain of the benefits of "Big Data" in general and are also concerned with the implementation costs. What this has done is, create a huge focus on the area of Big Data Implementation. Literature reveals a good number of challenges around Big Data project implementations. For example, most Big Data projects are either abandoned or do not hit their expected target. Unfortunately, most IS literature has focused on implementation methodologies that are primarily focused on the data, resources, Big Data infrastructures, algorithms etc. Rather than leaving the incoherent space that exists to remain, this research seeks to collapse the space and open opportunities to harness and expand knowledge. Consequently, the research takes a slightly different standpoint by approaching Big Data implementation from a Strategic Perspective. The author emphasises the fact that focus should be shifted from going straight into implementing Big Data projects to first implementing a Big Data Strategy for the Organization. Before implementation, this strategy step will create the value proposition and identify deliverables to justify the project. To this end, the researcher combines an Alignment theory, with Digital Business Strategy theory to create a Big Data Strategy Framework that Organisations could use to align their business strategy with the Big Data project. The Framework was tested in two case studies, and the study resulted in the generation of the strategic Big Data Goals for both case studies. This Big Data Strategy framework aided the organisation in identifying the potential value that could be obtained from their Big Data project. These Strategic Big Data Goals can now be implemented in Big data Projects.
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Agriesti, Francesca <1982>. "Molecular architecture of fur binding to iron-induced and - repressed genes in Helicobacter pylori." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2010. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/2734/.
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The ferric uptake regulator protein Fur regulates iron-dependent gene expression in bacteria. In the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori, Fur has been shown to regulate iron-induced and iron-repressed genes. Herein we investigate the molecular mechanisms that control this differential iron-responsive Fur regulation. Hydroxyl radical footprinting showed that Fur has different binding architectures, which characterize distinct operator typologies. On operators recognized with higher affinity by holo-Fur, the protein binds to a continuous AT-rich stretch of about 20 bp, displaying an extended protection pattern. This is indicative of protein wrapping around the DNA helix. DNA binding interference assays with the minor groove binding drug distamycin A, point out that the recognition of the holo-operators occurs through the minor groove of the DNA.
By contrast, on the apo-operators, Fur binds primarily to thymine dimers within a newly identified TCATTn10TT consensus element, indicative of Fur binding to one side of the DNA, in the major groove of the double helix. Reconstitution of the TCATTn10TT motif within a holo-operator results in a feature binding swap from an holo-Fur- to an apo-Fur-recognized operator, affecting both affinity and binding architecture of Fur, and conferring apo-Fur repression features in vivo.
Size exclusion chromatography indicated that Fur is a dimer in solution. However, in the presence of divalent metal ions the protein is able to multimerize. Accordingly, apo-Fur binds DNA as a dimer in gel shift assays, while in presence of iron, higher order complexes are formed. Stoichiometric Ferguson analysis indicates that these complexes correspond to one or two Fur tetramers, each bound to an operator element.
Together these data suggest that the apo- and holo-Fur repression mechanisms apparently rely on two distinctive modes of operator-recognition, involving respectively the readout of a specific nucleotide consensus motif in the major groove for apo-operators, and the recognition of AT-rich stretches in the minor groove for holo-operators, whereas the iron-responsive binding affinity is controlled through metal-dependent shaping of the protein structure in order to match preferentially the major or the minor groove.
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Zeck, Lisa. "Optimization of an immobilized enzyme system for conjugated bile acids /." Connect to online version, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1989/3548.
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Taiebat, Mojtaba. "Tuning Up BIM for Safety Analysis." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30255.
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The construction industry is on the top list of hazardous industries. This justifies the importance of safety research in this industry. Review of the literature identified â fallsâ as the top mortality source in the construction industry. Therefore, this research focuses on falls from heights.
Conventional safety practices have held designers responsible for safety of the end-users, and considered constructors responsible for the safety of construction workers. Design for Safety â along with its similar ideas such as Safety in Design, Prevention through Design, etc. â is gaining attention with the emerging paradigm of Integrated Project Delivery which promotes collaboration between designers and constructors through the entire delivery process. With Design for Safety concepts, designers and constructors can work together to enhance construction workersâ safety early in the design phase. The philosophy of Design for Safety is based on the idea that eliminating hazards early in the design phase rather than the construction phase is more effective. Szymberskiâ s (1997) time-safety influence curve explains how construction workersâ safety can be influenced in the different phases of construction. Szymberski depicts that the ability to influence safety diminishes as the phases from design to construction to operation progress.
This research is inspired by the Design for Safety (DfS) concept. It aims at â designâ ing and â engineerâ ing safety during design as well as construction phases. BIM (Building Information Modeling) and parametric modeling are the tools that this research considers when designing its road for future developments.
This research limits its scope to construction workers falls from heights. The research presents a framework for representing falls hazards for future implementation in a BIM modelin order to help the designers and constructors better study and analyze safety of construction workers. The research studied falls accidents recorded from past projectsand proposed rules and properties for hazard identification in a BIM / parametric model. These rules and properties were abstracted and presented in the form of flowcharts and validated by an expert panel. The flowchartswill guide software developers for incorporating hazard identification functions into parametric BIM environments in future research.Ph. D.
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Lillevang, Caroline, and Karlsson Anna Norrsell. "Oligopolets fall? : En analys av EU kommissionens förslag till att lösa upp revisions-och rådgivningsbranschens marknadskoncentration." Thesis, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-15172.
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Sammanfattning Examensarbete i företagsekonomi, Internationella handelshögskolan i Jönköping, Revision, Magisteruppsats, VT 2011. Författare: Caroline Lillevang & Anna Norrsell Karlsson Handledare: Gunnar Rimmel & Fredrika Askenmalm Titel: Oligopolets fall? – En analys av EU kommissionens förslag till att lösa upp revisions- och rådgivnings-branschens marknadskoncentration Bakgrund och Problem: Enligt den utgivna Grönboken är det nödvändigt för den finansiella stabiliteten att re-visions- och rådgivningsbranschen och dess marknadsstruktur utvecklas. EU kommissionen vill lösa upp mark-nadskoncentrationen och diskuterar bland annat ett införande av krav på gemensam revision för större bolag samt krav på byrårotation. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida Grönbokens förslag är rätt väg att gå för att uppfylla EU kommissionens önskan om att förändra revisions- och rådgivningsbranschens marknadsstruktur. Avgränsningar: Studien berör EU kommissionens Grönbok Revisionspolitik: Lärdomar från krisen. Avgräns-ningar är gjorda till frågor rörande den omdiskuterade marknadskoncentrationen inom revisions- och rådgiv-ningsbranschen med fokus på frågorna gällande förslag om gemensam revision samt byrårotation. Studien har även valts att avgränsas till hur Sveriges sex största revisionsbyråer ställer sig till EU kommissionens framtagna förslag i den utgivna Grönboken. Metod: Studien har ett kvalitativt angreppssätt och primär data har samlats in genom personliga intervjuer. Resultat och slutsatser: Författarna finner att EU kommissionens förslag inte kommer ge det utfall som ämnas uppnå. Vidare anser marknadens aktörer att ett utvidgande av lagen inte är rätt väg att gå för att lösa upp den rå-dande marknadskoncentrationen, utan anser att fokus bör läggas på att minska existerande etableringshinder och därigenom låta marknadsekonomin själv styra. Förslag till vidare forskning: I november år 2011 kommer uppföljningsåtgärder att presenteras av EU kommis-sionen och om förslagen rörande obligatorisk byrårotation samt gemensam revision införs kan intressant forsk-ning göras kring de faktiska utfallen. Vidare förslag på fortsatt forskning är att utifrån intressenters perspektiv undersöka behovet av att lösa upp marknadskoncentrationen samt hur de ser på de givna förslagen. I april 2010 presenterades ytterligare en Grönbok inom bolagsstyrning, vilken hotar den väl fungerande bolagsstyrningen i Sverige. Något som gör den Grönboken intressant att studera är att frågor rörande aktieägarnas delaktighet är centrala, vilket också diskuterats i den aktuella studien.Nyckelord: Marknadskoncentration, ”too big to fail”, byrårotation & gemensam revision.
