Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Matching factors'

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research assignment is a qualitative study into the common factors supporting the matching between coach and coachee. The research purpose was to contribute to the lack of understanding of common coach and coachee matching factors based on the views of coaches and coachees respectively, and to provide guidelines for matching to key stakeholders that participate in the practice and profession of coaching. To do this, the available literature on the coach-coachee relationship and matching was reviewed in parallel with the psychotherapeutic literature on the subject. The literature informed the semi-structured interview guide, which was used to interview three coaches and eight coachees following their introductory meetings. The eight introductory meetings between coaches and coachees were the basis for the 16 interviews with the individual coach and coachee participants, and comprised the data used in the thematic analysis. The coach and coachee data were compiled on spreadsheets, allowing key themes to be identified. These themes were interpreted making reference to the literature and then synthesised into super-ordinate themes, from which guidelines were extrapolated for coaches, coachees and client and coaching organisations. It was found that there were two super-ordinate themes common to both coaches and coachees: relational chemistry and perceived personal benefit. These super-ordinate themes were however comprised of different factors for coaches and coachees. Relational chemistry for coachees comprised coach similarity, openness, ability to build rapport, empathy and assurance of confidentiality. Relational chemistry for coaches comprised below-the-line similarity with coachees, a distinction from above-the-line similarity aligned to the literature. Perceived personal benefit to coachees included coach difference, confidence, credibility and derived and expected personal benefit. Perceived personal benefit to coaches included coachee challenge, coachee motivation and fitting the coach’s area of speciality. It was found that matching factors could be grouped generically and specifically. Generic factors could easily be applied in all matching situations and were therefore useful in coach training and coachee match preparation, and specific factors posed the greater matching challenge requiring considered attention by those charged with matching. Relational chemistry, an almost elusive notion in the literature, was found to be the result of particular coach and coachee matching factors. A surprising result was the importance of the coaches’ views, found to be the more tenuous and influential in matching with coachees. It seemed that coaches could regulate the coachee’s matching experience if they were sufficiently motivated to do so based on their perception of personal benefit. The key recommendations of this research are encapsulated in the guidelines developed from the findings. Essentially, stakeholders in the practice and profession of coaching are encouraged to utilise the common factors identified in this research in coach training, coachee preparation, and coach-coachee matching situations.

Orthodontic programs spend considerable amounts of time and energy to attract, recruit, and interview the best and brightest applicants. Applicants and programs submit ranked preferences, and resident positions are filled by a computerized matching system (Match). The specific aims of this study were to determine the relative importance of certain factors in applicants' Match ranking of orthodontic programs and to determine differences between orthodontic Program Directors perceptions and actual factors cited by applicants influencing their ranking of orthodontic programs.Surveys were mailed to 55 orthodontic Program Directors and 478 applicants participating in the 2002 orthodontic Match. Forty-nine Program Director (89%) and 224 applicant (47%) surveys were returned. Rankings and importance of factors cited by applicants in their decision-making process and perceptions of those factors cited by Program Directors were compared.Applicants' top three factors were: "satisfied current residents," "multiple techniques taught," and "good quality of clinical facility." Program Directors' perceived top three factors were: "satisfied current residents," "good program reputation," and "good impression of current residents at interview." Comparing Program Directors perceptions versus applicants' factors overall, the two groups were statistically different (P Despite these differences, there was generally a high level of overall agreement between Program Directors perceptions and factors actually influencing applicants' ranking of orthodontic programs.

Mestrado Vinifera Euromaster - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL
The present work assessed the effect of food on wine preference. Four commercial Greek and Portuguese wines, two reds and two whites, with different sensorial features were used. An additional objective was to evaluate the intensity and liking of acidity, astringency and moderate sweetness in white wine, using as tastants tartaric acid, tannic acid and sucrose. The tastings were performed by a trained panel of 28 individuals, segmented by gender, smoking habits, Vinotype, sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), saliva flow rate, sweet liking and wine “neophobia” responses. Secondary segments (such as smell sensitivity and tastant liking) were also created during the training process. The sensitivity and appreciation of the tastants enabled to separate the tasters in two segments, one with high response to the stimulus and another with low. The variation of individual sensitivities followed a normal distribution for tartaric acid and sucrose, contrarily to tannic acid. Concerning the relation between sensitivity to the tastant and the respective hedonic evaluation, there were no correlations (│r│< 0.3), indicating that hedonic appreciation was apparently not influenced by sensitivity to the tested tastants. Concerning food pairing, there was a tendency to decreasing preference for white wines after food consumption, in comparison to that of reds, which tended to increase after pairing. However, when statistically analyzed, the wine ranking did not evidence significant differences and so, all wines performed equally well on pairing with food. This observation may be explained by the cancellation of the different individual preferences when the overall response of the panel was considered. The outcome from the segments sweet liking, smell sensitivity and “neophobia” showed that wine preference could only be related with “neophobia” and not with any physiological or liking factor. In summary, hedonic appreciation seems to be more connected to our cultural and psychological background and these features should be taken into account to understand the individual wine choices
N/A

