Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Relevance levels'

Silicon carbide (SiC) is currently under development for high power bipolar devices such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). A major issue for these devices is the charge carrier lifetime, which, in the absence of structural defects such as dislocations, is influenced by point defects and their associated deep levels. These defects provide energy levels within the bandgap and may act as either recombination or trapping centers, depending on whether they interact with both conduction and valence band or only one of the two bands. Of all deep levels know in 4H-SiC, the intrinsic carbon vacancy related Z1/2 is the most problematic since it is a very effective recombination center which is unavoidably formed during growth. Its concentration in the epilayer can be decreased for the production of high voltage devices by injecting interstitial carbon, for example by oxidation, which, however, results in the formation of other new deep levels. Apart from intrinsic crystal flaws, extrinsic defects such as transition metals may also produce deep levels within the bandgap, which in literature have so far only been shown to produce trapping effects. The focus of the thesis is the transient electrical and optical characterization of deep levels in SiC and their influence on the carrier lifetime. For this purpose, deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and minority carrier transient spectroscopy (MCTS) variations were used in combination with time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). Paper 1 deals with a lifetime limiting deep level related to Fe-incorporation in n-type 4H-SiC during growth and papers 2 and 3 focus on identifying the main intrinsic recombination center in p-type 4H-SiC. In paper 4, the details of the charge carrier capture behavior of the deeper donor levels of the carbon vacancy, EH6/7, are investigated. Paper 5 deals with trapping effects created by unwanted incorporation of high amounts of boron during growth of n-type 4H-SiC which hinders the measurement of the carrier lifetime by room temperature TRPL. Finally, paper 6 is concerned with the characterization of oxidation-induced deep levels created in n- and p-type 4H- and 6H-SiC as a side-product of lifetime improvement by oxidation. In paper 1, the appearance of a new recombination center in n-type 4H-SiC, the RB1 level is discussed and the material is analyzed using room temperature TRPL, DLTS and pnjunction DLTS. The level appears to originate from a reactor contamination with Fe, a transition metal that generally leads to the formation of several trapping centers in the bandgap. Here it is found that under specific circumstances beneficial to the growth of high-quality material with a low Z1/2 concentration, the Fe incorporation also creates an additional recombination center capable of limiting the carrier lifetime. In paper 2, all deep levels found in p-type 4H-SiC grown at Linköping University which are accessible by DLTS and MCTS are investigated with regard to their efficiency as recombination centers. We find that none of the detectable levels is able to reduce carrier lifetime in p-type significantly, which points to the lifetime killer being located in the top half of the bandgap and having a large hole to electron capture cross section ratio (such as Z1/2, which is found in n-type material), making it undetectable by DLTS and MCTS. Paper 3 compares carrier lifetimes measured by temperature-dependent TRPL measurements in n- and p-type 4H-SiC and it is shown that the lifetime development over a large temperature range (77 - 1000 K) is similar in both types. This is interpreted as a further indication that the carbon vacancy related Z1/2 level is the main lifetime killer in p-type. In paper 4, the hole and electron capture cross sections of the near midgap deep levels EH6/7 are characterized. Both levels are capable of rapid electron capture but have only small hole capture rates, making them insignificant as recombination centers, despite their advantageous position near midgap. Minority carrier trapping by boron, which is both a p-type dopant and an unavoidable contaminant in 4H-SiC grown by CVD, is investigated in paper 5. Since even the shallow boron acceptor levels are relatively deep in the bandgap, minority trap and-release effects are detectable in room-temperature TRPL measurements. In case a high density of boron exists in n-type 4H-SiC, for example leached out from damaged graphite reactor parts during growth, we demonstrate that these trapping effects may be misinterpreted in room temperature TRPL measurements as a long free carrier lifetime. Paper 6 uses MCTS, DLTS, and room temperature TRPL to characterize the oxidation induced deep levels ON1 and ON2 in n- and p-type 4H- and their counterparts OS1-OS3 in 6H-SiC. The levels are found to all be positive-U, coupled two-levels defects which trap electrons efficiently but exhibit very inefficient hole capture once the defect is fully occupied by electrons. It is shown that these levels are incapable of significantly influencing carrier lifetime in epilayers which underwent high temperature lifetime enhancement oxidations. Due to their high density after oxidation and their high thermal stability they may, however, act to compensate n-type doping in low-doped material.