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Monteiro, Ari. "Projeto para produção de vedações verticais em alvenaria em uma ferramenta CAD-BIM." Universidade de São Paulo, 2011. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/3/3146/tde-25082011-131538/.
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Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia para representar o PPVVA (Projeto para Produção de Vedações Verticais em Alvenaria) em ferramentas CAD-BIM de maneira a não degradar significativamente o desempenho de manipulação do modelo BIM devido à grande quantidade de componentes. Ao mesmo tempo, propõe uma linguagem computacional para descrever modulações de alvenaria e a especificação de novas funcionalidades nos CAD-BIM para automatizar algumas atividades do PPVVA. A pesquisa foi organizada adotando-se a seguinte metodologia: (i) avaliação dos principais CAD-BIM do mercado; (ii) levantamento de requisitos de representação dos objetos do PPVVA; (iii) especificação do modelo de representação; (iv) implementação do modelo e (v) definição de um fluxo de trabalho para utilização do modelo proposto. A avaliação dos principais CAD-BIM possibilitou verificar as limitações destas aplicações no atendimento dos requisitos de representação do PPVVA e a necessidade de adequação destas aplicações para esse uso. A partir de entrevistas com projetistas de vedações foi possível coletar e sistematizar regras, que serviram de base à elaboração do modelo de representação proposto. Uma das idéias chave deste modelo de representação é a especificação de uma linguagem de descrição para modulações de alvenaria chamada de MMDL (Masonry Modulation Description Language). A utilização da MMDL mostrou-se uma alternativa interessante para representar implicitamente os elementos do PPVVA. Uma abordagem de representação explícita, por meio de famílias de objetos, também foi utilizada. Embora esta última abordagem demande mais recursos da aplicação, ela oferece maior flexibilidade ao projetista na manipulação de cada elemento da modulação de alvenaria. Para contornar o problema de desempenho da representação explícita, foi utilizado o conceito de referência a arquivos externos, o que permite segmentar modelos complexos em modelos menores que podem ser manipulados com maior facilidade. Com base nestas características do modelo proposto, espera-se que este possa servir como uma boa alternativa para minimizar o problema de desempenho na manipulação de modelos BIM gerados por projetistas de vedações.This work proposes a methodology for representing the MDP (Masonry Design for Production) in BIM-CAD tools in a way that does not significatively degrade the handling performance of a BIM model due to its large quantity of components. At the same time, it proposes a computer language for describing masonry modulation and specifies new functionalities for BIM-CAD tools aiming the automation of some MDP tasks. The research was organized according to the following methodology: (i) evaluation of the main BIM-CAD tools; (ii) compilation of the representation requirements of MDP objects; (iii) specification of a representation model; (iv) model implementation and; (v) definition of a workflow for using the proposed model. The evaluation of the main BIM-CAD tools showed the limitations of these applications regarding the requirements of MDP as well as the need for adapting these tools for such use. From interviews with masonry designers, rules were collected and systematized, serving as a base for preparing the proposed representation model. One of the key ideas of this model is the specification of a description language for masonry modulation, called MMDL (Masonry Modulation Description Language). The use of MMDL was shown to be an interesting alternative for implicitly representing the MDP elements. An explicit representation approach, through object families, was also used. Although this approach demands more resources from the application, it offers more flexibility to the designer concerning the direct manipulation of each individual masonry element. As a workaround to the performance problem of the explicit representation, the concept of external detailing files was used, allowing the segmentation of complex models into smaller ones which can be handled easier in the BIM-CAD tool. Based on these features of the proposed model, it is hoped that it can serve as a good alternative for minimizing the performance problem when handling BIM models generated by masonry designers.
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Oteng-Pabi, Samuel. "Identification and Characterization of Peptide Substrates of Bacterial Transglutaminases for Use in Bio-conjugation and Bio-catalytic Applications." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36184.
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Transglutaminases (protein-glutamine:amine y-glutamyl- transferase, EC 2.3.2.13) are a family of calcium-dependent enzymes which catalyze an acyl transfer between glutamine residues and a wide variety of primary amines. When lysine acts as the acyl-acceptor substrate, α-glutamyl lysine isopeptide bond is formed. Isopeptide catalyzation results in protein cross-linkage which is prevalent throughout biological processes. Microbial transglutaminase (mTG) is a bacterial variant of the transglutaminase family, distinct by virtue of its calcium-independent catalysis of the isopeptidic bond. Furthermore, mTGs promiscuity in donor substrate preference highlights its biocatalytic potential. To realize the potential of the enzyme, a high-reactivity tag was necessary for protein labelling. To address this, an enzyme-coupled assay was developed to characterize peptides in the hopes of developing orthogonal substrates to facilitate mTG-mediated labelling and biocatalysis. The discovery of high-reactivity peptide tags allowed the realization of in vitro protein labelling- facilitated by mTG. The 7M48 peptide was fused to a test protein, where it was subsequently propargylated with propargyl amine to fluorescently label or immobilize a test protein. Although there are endless possibilities for in vitro bio-conjugation through mTG, proteolytic activation limits any in-cell labelling strategies with this enzyme. To circumvent this issue, development of an alternative bacterial
enzyme, Bacillus subtilis transglutaminase (bTG), was chosen to replace mTG. bTG maintains the advantages associated with mTG but is expressed in its active form. Unlike mTG, there is limited preliminary research associated with the enzyme or its substrate scope. To better understanding substrate reactivity, a FRET-based assay was developed allows for the discovery of new high-reactivity peptides for bTG. These peptides were then used in labelling strategies to demonstrate the potential bTG-mediated bioconjugation. This strategy includes the added advantage of potential for in-cellulo labelling.