Religion is important to many Americans and the way they approach life, but psychologists are less likely than the general population to be religious. Because of this, it is important to not only know how religious commitment can influence clients' outcome and experience in psychotherapy, but also how the level of match between client and therapist religious commitment might impact those variables. The current study was undertaken in order to investigate how client religious commitment impacts distress at the beginning and end of treatment, how therapist religious commitment impacts the use of religious/spiritual interventions in therapy, and whether the level of match between client and therapist religious commitment predicts client perception of therapy and/or outcome. Seven hundred and thirty individual therapy clients at a university counseling center completed measures of religious commitment, symptom distress, and concerns about therapy throughout their course of treatment. Forty-four therapists also completed a measure of religious commitment in addition to session-by-session checklists detailing what types of interventions they used in each appointment with participating clients. Client religious commitment was found to significantly predict lower initial distress (B = -0.77, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.07, 95% CI [-0.97, -0.57]) and lower distress at the end of therapy(B = -0.32, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.34, 95% CI [-0.51, -0.14]), and fewer concerns about therapy predicted better outcomes (B = 2.04, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.38, 95% CI [1.52, 2.52]). Contrary to the findings of previous research, therapist religious commitment did not predict use of religious/spiritual interventions in therapy (B = 0.05, p = 0.062, R2 = 0.09, 95% CI [-0.002, 0.11]). Finally, level of match between client and therapist religious commitment was not related to client concerns about therapy (B = -0.002, p = 0.161, 95% CI [-2.40, 9.57]) or client outcomes B = -0.014, p = 0.120, 95% CI [-0.03, 0.004]). Possible explanations and influencing factors are put forth and the findings are discussed in the context of a highly religious population.

Within the home environment there exits a host of digital color imaging (DCI) system configurations. The combination of devices and software at the consumerâ s desktop with devices and services at a remote location (e.g., Print at Kodak), creates a complex interaction of device, contextual, and observer characteristics. In particular, the cathode-ray tube (CRT) display has the potential to influence consumersâ perceptions of image quality and their subsequent image manipulation activities. Depending on the inherent color bias and apparent contrast of the CRT, extensive image manipulation may occur, significantly altering the digital values of the image. Output generated by a remote printer will reflect any image manipulation undertaken by the consumer. If manipulation was extensive, what the consumer receives from a remote printer will appear quite different from the softcopy version and thus, may be deemed unacceptable. This research was designed to address the softcopy-hardcopy matching issues that arise from the home DCI system configuration just described. The primary study examined how the CRT display influenced perceived color quality of photographs generated at two points in a DCI system; on-screen photographs (softcopy) and photographic quality prints (hardcopy). CRT gamma, color temperature, and excitation purity were manipulated using an orthogonal, blocked, central composite design. Twenty-two Eastman Kodak Company employees viewed 6 photographs under each of the 15 CRT conditions. Participants rated the color quality of each softcopy photograph, then were given an opportunity to edit color balance, brightness, and contrast for each photograph. The edited photos were printed and rated once again for color quality and acceptability. Results indicated that monitor calibration influenced perceived softcopy color quality, softcopy editing behavior, and subsequent perceived hardcopy color quality. Perception of softcopy color quality ratings was determined predominantly by the CRT gamma level. Participants responded to CRT color balance differences through their editing behavior. In some cases, edits were large enough to significantly and negatively impact perceived hardcopy color quality. Gamma in particular, was the most significant predictor of hardcopy color quality ratings and rejection rates. Additional differences were observed between first- and third-party photographs. Results from this research may be applied to the development of monitor calibration tools, scene balancing algorithms, and software, for the purpose of accommodating consumer image manipulation behavior, in the context of the home DCI system presented herein.
Ph. D.

A matching in a graph is a set of pairwise nonadjacent edges, a k-factor is a k-regular spanning subgraph, and a cycle is a closed path. This thesis has two parts. In Part I (by far the larger part) we study sufficient conditions for structures involving matchings, factors and cycles. The three main types of conditions involve: the minimum degree; the degree sum of pairs of nonadjacent vertices (Ore-type conditions); and the neighbourhoods of independent sets of vertices. We show that most of our theorems are best possible by giving appropriate extremal graphs. We study Ore-type conditions for a graph to have a Hamilton cycle or 2-factor containing a given matching or path-system, and for any matching and single vertex to be contained in a cycle. We give Ore-type and neighbourhood conditions for a matching L of l edges to be contained in a matching of k edges (l < k). We generalise two different aspects of this result: the l = 0 case with an Ore-type condition for a heavy matching in an edge-weighted graph; and the conditions for a perfect matching containing L with degree and neighbourhood conditions for a k-factor (k > 2) containing a given set of edges. We also establish neighbourhood conditions for the existence of a cycle of length at least k. A list-edge-colouring of a graph is an assignment of a colour to each edge from its own list of colours. In Part II we study edge colourings of powers of cycles, and prove the List-Edge-Colouring Conjecture for squares of cycles of odd length.

Hox transcription factors are extensively investigated in diverse fields of molecular and evolutionary biology. Hox genes belong to the family of homeobox transcription factors characterised by a 60 amino acids region called homeodomain. These genes are evolutionary conserved and play crucial roles in the development of animals. In particular, they are involved in the specification of segmental identity, and in the tetrapod limb differentiation. In vertebrates, this family of genes can be divided into 14 groups of homology. Common methods to classify Hox proteins focus on the homeodomain. Classification is however hampered by the high conservation of this short domain. Since phylogenetic tree reconstruction is time-consuming, it is not suitable to classify the growing number of Hox sequences. The first goal of this thesis is therefore to design an automated approach to classify vertebrate Hox proteins in their groups of homology. This approach classifies Hox proteins on the basis of their scores for a combination of protein generalised profiles. The resulting program, HoxPred, combines predictive accuracy and time efficiency. We used this program to detect and classify Hox genes in several teleost fish genomes. In particular, it allowed us to clarify the evolutionary history of the HoxC1a genes in teleosts. Overall, HoxPred could efficiently contribute to the bioinformatics toolbox commonly used to annotate vertebrate Hox sequences. This program was then evaluated in non-vertebrate species. Although not intended for the classification of Hox proteins in distantly related species, HoxPred showed a high accuracy in bilaterians. It has also given insights into the evolutionary relationships between bilaterian posterior Hox genes, which are notoriously difficult to classify with phylogenetic trees.

As transcription factors, Hox proteins regulate target genes by specifically binding DNA on cis-regulatory elements. Only a few of these target genes have been identified so far. The second goal of this work was to evaluate whether it is possible to apply computational approaches to detect Hox cis-regulatory elements in genomic sequences. Regulatory Sequence Analysis Tools (RSAT) is a suite of bioinformatics tools dedicated to the detection of cis-regulatory elements in genomes. We participated to the development of matrix-based pattern matching approaches in RSAT. After having performed a statistical validation of the pattern-matching scores, we focused on a study case based on the vertebrate HoxB1 protein, which binds DNA with its cofactors Pbx and Meis. This study aimed at predicting combinations of cis-regulatory elements for these three transcription factors.
Doctorat en Sciences
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

A obesidade mórbida é uma doença crônica, de causas multifatoriais e de tratamento difícil, que apresenta alto risco para a saúde. A cirurgia bariátrica tem se mostrado a opção mais eficaz de tratamento para a redução das comorbidades, mas pode ser seguida de problemas físicos que causam dificuldades nos relacionamentos interpessoais, dificultando a adaptação psicossocial do indivíduo ao meio ambiente social. Em longo prazo o sucesso depende da mudança de comportamento, principalmente em relação aos hábitos alimentares, da complementação necessária de vitamina e sal mineral e da prática regular de exercícios físicos de forma contínua. Ao longo do tempo, fatores psicológicos exercem influência sobre a capacidade de o paciente adaptar-se às condições de vida para a necessária manutenção da redução do peso corpóreo. O período de tempo decorrido após a cirurgia, entre 4 e 12 anos, foi investigado em uma amostra composta por 75 pessoas; todos os pacientes foram operados com a utilização da mesma técnica cirúrgica e pelo mesmo cirurgião, também coordenador da equipe multidisciplinar. A idade mínima foi de 26 e máxima de 76 anos. Foram utilizados três instrumentos de avaliação psicológica com a seguinte finalidade: medir o Nível de Coping e Habilidade Social; pesquisar a opinião dos sujeitos de forma categorizada pelo método do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo, mediante a aplicação de instrumento desenvolvido especificamente para a presente investigação; e avaliar a insatisfação com a imagem corporal pela aplicação da Escala de Silhuetas de Stunkard (SMT). Os resultados, tratados estatisticamente, revelaram pessoas com médio e alto nível de coping e habilidade social, que demonstram condições adequadas de enfrentamento e de formação de vínculos sociais; contudo encontram-se acima do peso esperado, cujo Índice de Massa Corporal indica situação de obesidade grau 1, de acordo com a OMS. Estão insatisfeitos com a silhueta atual, conscientes de que se encontram acima do peso desejado, mas valorizam altamente a opção que fizeram pela realização da cirurgia bariátrica, que lhes proporcionou autonomia, elevação da autoestima e os livrou da discriminação social. A discussão se fez com o aporte teórico de conceitos extraídos da psicologia cognitiva, da psicologia positiva, da psicanálise, da sociologia e da antropologia. Concluiu-se que a gastroplastia produz efeitos colaterais fisiológicos perenes, como engasgos, vômitos e mal-estar, que dificultam, mas não impedem, a adaptação psicossocial; que os entrevistados têm consciência de que o peso e a imagem não correspondem ao padrão esperado por eles, contudo apresentam adequado sentido de adaptação social; e para eles a cirurgia bariátrica ocupa um lugar que envolve representações mentais de rito de passagem, como transposição metafórica para um novo status da condição social
Morbid obesity is a chronic condition, of multi-factor causes, difficult to treat and which carries a high risk of health problems. Bariatric surgery has been shown to be the most effective treatment for reducing comorbidities, but it may be followed by physical problems that cause difficulties in interpersonal relationships, hindering the individual\'s psychosocial adaptation to the social environment. Long-term success depends on changing behavior especially in relation to food habits, use of vitamin supplements and mineral salt, as appropriate, and regular practice of physical activity. Over time, psychological factors may influence the ability of patients to adapt to their living conditions and maintain the weight loss. A period of time after surgery between 4 and 12 years was investigated in a sample of 75 people. All patients underwent the procedure using the same surgical technique, performed by the same surgeon and coordinator of the multidisciplinary team. The patients were aged between 26 years and 76 years. Three psychometric measures were used to investigate the level of coping and the participants\' opinion through an interview conducted in a categorized manner: the method of Discourse of the Collective Subject, including a questionnaire developed specifically for this research, and the assessment of body image dissatisfaction according to the Stunkard Silhouette Matching Task (SMT). The results, analyzed in statistical terms, revealed individuals with medium and high levels of coping and social skills, who demonstrate appropriate coping conditions and ability to establish social bonds. Nevertheless, they are still above the expected weight and present body mass indexes that indicate a status of grade 1 obesity, according to the WHO. These individuals are dissatisfied with their current silhouettes, aware that they are above the desired weight, but strongly value the choice they made for bariatric surgery that gave them autonomy and increased selfesteem, protecting them against social prejudice. The discussion was based on theoretical concepts drawn from cognitive psychology, positive psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology and anthropology. Conclusions: gastroplasty produces continuing physiological side effects that make psychological and social adaptation difficult, although it does not prevent them from occurring; the respondents are aware that their weight and body image do not match the pattern of their expectations, nevertheless they do present an adequate sense of social adaptation and, for them, bariatric surgery occupies a place that involves mental representations of rite of passage, as a metaphorical transposition to a new social status