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Gilardone, Muriel Klotz Gérard. "Contexte, sens et portée de l'approche par les capabilités de Amartya Kumar Sen vers une économie normative post-welfariste /." Lyon : Université Lumière Lyon 2, 2007. http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/sdx/theses/lyon2/2007/gilardone_m.
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Neveu, Matthieu. "Financement volontaire d'un bien public : une analyse expérimentale de la coopération." Lyon 2, 2000. http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/sdx/theses/lyon2/2000/neveu_m_notice.
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Le principe de contribution volontaire pour le financement d'un bien public constitue une alternative appropriée à l'impossibilité de recourir à un mécanisme de marché par financement au coût marginal, en raison des principes de non rivalité et de non exclusion. Ce principe peut être assimilé à un jeu de dilemme du prisonnier. L'équilibre de Nash d'un tel jeu correspond au choix d'une contribution nulle au financement du bien public de la part des agents (comportement de passager clandestin), alors que l'optimum de Pareto suppose que tous contribuent l'intégralité de leur dotation (coopération complète). La satisfaction de l'intérêt individuel s'oppose ainsi à la satisfaction de l'intérêt collectif. Les analyses expérimentales d'un tel jeu de contribution volontaire révèlent toutefois des différences de comportement à l'origine des écarts entre les prédictions théoriques et les résultats observés allant dans le sens d'une sur-contribution par rapport à l'équilibre (Davis et Holt, 1993 ; Ledyard, 1995). Notre étude se concentre sur l'importance des modes de rémunération dans l'émergence de la coopération dans les comportements de contribution volontaire, en privilégiant deux directions. Un premier modèle explicatif des divergences de comportements de contribution introduit une asymétrie endogène des ressources des individus sous la forme d'un réinvestissement des gains réalisés au cours du jeu. En théorie, alors que l'asymétrie des ressources renforce le choix d'un comportement de passager clandestin, l'introduction du mécanisme de réinvestissement augmente l'intérêt individuel pour la coopération. Ce modèle fait l'objet d'une expérimentation dont les résultats ne réfutent pas les prédictions théoriques. Un deuxième modèle étudie expérimentalement les sur-contributions sous-optimales afin de trancher entre deux hypothèses. La première suppose qu'un défaut de compréhension des règles du jeu est à l'origine de la coopération. La seconde hypothèse met en avant une aversion au financement imputable au niveau d'engagement requis par le financement efficient du bien public. L'introduction d'un niveau de financement efficient interne à l'espace des contributions permet de tester ces hypothèses. L'évidence expérimentale permet de conclure en faveur de la seconde hypothèseThe issue of pure public good providing lies in its very definition. Such a good involves simultaneously an inability to prevent its use by anybody and a total absence of competition among users. This non rivalry principle induces the market to be helpless in providing an accurate estimation of the needs for this public good through the assessment of its marginal cost. A solution may be drawn from a voluntary contribution scheme. However, such a design is related to a prisoner's dilemma game which Nash Equilibrium implies null contributions for the public good even though players devoting all but their whole endowment for it may reach the Pareto optimum. Individual interest urges against collective interest satisfaction. Experimental evidences on voluntary contributions highlight actual behaviors at odds with theoretical predictions. Indeed, a broad range of experimental results tend to confirm over-contribution phenomena far above the predicted amount of zero. Davis and Holt (1993) along with Ledyard (1995) conclude that individual contribution is linked not only with the environment and rules governing the experiment but also with the very behavior of the subjects who make up the group. Our study focuses on whether there exist a suitable compensation scheme that may enhance cooperation in a voluntary contribution framework. One first introduces an inequality among players' resources as a way to explain actual behavior divergence. The protocol allows the payoffs to be reinvested throughout the rounds of the game so that the asymmetry is made endogenous. Theoretically any endowment asymmetry should enforce the choices of the equilibrium contribution but enabling subjects to reinvest increases cooperation worthiness. One then investigates the puzzling under-optimal over-contribution behaviors adopted by the subjects. Two hypothesis may be drawn from such observations. Either the subjects have misunderstood what they were to do in the experiment or one may assume that they feel some kind of aversion for the public good granted that its efficient provision implies their whole self commitment. These two hypothesis are tested through an experiment whose design keeps the efficient provision of the public good inside the bounds of the contributions space
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RUTLEDGE, KEVAN FOSTER. "BEYOND THE (re) DECORATED SHED: EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR BIG BOX REUSE." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1148062595.
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Salazar, Hernandez Damian A. "Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Process for Making PET from Bio Based Monomers." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1449862726.
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Zhu, Kechen, and Kechen Zhu. "Chemical and Microbial Processes for Rhodium Recovery." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625349.
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This is the first report that demonstrates the ability of anaerobic methanogenic granular sludge to reduce Rh(III) to Rh(0). Recovery of rhodium(Rh) during anaerobic incubations under abiotic and biotic condition with different electron donors was studied. H2 and formate reduced Rh(III) to Rh(0) nanoparticles(NPs) in the absence of microorganisms. However, the presence of microorganism was crucial for Rh(III) reduction with ethanol. Results of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the formation of Rh(0) NPs and indicated the localization and morphology of the formed Rh(0) NPs varied with electron donor utilized. Rh(III) reduction with H2 and ethanol obeyed 1st order kinetics. Rh(III) caused a moderate inhibition to methanogenesis. Rh(III) reduction often ceased before coming to completion but this effect is not due to unfavorable thermodynamics. A hypothesis was developed which ascribes the biological reduction of Rh(III) with ethanol as being due to the biological formation of H2 (that subsequently chemically reacts with Rh). The results obtained indicate the potential of utilizing anaerobic granular sludge bioreactor technology as a practical and promising option in Rh(III) recovery.
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Papalini, Vanina Mattelart Armand Arfuch Leonor. "La formation de la subjectivité dans la culture contemporaine le cas des livres de bien-être /." Saint-Denis : Université de Paris 8, 2009. http://www.bu.univ-paris8.fr/web/collections/theses/PapaliniThese.PDF.
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Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Sciences de l'information et de la communication : Paris 8 : 2008. Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Ciencias sociales : Université de Buenos Aires : 2008.Thèse soutenue en co-tutelle. Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 353-374.
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Lindgren, Måns, and Thu Uyen Dang. "CSR-aktiviteter & CSR-kommunikation : En kvalitativ undersökning av praxis inom Deloitte." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för handel och företagande, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-20070.