In today's global marketplace, translators are responding to the current demand to produce fast and high-quality translations by using electronic tools to help them do their jobs, and one of the most promising tools that translators have at their disposal is translation memory (TM) software, a veritable database of previously translated material. Fuzzy matching---where the TM system identifies a portion of the text that is similar to but not exactly the same as one stored in the database---has become an integral feature of TM software; yet using this feature effectively remains a mystery to most translators. This is largely because translators have not been presented with any type of guidelines with regard to helping them identify an ideal setting for the fuzzy match value. The objective of this thesis is to provide translators with a better understanding of TM systems by exploring fuzzy matching in detail, and particularly by investigating factors such as the TM system selected, the category of text being processed, the working languages involved, and the degree of fuzziness of the match. Accordingly, a series of experiments have been designed and carried out to determine the influence that these four factors might have on the ideal fuzzy match setting. The results of these experiments show that these factors should indeed be taken into account when translators are selecting the fuzzy match value to be used with a TM system.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This work aims to demonstrate in a practical way the divisibility criteria 2-97 in sieve Eratostenes with cutting the right and the left, based on the method of multiplication and division Egyptian. The entire process is demonstrated using the divisibility to whole numbers, greatest common divisor, prime numbers, decomposition in prime factors and matching.
Este trabalho tem como objetivo demonstrar de modo prático os critérios de divisibilidade de 2 a 97 no crivo de Eratóstenes com os corte a direita e a esquerda, baseando-se no método de multiplicação e divisão egípcia. Todo processo é demostrado utilizando a divisibilidade para números inteiros, máximo divisor comum, números primos, decomposi ção em fatores primos e congruência.