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Bakgrund: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, är ett begrepp som förklarar hur företag engagerar sig i tre olika områden: ekonomiskt, miljömässigt, och socialt för att anpassa sig till den samhällsekonomiska utvecklingen. CSR är en aspekt som blir alltmer vanlig för företag att tillämpa genom att långsiktigt nå sina mål. Om företag inte prioriterar CSR i hög grad kan det riskera att de förlorar kunder och får ett dåligt rykte. De som jobbar för att se till att företag har ett bra CSR-arbete är revisionsföretag. Revisionsföretag ska vara bra representanter för CSR-arbete för att styrka deras roll som granskare av andra företag. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka hur svenska revisionsföretag använder CSR. Sålunda syftar denna uppsats till att öka förståelse om varför vissa CSR-aktiviteter väljs i svenska revisionsföretag inom “Big Four” samt hur de kommuniceras. Metod: Denna uppsats har utgått från en kvalitativ metod där tre intervjuer har genomförts. Intervjuerna är få i antal men duger till arbetet för att intervjupersonerna besitter den bästa kunskapen om ämnesområdet inom just det företaget de är verksamma i. Respondenterna är ansvariga för Deloittes CSR-arbete i Sverige och arbetade på huvudkontoret i Stockholm, det har således gjorts ett icke-sannolikhetsurval. Resultat och slutsats: Uppsatsen har visat att svenska revisionsföretag prioriterar att välja CSR-aktiviteter som har en filantropisk karaktär. Svenska revisionsföretag prioriterar filantropiska aktiviteter över de som är av etisk, rättslig eller ekonomisk karaktär för de filantropiska aktiviteterna visar den bästa bilden av revisionsföretaget.Background: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, is a concept that explains how companies engage in three different areas: economic, environmental, and social in order to adapt to socio-economic development. CSR is an aspect that is becoming more and more common for companies to apply by achieving their goals in the long term. If companies do not prioritize CSR to a large extent, there is a risk that they will lose customers and get a bad reputation. Those who work to ensure that companies have good CSR work are auditing companies. Auditing firms should be good representatives for CSR work to strengthen their role as auditors of other firms. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate how Swedish auditing companies use CSR. Thus, this essay aims to increase understanding of why certain CSR activities are selected for Swedish auditing companies within the “Big Four” and the way they are communicated. Methods: This essay has been based on a qualitative method where three interviews have been conducted. The interviews are few but suitable for the work because the interviewees possess the best knowledge of the subject area within the company, they are active in. The respondents are responsible for Deloitte's CSR work in Sweden and worked at the head office in Stockholm, so a non-probability selection. Results and conclusion: The thesis has shown that Swedish auditing companies prioritize choosing CSR activities that have a philanthropic character. Swedish auditing companies prioritize philanthropic activities over those that are of an ethical, legal or economic nature for the philanthropic activities show the best picture of the auditing company.
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Agné, Alvin, and Maiju Ruokanen. "Revisionsbyråers kvalité: en studie om Going Concern-varningar och anmärkningar på finansiell stress." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskap, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-14132.
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Träffsäkerheten på Going Concern-varningar (GC-varningar) internationellt sett är låg, 40 procent, men enligt tidigare studier är den lägre i Sverige, under 20 procent. De fyra största revisionsbyråerna i världen, Big four, marknadsför sig med sin branschkännedom och flera studier pekar på att de har högre revisionskvalité än mindre byråer. Samtidigt finns det studier som visar att det inte finns någon skillnad på kvalitén mellan de fyra största och de mindre byråerna. Syftet med denna studie är att pröva om stora byråer har högre kvalité än medelstora och små byråer och om det finns skillnader mellan de enskilda byråerna inom respektive storlekskategori. Revisionskvalité mäter vi i form av GC-varningar och anmärkningar på finansiell stress (eget kapital understiger hälften av aktiekapitalet). Studien är kvantitativ och våra data omfattar 4718 aktiebolag, varav 1809 är finansiellt stressade, som gick i konkurs 2010. Genom Chi 2 test ser vi att träffsäkerheten på GC-varningar ligger på 17 procent och anmärkningar på finansiell stress på 82 procent. På samma sätt men med ytterligare hjälp av sambandsstyrka genom P-värden har vi kommit fram till våra andra resultat. Det finns ett väldigt starkt samband mellan andelen GC-varningar och storleken på byrån. Det finns även ett väldigt starkt samband mellan andelen GC-varningar och byrå inom kategorin stora byråer, ett visst samband inom kategorin medelstora byråer men inget samband inom kategorin små byråer. Det finns inget samband mellan andelen anmärkningar på finansiell stress och storleks-kategori eller mellan byråerna inom de olika kategorierna. Enligt vårt resultat har stora byråer högre revisionskvalité än medelstora och små byråer gällande GC-varningar, men vi finner inga skillnader mellan storlekskategorierna gällande anmärkning på finansiell stress. Vi finner även att kvalité med avseende på GC-varningar inte är homogen mellan de enskilda byråerna inom respektive storlekskategori. Våra slutsatser är att träffsäkerheten på GC-varningar är låg, men skulle kunna öka om revisorn kompletterar svårbedömd information med verifierbar information samt att etablerade metoder för GC-bedömningar infördes. Revisionskvalitén inom stora byråer är inte homogen, vilket kan bero på att de enskilda byråerna inom kategorin använder olika arbetssätt, som medför kvalitetsskillnader.The international accuracy of Going Concern-warnings (GC-warnings) is as low as 40 percent, although studies show the accuracy is even lower in Sweden, under 20 percent. The four biggest accounting firms in the world advertise their knowledge of industry and a number of studies say that they have higher audit quality than the smaller firms. Meanwhile there are studies that claim that there are no differences in quality between them and the smaller firms. In this study we aim to test if the large firms have higher auditing quality than the medium and small firms and to test if there is any difference within the three categories. We measure quality as GC-warnings and a remark on financial stress (a remark on the equity being lower than 50 percent of the share capital). The study is quantitative and our data consists of 4718 limited companies, and 1809 financially stressed limited companies, which went bankrupt 2010. We measured the GC-warning accuracy to 17 percent and the remark on financial stress to 82 percent by using a Chi square test. We used the same test but added P-value to check the strength on the rest of the results. There is a very strong connection between the share of GC-warnings and the size of the accounting firm. There is also a very strong connection between the share of GC-warnings and the different firms within the large category. However there was only a weak connection between the different firms within the medium size and no connection at all within the small category. There is no connection at all between remarks on financial stress and either the firm size or within the firm size categories. According to our results, large audit firms have higher audit quality than medium and small firms concerning GC-warnings, but there are no differences between and within the categories concerning remarks on financial stress. We also find that quality concerning GC-warnings is not homogeneous between the different audit firms within each category. Our conclusions are that the accuracy on GC-warnings is low but it could increase if the auditors complement imponderable information with verifiable information and if methods for GC-judgments were established. The audit quality within large firms is not homogeneous which may be due to that the different audit firms within the categories use different ways to work, which causes differences in audit quality.