La protection des documents fiduciaires et identitaires contre la fraude exige le développement d’outils de contrôle fondés sur des effets visuels sans cesse renouvelés, difficiles à contrefaire (même pour un expert ... de la contrefaçon !). Ce projet de recherche s’inscrit dans cette problématique et vise à apporter des solutions originales via l’impression de supports diffusants d’une part, et le développement de modèles de rendu visuel d’autre part. Les effets visuels recherchés sont des ajustements de couleurs entre les deux faces d’un imprimé lorsque celui-ci est observé par transparence devant une source lumineuse. Pour obtenir facilement des ajustements de couleurs quelles que soient les couleurs visées, il est capital d’avoir un modèle à disposition, permettant de calculer les quantités d’encre à déposer. Un modèle doit être capable de prédire les facteurs spectraux de réflexion et de transmission du support imprimé en décrivant les phénomènes de diffusion optique présents en pratique dans les couches d’encre et le support. Nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement aux imprimés translucides contenant des couleurs en demi-ton des deux côtés de la surface avec pour objectif de prédire le rendu visuel pour diverses configurations d’observation. Pour cela, nous proposons une nouvelle approche basée sur l’utilisation de matrices de transfert de flux pour prédire les facteurs spectraux de réflexion et de transmission des imprimés lorsqu’ils sont éclairés simultanément des deux côtés. En représentant le comportement optique des différents composants d’un imprimé par des matrices de transfert, la description des transferts de flux entre ces composantes s’en trouve simplifiée. Ce cadre mathématique mène à la construction de modèles de prédiction de couleurs imprimées en demi-ton sur des supports diffusants. Nous montrons par ailleurs que certains modèles existants, comme le modèle de Kubelka-Munk ou encore le modèle de Clapper-Yule, peuvent également être formulés en termes de matrices de transfert. Les résultats obtenus avec les modèles proposés dans ce travail mettent en évidence des qualités de prédiction équivalentes, voire supérieures, à celles qu’on retrouve dans l’état de l’art, tout en proposant une simplification de la formulation mathématique et de la description physique des échanges de flux. Cette simplification fait de ces modèles des outils de calcul qui s’utilisent très facilement, notamment pour la détermination des quantités d’encre à déposer sur les deux faces de l’imprimé afin d’obtenir des ajustements de couleurs
The protection of banknotes or identity documents against counterfeiting demands the development of control tools based on visual effects that are continuously renewed. These visual effects become thus difficult to counterfeit even by an expert forger ! This research tries to deal with that issue. Its objective is to bring new solutions using on the one side, the printing of diffusing materials, and on the other side the development of visual rendering models that can be observed. The visual effects that are sought-after are the color matching on both sides of a printed document when observed against thelight. To easily obtain a color matching, whatever the colors that are aimed for, it is essential to have a model that helps in calculating the quantity of ink to be left on the document. A model must be used to predict the spectral reflectance and the transmittance factors of the printed document by describing the phenomena of optical diffusion really present in the ink layers and in the document. We shall focus our interest especially on translucent printed documents that have halftone colors on both sides. Our goal here is to predict the visual rendering in different configurations of observation. To that end, we are offering a new approach based on the use of flux transfer matrices to predict the spectral reflectance and transmittance factors of prints when they are simultaneously lit up on both sides. By representing with transfer matrices the optical behavior of the different components present in a printed document, we see that the description of flux transfer between these elements is thus simplified. This mathematical framework leads to the construction of prediction models of halftone printed colors on diffusing materials. We also show that some existing models, such as the Kubelka-Munk or the Clapper-Yule models, can also be formulated in transfer matrices terms. The results that we get with the models used in this work make apparent identical prediction quality and in some cases even better ones to the ones found in the state of the art, while offering a simplification of the mathematical formulation and the physical description of the flux transfer. This simplification thus transforms these models into calculation tools that can easily be used especially for the choice of quantities of ink that must be left on both sides of the document in order to obtain color matching

This thesis deals with the problem of three dimensional scene reconstruction from multiple camera images. This is a well established problem in computer vision and has been significantly researched. In recent years some excellent results have been achieved, however existing algorithms often fall short of many biological systems in terms of robustness and generality. The aim of this research was to develop improved algorithms for reconstructing 3D scenes, with a focus on accurate system modelling and correctly dealing with occlusions. With scene reconstruction the objective is to infer scene parameters describing the 3D structure of the scene from the data given by camera images. This is an illposed inverse problem, where an exact solution cannot be guaranteed. The use of a statistical approach to deal with the scene reconstruction problem is introduced and the differences between maximum a priori (MAP) and minimum mean square estimate (MMSE) considered. It is discussed how traditional stereo matching can be performed using a volumetric scene model. An improved model describing the relationship between the camera data and a discrete model of the scene is presented. This highlights some of the common causes of modelling errors, enabling them to be dealt with objectively. The problems posed by occlusions are considered. Using a greedy algorithm the scene is progressively reconstructed to account for visibility interactions between regions and the idea of a complete scene estimate is established. Some simple and improved techniques for reliably assigning opaque voxels are developed, making use of prior information. Problems with variations in the imaging convolution kernel between images motivate the development of a pixel dissimilarity measure. Belief propagation is then applied to better utilise prior information and obtain an improved global optimum. A new volumetric factor graph model is presented which represents the joint probability distribution of the scene and imaging system. By utilising the structure of the local compatibility functions, an efficient procedure for updating the messages is detailed. To help convergence, a novel approach of accentuating beliefs is shown. Results demonstrate the validity of this approach, however the reconstruction error is similar or slightly higher than from the Greedy algorithm. To simplify the volumetric model, a new approach to belief propagation is demonstrated by applying it to a dynamic model. This approach is developed as an alternative to the full volumetric model because it is less memory and computationally intensive. Using a factor graph, a volumetric known visibility model is presented which ensures the scene is complete with respect to all the camera images. Dynamic updating is also applied to a simpler single depth-map model. Results show this approach is unsuitable for the volumetric known visibility model, however, improved results are obtained with the simple depth-map model.

The purpose of this study is to identify an impact on an option pricing within NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Market, if the underlying

asset prices include jumps. The current financial crisis, when jumps are much more evident than ever, makes this issue very actual and important in the global sense for the portfolio hedging and other risk management applications for example for the banking sector. Therefore, an investigation is based on OMXS30 Index and SEB A Bank. To detect jumps the Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard non-parametric bipower variation test is used. First it is examined on simulations, to be finally implemented on the real data. An affirmation of a jumps occurrence requires to apply an appropriate model for the option pricing. For this purpose the Kou model, a double exponential jump-diffusion one, is proposed, as it incorporates essential stylized facts not available for another models. Th parameters in the model are estimated by a new approach - a combined cumulant matching with lambda taken from the Barrndorff-Nielsen and Shephard test. To evaluate how the Kou model manages on the option pricing, it is compared to the Black-Scholes model and to the real prices of European call options from the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The results show that the Kou model outperforms the latter.