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Tauscher, Helga. "Configurable nD-visualization for complex Building Information Models." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2017. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-228894.
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With the ongoing development of building information modelling (BIM) towards a comprehensive coverage of all construction project information in a semantically explicit way, visual representations became decoupled from the building information models. While traditional construction drawings implicitly contained the visual representation besides the information, nowadays they are generated on the fly, hard-coded in software applications dedicated to other tasks such as analysis, simulation, structural design or communication. Due to the abstract nature of information models and the increasing amount of digital information captured during construction projects, visual representations are essential for humans in order to access the information, to understand it, and to engage with it. At the same time digital media open up the new field of interactive visualizations. The full potential of BIM can only be unlocked with customized task-specific visualizations, with engineers and architects actively involved in the design and development process of these visualizations. The visualizations must be reusable and reliably reproducible during communication processes. Further, to support creative problem solving, it must be possible to modify and refine them. This thesis aims at reconnecting building information models and their visual representations: on a theoretic level, on the level of methods and in terms of tool support. First, the research seeks to improve the knowledge about visualization generation in conjunction with current BIM developments such as the multimodel. The approach is based on the reference model of the visualization pipeline and addresses structural as well as quantitative aspects of the visualization generation. Second, based on the theoretic foundation, a method is derived to construct visual representations from given visualization specifications. To this end, the idea of a domain-specific language (DSL) is employed. Finally, a software prototype proofs the concept. Using the visualization framework, visual representations can be generated from a specific building information model and a specific visualization descriptionMit der fortschreitenden Entwicklung des Building Information Modelling (BIM) hin zu einer umfassenden Erfassung aller Bauprojektinformationen in einer semantisch expliziten Weise werden Visualisierungen von den Gebäudeinformationen entkoppelt. Während traditionelle Architektur- und Bauzeichnungen die visuellen Reprä̈sentationen implizit als Träger der Informationen enthalten, werden sie heute on-the-fly generiert. Die Details ihrer Generierung sind festgeschrieben in Softwareanwendungen, welche eigentlich für andere Aufgaben wie Analyse, Simulation, Entwurf oder Kommunikation ausgelegt sind. Angesichts der abstrakten Natur von Informationsmodellen und der steigenden Menge digitaler Informationen, die im Verlauf von Bauprojekten erfasst werden, sind visuelle Repräsentationen essentiell, um sich die Information erschließen, sie verstehen, durchdringen und mit ihnen arbeiten zu können. Gleichzeitig entwickelt sich durch die digitalen Medien eine neues Feld der interaktiven Visualisierungen. Das volle Potential von BIM kann nur mit angepassten aufgabenspezifischen Visualisierungen erschlossen werden, bei denen Ingenieur*innen und Architekt*innen aktiv in den Entwurf und die Entwicklung dieser Visualisierungen einbezogen werden. Die Visualisierungen müssen wiederverwendbar sein und in Kommunikationsprozessen zuverlässig reproduziert werden können. Außerdem muss es möglich sein, Visualisierungen zu modifizieren und neu zu definieren, um das kreative Problemlösen zu unterstützen. Die vorliegende Arbeit zielt darauf ab, Gebäudemodelle und ihre visuellen Repräsentationen wieder zu verbinden: auf der theoretischen Ebene, auf der Ebene der Methoden und hinsichtlich der unterstützenden Werkzeuge. Auf der theoretischen Ebene trägt die Arbeit zunächst dazu bei, das Wissen um die Erstellung von Visualisierungen im Kontext von Bauprojekten zu erweitern. Der verfolgte Ansatz basiert auf dem Referenzmodell der Visualisierungspipeline und geht dabei sowohl auf strukturelle als auch auf quantitative Aspekte des Visualisierungsprozesses ein. Zweitens wird eine Methode entwickelt, die visuelle Repräsentationen auf Basis gegebener Visualisierungsspezifikationen generieren kann. Schließlich belegt ein Softwareprototyp die Realisierbarkeit des Konzepts. Mit dem entwickelten Framework können visuelle Repräsentationen aus jeweils einem spezifischen Gebäudemodell und einer spezifischen Visualisierungsbeschreibung generiert werden
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Hui, Choi Shuk-may Connie, and 許蔡淑美. "A study of the Hong Kong fur clothing industry with emphasis on exportmarketing analysis." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1986. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31263598.
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Modena, Enrico <1981>. "Spectroscopic study of Bioceramics for Endodontic and Orthopaedics." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/4860/.
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This thesis was aimed at investigating the physical-chemical properties and the behaviour in physiological environment of two classes of bioceramics: calcium silicate-based dental cements and alumina-based femoral heads for hip joint prostheses.
The material characterization was performed using spectroscopic techniques such as that allow to obtain information on the molecular structure of the species and phases present in the analyzed samples. Raman, infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy was principally used.
Calcium silicate cements, such as MTA (Mineral Trioxide Aggregate), are hydraulic materials that can set in presence of water: this characteristic makes them suitable for oral surgery and in particular as root-end filling materials.
With the aim to improve the properties of commercial MTA cements, several MTA-based experimental formulations have been tested with regard to bioactivity (i.e. apatite forming ability) upon ageing in simulated body fluids. The formation of a bone-like apatite layer may support the integration in bone tissue and represents an essential requirement for osteoconduction and osteoinduction. The spectroscopic studies demonstrated that the experimental materials under study had a good bioactivity and were able to remineralize demineralized dentin. .
Bioceramics thanks to their excellent mechanical properties and chemical resistance, are widely used as alternative to polymer (UHMWPE) and metal alloys (Cr-Co) for hip-joint prostesis.
In order to investigate the in vivo wear mechanisms of three different generations of commercial bioceramics femoral heads (Biolox®, Biolox® forte, and Biolox® delta), fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy were used to investigate the surface properties and residual stresses of retrieved implants. Spectroscopic results suggested different wear mechanisms in the three sets of retrievals. Since Biolox® delta is a relatively recent material, the Raman results on its retrievals has been reported for the first time allowing to validate the in vitro ageing protocols proposed in the literature to simulate the effects of the in vivo wear.
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Martella, Elisa <1984>. "Mesenchymal stromal cell: new applications for regenerative medicine." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2013. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/5440/.
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In the last decades mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), intriguing for their multilineage plasticity and their proliferation activity in vitro, have been intensively studied for innovative therapeutic applications.
In the first project, a new method to expand in vitro adipose derived-MSC (ASC) while maintaining their progenitor properties have been investigated. ASC are cultured in the same flask for 28 days in order to allow cell-extracellular matrix and cell-cell interactions and to mimic in vivo niche. ASC cultured with this method (Unpass cells) were compared with ASC cultured under classic condition (Pass cells). Unpass and Pass cells were characterized in terms of clonogenicity, proliferation, stemness gene expression, differentiation in vitro and in vivo and results obtained showed that Unpass cells preserve their stemness and phenotypic properties suggesting a fundamental role of the niche in the maintenance of ASC progenitor features. Our data suggests alternative culture conditions for the expansion of ASC ex vivo which could increase the performance of ASC in regenerative applications.
In vivo MSC tracking is essential in order to assess their homing and migration. Super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) have been used to track MSC in vivo due to their biocompatibility and traceability by MRI. In the second project a new generation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) used to label MSC were tested. These MNP have been functionalized with hyperbranched poly(epsilon-lysine)dendrons (G3CB) in order to interact with membrane glycocalix of the cells avoiding their internalization and preventing any cytotoxic effects.
In literature it is reported that labeling of MSC with SPION takes long time of incubation. In our experiments after 15min of incubation with G3CB-MNP more then 80% of MSC were labeled. The data obtained from cytotoxic, proliferation and differentiation assay showed that labeling does not affect MSC properties suggesting a potential application of G3CB nano-particles in regenerative medicine.
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Sheward, Garcia Hugo A. "A framework for the implementation of design assistances for preliminary concept design of laboratories." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/53977.
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A framework for the implementation of automated ventilation systems engineering was proposed. An extensive research in the area of design guidelines and best practices for the design and operations of laboratories was conducted. a software prototype was created to better support the integration of ventilation engineering to early design stages was created. New methodologies for enhancing the semantics and for deriving building morphology information from early design BIM models were created. The prototype software was tested using as reference currently available practices. Findings concerning the speed of operation, the extended capabilities of the proposed framework and the implication for future research are discussed.
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Ellis, Ewa C. S. "Use of primary human hepatocytes for elucidation of bile acid synthesis /." Stockholm, 2003. http://diss.kib.ki.se/2003/91-7349-424-0.
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Evans, Claire. "Accounting for gender : a historical evaluation of the gendered hierarchy of the UK accounting profession." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2016. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/accounting-for-gender(bc134a42-2411-4078-8f0b-fc19c92e38bc).html.
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‘Accounting has come to occupy an ever more significant position in the functioning of modern industrial societies’ (Burchell et al 1980: 5). Almost 40 years have elapsed since this comment was made and during that time the UK accounting profession has secured a fundamental presence in the neoliberal global economy, wielding great power. However, the scale and scope of accounting’s success has been gender asymmetrical; women accountants have not achieved commensurate success with men either in terms of ICAEW membership or Big 4 partner numbers. This thesis charts the role and performance of women in the UK accounting profession from 1870 to 2013, critically assessing the reasons why women fail to do as well as men.
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Harders, Marian B. "Planning for Retail." Virginia Tech, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/10089.
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This paper is about retail development and its impact on local and regional communities. As the Big-box phenomena continues to play out in the 21st century, planning departments across the nation have been called to action with respect to addressing negative aspects of retail development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of retail, by tracing the evolving retail form and applying critical analysis to planning practices that no longer safeguard community interests in relation to retail industry initiatives. Specifically, this paper discusses issues that shape the social, economic and physical design of urban life. To that end, this paper reflects on the impact of retail and offers guidelines for resolving potential community/retail conflicts.Master of Urban and Regional Planning
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Sita, Giulia <1986>. "Neurodegenerative diseases: molecular mechanisms and new strategies for neuroprotection." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2015. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6991/.
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The term neurodegeneration defines numerous conditions that modify neuron’s normal functions in the human brain where is possible to observe a progressive and consistent neuronal loss. The mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative chronic and acute diseases evolution are not completely understood yet, however they share common characteristics such as misfolded proteins, oxidative stress, inflammation, excitotoxicity, and neuronal loss. Many studies have shown the frequency to develop neurodegenerative chronic diseases several years after an acute brain injury. In addition, many patients show, after a traumatic brain injury, motor and cognitive manifestations that are close to which are observed in neurodegenerative chronic patients. For this reason it is evident how is fundamental the concept of neuroprotection as a way to modulate the neurodegenerative processes evolution. Neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and the apoptotic process may be functional targets where operate to this end. Taking into account these considerations, the aim of the present study is to identify potential common pathogenetic pathways in neurodegenerative diseases using an integrated approach of preclinical studies. The goal is to delineate therapeutic strategies for the prevention of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and dysfunctions associated to Parkinson’s disease (PD) and cerebral ischemia. In the present study we used a murine model of PD treated with an isothiocyanate, 6-MSITC, able to quench ROS formation, restore the antioxidant GSH system, slow down the apoptotic neuronal death and counteract motor dysfunction induced by 6-OHDA. In the second study we utilized a transgenic mouse model knockout for CD36 receptor to investigate the inflammation involvement in a long term study of MCAo, which shows a better outcome after the damage induced. In conclusion, results in this study allow underlying the connection among these pathologies, and the importance of a neuroprotective strategy able to restore neurons activity where current drugs therapies have shown palliative but not healing abilities.
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Massimo, Gianmichele <1985>. "Hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hyperaldosteronism: a genetic perspective for personalized therapy." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2014. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6473/.
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Essential, primary, or idiopathic hypertension is defined as high BP in which secondary causes such as renovascular disease, renal failure, pheochromocytoma, hyperaldosteronism, or other causes of secondary hypertension are not present. Essential hypertension accounts for 80-90% of all cases of hypertension; it is a heterogeneous disorder, with different patients having different causal factors that may lead to high BP. Life-style, diet, race, physical activity, smoke, cultural level, environmental factors, age, sex and genetic characteristics play a key role in the increasing risk.
Conversely to the essential hypertension, secondary hypertension is often associated with the presence of other pathological conditions such as dyslipidaemia, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity and primary aldosteronism. Amongst them, primary aldosteronism represents one of the most common cause of secondary hypertension, with a prevalence of 5-15% depending on the severity of blood pressure. Besides high blood pressure values, a principal feature of primary aldosteronism is the hypersecretion of mineralcorticoid hormone, aldosterone, in a manner that is fairly autonomous of the renin-angiotensin system. Primary aldosteronism is a heterogeneous pathology that may be divided essentially in two groups, idiopathic and familial form.
Despite all this knowledge, there are so many hypertensive cases that cannot be explained. These individuals apparently seem to be healthy, but they have a great risk to develop CVD. The lack of known risk factors makes difficult their classification in a scale of risk. Over the last three decades a good help has been given by the pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics, a new area of the traditional pharmacology that try to explain and find correlations between genetic variation, (rare variations, SNPs, mutations), and the risk to develop a particular disease.
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Nilsson, Rebecca, and Sandra Müller. ""Det enda som är varaktigt är förändring" : En flerfallsstudie om hur lagregleringar inom revisionsbranschen påverkar revisions- och konsultverksamheten." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för ekonomistyrning och logistik (ELO), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-54673.