In life, people commonly face repeated decisions under risk or uncertainty. While normative economic models assume that people tend to make choices that maximize their expected utility, suboptimal behavior - in particular, probability matching - is frequently observed in research on repeated decisions. Probability matching is the tendency to match prediction probabilities of each outcome with the observed outcome probabilities in a random binary prediction task. For example, when people are faced with making with a sequence of predictions, such as repeatedly predicting the outcome of rolling a die with four sides colored green and two sides colored red, most people allocate about two-thirds of their predictions to green, and one-third to red. The optimal strategy, referred to as maximizing, would be to choose the outcome with the higher probability in every trial in the prediction task. Various causes for probability matching have been proposed during the past several decades. Here it is proposed that implicit adoption of a perfect prediction goal by decision makers might tend to elicit probability matching behavior. Thus, one factor that might affect the prevalence of probability matching behavior (investigated in Studies 1 and 2) is the type of performance goal. The manipulation in Study 1 contrasted single-trial prediction with prediction of four-trial sequences, which it is hypothesized might create an implicit perfect prediction goal for the sequence. In Study 2, three levels of goal were explicitly manipulated for each sequence: a perfect prediction goal, an 80% correct goal, and a 60% correct goal. In both studies it was predicted that more matching behavior would be observed for those who have a goal of perfect prediction than those who have a more reasonable (lower) goal. The results of both studies, conducted in an online worker marketplace, supported the goal-level hypothesis. The second factor proposed to affect the prevalence of probability matching is the type of conceptual schema describing the events to be predicted: independent events or complementary events. Study 3 investigated the effects of schema type and abstraction level of context on matching or maximizing behavior. Three abstraction levels of stories were included: abstract, concrete random devices, and real-world stories. The main hypothesis was that when the two options to be predicted are independent events, less matching and more maximizing behavior should be observed. Data from Study 3 supported the hypothesis that independent events tend to elicit more maximizing behavior. No effects of abstraction level were observed.

碩士
國立中正大學
勞工關係學系暨研究所
102
Abstract The close cross-straits exchange of Taiwanese talent market and the wave of Asia-pacific markets to the talents in Taiwan have led to the fault of Taiwan’s top executive and the gap of human resource. Companies don’t depend on connections to find top executive talents but on the executive search of executive search firm. Although Taiwanese companies have been very familiar with such channel of executive search, it has retreated many companies to recruit through the channel for its high agency fee and efficiency. The study aims to discuss the success factors of executive search company matching executives. Through literature analysis and individual case in-depth interview method, the study conducted interviews among the three parties, namely, the executive search firm, employer's human resources department and executives of individual cases that are successfully matched, discussing the factors of executive search firm’s successful matching. Based on the Agency Theory and the Transaction Cost Theory, the relationship between executive search firm and employer was explained to define their relation structure and problems. It is found through the Agency Theory that inducement and supervision can assist executive search company to achieve the purpose of finding the suitable executives, while the employer shall adopt results-oriented service contract. However, from the perspective of Transaction Costs Theory, the executive search firm should cooperate with companies and executives with good faith by a certain mechanism， while the employer company should establish good management and examination system to cooperate with executive search firm. Both parties should stipulate complete cooperation contract to establish an interpersonal relationship with mutual trust and benignancy, lowering uncertainties and reducing transaction costs. From the individual case interview, the successful factors of executive firm matching executives are concluded as follows: (1) Good communication skills of employer’s HR. (2) Executive search specialists’ acquaintance with the industrial chain and good knowledge of employers’ demands learned from the human resource department. (3) Executive search specialists’ establishment of talents resource channels and good interpersonal connections. (4) Executive search specialists’ good communication skills. (5) Executive search specialists’ uphold of the principle of profession and integrity. Key words: executive search; executive search firm

碩士
國立暨南國際大學
經濟學系
107
The government have promoted agritourism since 1989. About 30 years of development, there is lack of consistent and systematic analysis on the profitability of agritourism business. Therefore, this research tried to collect the data from Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery and Husbandry Census (AFFHC) and apply Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach developed by Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983) to reveal the important and effective factors on profitability of agritourism farms. The PSM approach can avoid the self-selection effects and control the inherent differences among individuals. The study is based on 2015 AFFHC data and uses the probit model to explore the factors influencing the agritourism income under PSM framework by comparing with non-Agritourism farms. The results show that different business types of agritourism, for instance, tourist farms, countryside lodgings, countryside restaurants do significantly enhance farmers’ incomes by various pairing methods.