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Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Företag behöver anpassa sig till förändringar i omvärlden för att överleva och för att fortsätta växa. Denna typ av anpassning benämns som strategisk förändring. År 2010 avskaffades revisionsplikten för mindre bolag i Sverige. Nu, sex år senare står branschen inför ytterligare en förändring. Att revisionsverksamheten minskat och att konsultverksamheten inom revisionsbranschen kommit att ta större plats sedan avskaffandet av revisionsplikten kan tydas som en slags förändring, men hur har egentligen The Big Four som dominerar inom revisionsbranschen upplevt denna förändring? Är det en förändring som skett per automatik i samband med lagändringen eller ligger ett strategiskt agerande till grund och kan det således betraktas som att revisionsbyråerna genomgått en strategisk förändring sedan avskaffandet av revisionsplikten? När branschen står inför ytterligare en lagändring 2016 frågas hur The big Fours revisorer förväntar sig att lagändringen kommer påverka byråerna och vilken typ av förändring som revisionsbyråerna kommer genomgå i samband med lagändringen? Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att redogöra för hur The Big Fours revisorer i Sverige upplever att revisions- och konsultverksamheten har påverkats sedan lagändringen 2010 samt hur revisorerna förväntar sig att revisions- och konsultverksamheten kommer påverkas i samband med lagändringen 2016, för att vidare analysera revisorernas upplevelser samt förväntningar för att bidra med kunskap om byråerna har eller kommer genomgå en strategisk förändring i samband med lagändringarna. Metod: Uppsatsen är kvalitativt uppbyggd och en flerfallsstudie har använts. Primär datainsamling har skett genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Respondenterna var 10auktoriserade revisorer från åtta av The Big Fours kontor. Slutsats: Uppsatsens författare har genom sitt analysarbete dragit slutsatserna att revisionsbyråerna har genomgått strategiska förändringar sedan lagändringen 2010 och att revisionsbyråerna kommer genomgå ytterligare strategiska förändringar i samband med lagändringen 2016. För att behålla sina positioner på marknaden behöver revisionsbyråerna genomgå strategiska förändringar i samband med att omvärlden ständigt förändras.Background and problem discussion: In 2010, Sweden abolished the audit requirement for small companies. Now six years later, the industry is facing further adjustments. Companies need to adapt to changes in the environment to survive and continue to grow. This type of adjustment is referred to as strategic changes. That the audit activity is decreasing and consulting activities in the auditing industry have come to take more space since the removal of the audit requirement can be interpreted as a kind of change, but how have The Big Four that dominate the auditing profession experienced this change? Is it a change that has taken place automatically in connection with the amendment or is it a strategic action and can it thus be considered that firms have undergone a strategic change since the abolition of the audit requirement? Objective: The purpose of this thesis is to describe how The Big Four’s auditors in Sweden feel that audit and consulting business has been affected since the amendment in 2010, the auditors’ expectations of how auditing and consulting operations will be affected in connection with the amendment 2016, and to further analyse the auditors’ experiences and expectations to contribute knowledge regarding if the agencies have, or will undergo, a strategic change associated with changes in the law. Method: The essay is qualitatively constructed and multiple case study was used. Primary data collection took place through semi-structured interviews. Respondents were ten accountants from eight of the Big Four’s offices. Conclusion: The essay writers have through their analysis concluded that accounting firms have undergone strategic changes since the amendment in 2010 and that accounting firms will undergo further strategic changes in connection with the amendment in 2016. In order to maintain their positions on the market, accounting firms need to undergo strategic changes when the world is changing.
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Kolokolova, Olga. "Biomass Pyrolysis and Optimisation for Bio-bitumen." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Chemical and Process Engineering, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8822.
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Biomass waste has been recognised as a promising, renewable source for future transport fuels.
With 1.7 million hectares of pine plantation forests and 12 million cubic meters of annual residue
produced by sawmills and the pulp and paper industries, New Zealand presents a prime location
where utilisation of these resources can take the next step towards creating a more environmentally
friendly future. In this research, the process of fast pyrolysis was investigated using a laboratoryscale,
nitrogen-blown fluidised bed pyrolyser at CRL Energy. This equipment can process 1–1.5
kg/h of woody biomass in a temperature range of 450–550°C. The purpose of this rig was to determine
the impact of various processing parameters on bio-oil yields. Next, the pyrolysis liquids (bio-oil
and tar) were processed downstream into bio-bitumen. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out
on Pinus Radiata and Eucalyptus Nitens residue sawdust from sawmills and bark feedstock. The
properties of the collected products, including pyrolysis liquids (bio-oil and tar), gas and solid bio-chars,
were measured under different operational conditions. Further analysis was also performed
to determine pH, volatile content, chemical composition and calorific values of the products. The
ultimate goal for this project was to develop a feasible, advanced fast-pyrolysis system for a bio-bitumen
production plant using various biomass feedstocks. Additionally, a design for a bio-bitumen
production plant was developed, and techno-economic analysis was conducted on a number
of plant production yield cases and bio-bitumen manufacture ratios.
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Mazen, Ahmed Z., Nejat Rahmanian, Iqbal M. Mujtaba, and A. Hassanpour. "Effective mechanical specific energy: A new approach for evaluating PDC bit performance and cutters wear." Elsevier, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/18154.
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YesPredicting the PDC bit performance during drilling operation is important for the cost effectiveness of the operation. The majority of PDC bits are assessed based on their performance that are relative to offset wells. Determination of mechanical specific energy (MSE) in real time and compare it with the known MSE for a sharp bit to assess the bit life has been utilized by several operators in the past. However, MSE still cannot be used to predict the bit performance in exploration wells and also it cannot assess the bit efficiency in the inner and outer cones. A more precise approach needs to be devised and applied to improve the prediction of bit life and the decision when to pull the bit out of the hole. Effective mechanical specific energy (EMSE) developed in this work is a new wear and performance predictive model that is to measure the cutting efficiency based on number of cutters, which contact the rock as a function of weight on bit (WOB), rotary speed (RPM), torque, and depth of cut (DOC). This model modifies the previous MSE model by incorporating such parameters and including detailed design of the bit, number of blades, cutter density, cutter size, and cutting angle. Using this approach together with the analysis of rock hardness, a level of understanding of how the drilling variables influence the bit performance in the inner and outer cone is improved, and a convenient comparison of the bit condition in the frame of the standard bit record is achieved. This work presents a new simple model to predict the PDC cutters wear using actual data from three sections drilled in three oil wells in Libya. It is found that the obtained results are in well agreement with the actual dull grading shown in the bit record.
The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 20 Oct 2021.
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Redar, Sean Patrick. "Low temperature tolerance for Artemisia tridentata seedlings over an elevation gradient." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2000. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1760.
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Mobilia, Nicolas. "Méthodologie semi-formelle pour l’étude de systèmes biologiques : Application à l'homéostasie du fer." Thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes (ComUE), 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015GREASO42/document.
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Les travaux de cette thèse portent principalement sur le développement d'une méthodologie pour la modélisation de systèmes biologiques. Cette méthodologie, basée sur une modélisation en équations différentielles, intègre aussi bien des méthodes formelles (solveur sur intervalles, solveur de formules STL), qu'analytiques (calcul de stabilité d'état stationnaire) ou numériques (algorithme d'optimisation, analyses statistiques). Elle permet l'intégration de différents types de données, telles la réponse comportementale à une perturbation ou des données quantitatives (demie-vie, concentrations). En collaboration avec une équipe de biologistes, cette méthodologie est appliquée, avec succès, au système de l'homéostasie du fer : nous étudions la réponse intracellulaire du système, via des protéines régulatrices spécifiques (protéines IRP), face à une situation de carence en fer. Un résultat majeur de cette étude est l'amélioration des connaissances sur la concentration de fer intracellulaire nécessaire à la prolifération des cellules : cette concentration est mise en avant par l'étude du modèle, puis est confirmée expérimentalement.Le deuxième volet de ces travaux portent sur le développement d'un outil pour la modélisation de réseaux de gènes avec le formalisme des réseaux de Thomas. Cet outil, développé en ASP (Answer Set Programming), permet l'intégration de différents types de données telles des données sur des mutants ou l'existence de différents états stationnaires. Cet outil permet d'éviter automatiquement l'incohérence en cas de contradiction entre différentes hypothèses sur le système. Il permet également l'inférence de propriétés biologiques telles que l'ordre entre paramètres cinétiquesThe major part of this PhD consists in the creation of a methodology to model biological systems. This methodology considers models based on differential equations, and uses formal methods (interval solver, verification of STL formula), analytical methods (study of stability) and numerical methods (optimization algorithm, statistical analysis). Moreover, many kind of data, like behavioral response to perturbation, or quantitative data (metabolite half-life and concentration) can be incorporated. In collaboration with a biologist team, this methodology is successfully applied to the iron homeostasis network : we study the response of the system to an iron depletion, at the intracellular level, based on specific regulatory proteins (IRP proteins). A major output of this study is insight into the level of iron cells need to proliferate : this concentration is pointed out by the study of the model, and is experimentally validated.The second part of the PhD is the creation of a tool to model genetic regulatory networks, using Thomas' formalism. This tool, developed using ASP (Answer Set Programming) programming language, can integrate many kind of data, like mutation data, or the existence of many steady states. It automatically avoids inconsistency in case of contradiction between different hypotheses. It also infers biological properties such as relationships between kinetic parameters
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Zolezzi, Moraga Juan Manuel <1979>. "Cellular and Molecular Biomarkers for Risk Assessment of Colorectal cancer." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/4260/.
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The detection of Colorectal Cancer (CRC), at early stages, is one of the proven strategies resulting in a higher cure rate. In recent years, several studies have appeared identifying potential cancer markers in serum, plasma and stool in an attempt to improve actual screening procedures. Thus, the aim of the study was (1) Evaluate MN frequency, (2) Evaluate plasma ultrafiltrate capacity to induce MN formation, (3) Evaluate SEPT9 and NOTCH3 promoter methylation profile in peripheral blood lymphocytes from subjects resulted positive to fecal occult blood test and examined by colonoscopy. MN frequency was significantly higher in subjects with histological diagnosis of CRC and adenoma than control (p ≤ 0.001 and p ≤ 0.01, respectively). About, CF-MN analysis, a statistically significant difference was observed between CRC and control (p ≤ 0.05). On the other hand, SEPT9 and NOTCH3 promoter methylation status was significantly lower in CRC subjects than controls; additionally, NOTCH3 promoter methylation status was significantly lower in CRC subjects than adenoma subjects (p ≤ 0.01). The results obtained allow conclude that MN frequency varies according CRC pathologic status and, together with other variables, is a valid biomarker for adenoma and CRC risk. Additionally, the plasma of patients affected with CRC not only serve as a biomarker for oxidative stress but also as biomarker of genetic damage correlated with the carcinogenic process that verifies in colon-rectum. SEPT9 and NOTCH3 promoter methylation status, at peripheral blood level, varies according hystopathological changes observed in colon-rectum, suggesting that promoter methylation profile of these genes could be a reliable biomarker for CRC risk.
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Morgan, Kenneth J. "Design and Analysis of Four Architectures for FPGA-Based Cellular Computing." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35578.
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The computational abilities of today's parallel supercomputers are often quite impressive, but these machines can be impractical for some researchers due to prohibitive costs and limited availability. These researchers might be better served by a more personal solution such as a "hardware acceleration" peripheral for a PC. FPGAs are the ideal device for the task: their configurability allows a problem to be translated directly into hardware, and their reconfigurability allows the same chip to be reprogrammed for a different problem.
Efficient FPGA computation of parallel problems calls for cellular computing, which uses an array of independent, locally connected processing elements, or cells, that compute a problem in parallel. The architecture of the computing cells determines the performance of the FPGA-based computer in terms of the cell density possible and the speedup over conventional single-processor computation.
This thesis presents the design and performance results of four computing-cell architectures. MULTIPLE performs all operations in one cycle, which takes the least amount of time but requires the most chip area. BIT performs all operations bit-serially, which takes a long time but allows a large cell density. The two other architectures, SINGLE and BOOTH, lie within these two extremes of the area/time spectrum.
The performance results show that MULTIPLE provides the greatest speedup over common calculation software, but its usefulness is limited by its small cell density. Thus, the best architecture for a particular problem depends on the number of computing cells required. The results also show that with further research, next-generation FPGAs can be expected to accelerate single-processor computations as much as 22,000 times.Master of Science
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Patterson-Markowitz, Carl Benjamin. "A Proposal for a Protected Bicycle Route in Tucson, Arizona, Feasibility and Implications for Public Health and Safety." The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/607474.
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Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone ProjectThe city of Tucson is well known for its cycling culture and year-round moderate climate. It is a ‘Gold’ level cycling community according to the League of American Bicyclists. Less known about Tucson is that it can be a dangerous place to ride a bicycle. In an attempt to improve overall cyclist safety, the idea of implementing protected bike infrastructure is explored. With a focus on using protected bike lanes to create a low-stress network for bike movement, this project creates a rubric, and calibrates it against case-studies in New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C., to analyze the potential streets in Tucson possess to host protected bike lanes.
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McDonnell, Matthew. "Two-photon readout methods for an ion trap quantum information processor." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.275267.
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Banzola, Irina <1974>. "Novel potential molecular and biochemical markers for non-invasive prenatal screenings." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2008. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/701/.
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