abstract: 本研究旨在讨论融资租赁公司与承租的中小企之间的匹配因素。研究从融资租赁的实际业务流程切入，研究1对H公司进行了案例分析，得到基本的影响因素结果，继而研究2和研究3分别在中小企客户和融资租赁公司两类资料中独立展开分析，并比较这些因素的影响程度。研究结果发现了影响双向匹配的四个维度，以及在各自影响力的不同。研究最后分别对融资租赁公司和承租中小企提出了建议，以期提高双方匹配并达成业务的概率。
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

碩士
淡江大學
教育政策與領導研究所碩士在職專班
95
According to the subject of this study, the main purpose of this study are: 1.To discuss the related ideas and contents in tuition policy of higher education. 2.To disscuss the tution policy of higher education and relative match factors of the countries in Europe and American. 3.To understand the differences about tution policy of higher education in Taiwan and China. 4.To compare the relative match factors in the tution policy of higher education in Taiwan and China. 5.According to the conclusion to provide the suggestions about the tution policy of higher education and related match factors in the future. In order to reach the purpose of above, this study use document analysis and comparative research methods to clarify and compare the background, development, policy, related-problem and practical situation of tution policy and related match factors in Taiwan and China. The conclusions of the study are as following: 1. The higher education in Taiwan and China has increased rapidly and caused heavy financial burden. 2. Tution is one of the important factors of cost-sharing of higher education in Taiwan and China. 3. The tution policy is controlled by the government in Taiwan and China. The tution policy of school is other-directed. 4. The tution in Taiwan and China has no reasonable and objective standard. 5. The administration of related match factor in Taiwan and China tries to achieve equal education opportunity. 6. The loan of tution is the mainly related match factor to adjust the tution in Taiwan and China. 7.The related match factor of the study in weakers still has space to improve.

碩士
中山醫學大學
公共衛生學系碩士班
102
Background: Several cohort and case-control studies have found that the coagulation factors were significantly associated with carotid stenosis. Therefore, with a nested case-control design, we conducted propensity scores (PS) matching to assess the relations of coagulation factors to carotid stenosis. Objectives: To determine the relationship between coagulation factors and carotid stenosis by using different PS matching strategies, and to explore the possible role of coagulation factors in atherosclerosis in the stratified analysis. Methods: Baseline data (1991-1993 & 1993-1997) and intima-media thickness values of the common carotid artery (1993-1997), from the survey of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Two-Township Study in Taiwan were used. We choose the best strategy from 24 strategies composed of 2 sample selection schemes and 12 matching ways. Furthermore, the strategy was stratified by gender, region, cardiovascular disease status and PS after matching on the PS in a range of 0.05. Results: Increasing 1 SD of fibrinogen in 1991 or prothrombin time in 1993 was significantly associated with the incidence of carotid stenosis, odds ratios 1.27 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.53) and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.55) respectively. This finding has also been seen in PS-stratified analyses, when PS of 1991, PS of 1993 or PS of 1991 and 1993 were in the stratified medium. Conclusions: The fibrinogen and the prothrombin time were significantly associated with carotid stenosis. This connection may exist before incident carotid artery disease. In particular, fibrinogen may not only be an inflammatory marker, but possibly also one of several causes of carotid stenosis.

碩士
實踐大學
家庭研究與兒童發展學系高齡家庭服務事業碩士在職專班
106
The population structure has become increasingly ageing in Taiwan. If the degree of aging does not diminish, the elderly population ratio in 2025 will exceed 20% and it will become the “Super Aged Society”. According to estimates and investigations conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Taiwan Association of Family Caregives from 2016 to 2017, there are approximately 760,000 to 780,000 persons with disabilities and long-term needs in Taiwan, of which 55% are taken care of by their families; 30% rely on foreign care workers, about 230,000 people. In addition, at the end of 2016, the survey of foreign workers in industry and social welfare shows that foreign home care workers have a total of 212,023 people regardless of nationality in Taiwan, among them, the largest number is Indonesian (173,803). However, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of the end of 2016, a total of 118,000 people completed the Level C technician for caring service training, and only 30,000 were actually employed. Foreign home care workers in Taiwan clearly have become the main force for the elderly to take care of the manpower market. This study is a descriptive study, and base on Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, 420 valid questionnaires were collected from employers and foreign care workers in elderly family. The AHP hierarchy analysis method was used to find out the differences in the weight and cognition of motivation factors and hygiene factors between the two parties. Finally, it is hoped that the results of this study will provide academics and the public with regard to the awareness, feelings and ideas of foreign care workers. As well as providing cross-border human resource management operations and employers for elderly family, it is used as a reference and application when managing labor relations or when government agencies review relevant policies.

The main research question of this dissertation is whether factors other than labor productivity can help to explain short-run fluctuations and medium-run trends in unemployment in Austria respectively Western Continental Europe. In the part on analyzing short-term-fluctuations I will set up a New Keynesian DSGE model with a richly specified labor market. This model will be used to compare how different labor market specifications fit to Austrian quarterly data. Most importantly, the Bayesian model comparison indicates an important role for nominal wage rigidities and for a timely response of employment to changes in vacancies. Furthermore, models with consensual determination of working hours ('efficient bargaining') tend to perform relatively well. The best model can reproduce the relative volatility of labor market tightness compared to labor productivity comparatively well. Moreover, shock decompositions show that fluctuations in Austrian labor market tightness are mainly driven by demand shocks and to a much smaller extent by productivity shocks. In the part on explaining medium-term-trends in unemployment I will set up a theoretical model and demonstrate that certain stylized facts can also be generated by an increase in international trade (and not only by skill-biased technological change). Furthermore I will show that a differential response of different industrial economies ('US' versus 'Continental Europe') might be due to characteristics of sectors which are not directly exposed to globalization.

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the most polymorphic region in the human genome and accounts for more than 10% of human diversity. This region plays an important role in matching donors and recipients for transplantation. The South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) does not reflect the demographics of the South African population. The large number of polymorphisms resulting from HLA diversity in the Black South African population and their limited representation in the SABMR reduce the chances of finding adequate matches between donors and recipients in this group. Umbilical cord blood is an alternative to bone marrow for the treatment of fatal diseases. Less strict HLA matching is required due to the naive nature of the T cells in cord blood. A public umbilical cord blood bank is a necessity in trying to cater for the diverse population in South Africa. However, the ethnic diversity of the South African population poses a great challenge in constituting a public umbilical cord blood bank that is representative of the entire population. The Roche designed next generation sequencing (NGS) high resolution (HR) HLA typing kit enables sequencing of additional HLA exons and could improve the degree of matching between individuals to ultimately decrease adverse reactions. An extensive study of the literature was performed to establish the demographics, linguistics, and HLA diversity of the South African population to determine how a public cord blood bank should be constituted. In addition, HLA genotyping was performed by 454 NGS on 20 samples that had previously been HLA typed by conventional methods. The 454 NGS technique made use of a Roche designed medium and high resolution HLA typing kit to genotype the samples. It was possible to assign accurate genotypes to 95.5% of the loci of interest for the total number of 20 samples using the MR kit, compared with 98.5% using the HR kit. In conclusion, the present study indicates the extreme HLA diversity in the South African population, and therefore, recommends constituting the first public umbilical cord blood bank in Gauteng on the basis of race or major ethnic groupings. A minimum number of 10 000 cord blood units is needed to initiate the bank. Furthermore, the 454 NGS platform together with the HR HLA typing kit display potential as an alternative method to be used in a public cord blood bank, as well as routine clinical and diagnostic laboratories, to ultimately improve HLA matching between donors and recipients.
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
gm2014
Immunology
unrestricted

Wind power presently plays a minor role in Western Canada as compared to hydroelectric power in British Columbia and coal and natural gas thermal power generation in Alberta. However, ongoing reductions in the cost of wind power generation facilities and the increasing costs of conventional power generation, particularly if the cost to the environment is included, suggest that assessment of the present and future wind field in Western Canada is of some importance. To assess present wind power, raw hourly wind speeds and homogenized monthly mean wind speeds from 30 stations in Western Canada were analyzed over the period 1971-2000 (past). The hourly data were adjusted using the homogenized monthly means to attempt to compensate for differences in anemometer height from the standard height of 10m and changes in observing equipment at stations. A regional reanalysis product, the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and simulations conducted with the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM) driven with global reanalysis boundary forcing, were compared to the adjusted station wind-speed time-series and probability distributions. The NARR had a better temporal correlation with the observations, than the CRCM. We posit this is due to the NARR assimilating regional observations, whereas the CRCM did not. The NARR was generally worse than the CRCM in reproducing the observed speed distribution, possibly due to the crude representation of the regional topography in NARR. While the CRCM was run at both standard (45 km) and fine (15 km) resolution, the fine grid spacing does not always provide better results: the character of the surrounding topography appears to be an important factor for determining the level of agreement. Multiple simulations of the CRCM at the 45 km resolution were also driven by two global climate models (GCMs) over the periods 1971-2000 (using only historic emissions) and 2031-2060 (using the A2 emissions scenario). In light of the CRCM biases relative to the observations, these simulations were calibrated using quantile-quantile matching to the adjusted station observations to obtain ensembles of 9 and 25 projected wind speed distributions for the 2031-2060 period (future) at the station locations. Both bias correction and change factor techniques were used for calibration. At most station locations modest increases in mean wind speed were found for most of the projected distributions, but with a large variance. Estimates of wind power density for the projected speed distributions were made using a relationship between wind speed and power from a CRCM simulation for both time periods using the 15km grid. As would be expected from the wind speed results and the proportionality of wind power to the cube of wind speed, wind power at the station locations is more likely than not to increase in the 2031-2060 period from the 1971-2000 period. Relative changes in mean wind speeds at station locations were found to be insensitive to the station observations and choice of calibration technique, suggesting that we estimate relative change at all 45km grid points using all pairs of past/future mean wind speeds from the CRCM simulations. Overall, our results suggest that wind energy resources in Western Canada are reasonably likely to increase at least modestly in the future.
Graduate
0725
0608
jtdaines@uvic.ca