In this study, I empirically examine the valuation and value relevance characteristics of specific consolidation and segment-disaggregated corporate financial information. On the consolidation level, I investigate the relationships (in terms of value relevance and pricing) between the UK firms’ equity market values and the firm-level contemporaneous equity book values, earnings and dividends. The objective here is identify and explore factors and contexts that impact on the value relevance and pricing of consolidated financial statement information reported by UK publicly traded firms over the period from 1987 to 2002. On the segmental level, the study capitalises on the insights gained from the consolidated level findings and investigates (i) whether financial information, on specific geographic and line-of-business segments’ operations of a cross-section of UK multi-segment firms, is associated with the equity market value of the entire firm (i.e., value relevant); (ii) whether such operations are being differentially priced (by the stock market) into the equity market value of the firm; and (iii) how the factors/contexts affecting value relevance and pricing of the firm-level accounting fundamentals impact on the value relevance and pricing of the segment-level results. Additionally, this study provides further empirical evidence on the adequacy of the UK segment reporting accounting standard SSAP 25, and the quality of segment disclosures in the UK. The employed valuation model represents a fusion of valuation frameworks developed in earlier studies [e.g., Edwards and Bell (1961), Peasnell (1981, 1982), Ohlson (1989, 1995), Rees (1997), Garrod and Rees (1998), Wysocki (1998)]. On the consolidated-level, the model expresses the size-deflated equity market value of the firm as a linear function of size-deflated equity book value, earnings for ordinary, dividends for ordinary shareholders and additional control/dummy variables. In the segment-level analysis, the earnings variable is further disaggregated into its segment-level elements. With regard to the firm-level analysis, the study uncovers a range of contexts and factors that affect the value relevance and pricing of specific accounting value drivers. Among these are: the sign of reported earnings and book values; whether the firm trades at a premium/discount to its book value; the economic periods; the dividend status of the firm; diversification profile of the firm; and the industrial affiliation of the firm. In addition, the firm-level analysis indicates that the industrially diversified firms have lower valuation than the focused firms, while the geographically diversified firms have higher valuation than the domestic firms.

The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon the survey research by Erffmeyer and Mendel (1990) on the perceived relevance of graduate training in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology at the terminal master’s level. A review of the literature discussed core competencies, as well as the advantages of internship experiences and thesis requirements. Results indicated that graduates view their training as well targeted towards knowledge and skills they regard as useful at their internship, first job, and current position. Results also indicated that graduates viewed their internship experiences as highly beneficial and worthwhile experiences, regardless of their supervisor. Results additionally indicated that graduates value the thesis requirement significantly more than current students and view the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with completing a thesis as high in usefulness. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research on master’s level I-O training are discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002.<br>Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-119). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

An alarming reduction in the numbers of several species of seals in the Baltic Sea was observed during the second half of the 1900s. Organochlorines, particularly PCBs, were found to cause the decline, inducing sterility and severe bone loss. If bone tissue is affected by PCBs, bone could be used as a biomarker for exposure to environmental contaminants. To isolate the effects of PCBs from other factors, experimental studies have been conducted on model species, such as mink. In this study, 58 mink femurs from three different treatment groups and one control group were analysed. Altogether 14 different parameters were measured using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Mink treated with a low dose of PCBs develop increased content, area and thickness of cortical bone. Mink treated with a high dose of PCBs do not show the same effects but have a cortical area similar to that of non-exposed animals. The trabecular density and content is increased in all groups that have been exposed to PCBs. The observed effects may be the result of dioxin-like PCBs binding to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). The activation of AhR leads to disruptions in endocrine systems, that in turn impacts bone modelling and remodelling. However, other pathways cannot be ruled out, including the effects of non-dioxin-like PCBs. Further analyses are needed in order to fully understand how PCBs affect bone tissue properties.

This study examines issues relating to the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by Greek listed companies. Initially, the impact of transition, as a result of differences between IFRS and Greek GAAP, on the first IFRS financial statements in 2005 is assessed. Then, a disclosure index is constructed, containing all the disclosure items mandated by the IFRS extant at the end of April 2006. Based on this research instrument, and two disclosure index methods, compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosures in their first year of implementation is examined. A review of disclosure theories, the features of the Greek financial reporting system, and considerations regarding the timing of the research are used as a basis for establishing a priori expectations and testing the potential factors explaining compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosures. Subsequently, any change in the value relevance of accounting information before and immediately after IFRS mandatory implementation is examined. Whether the reconciliation statements required by IFRS 1 provided value relevant information to investors is also explored. Finally, the valuation implications of IFRS mandatory disclosures are explored. The above analyses indicate the following. Greek listed companies’ financial statements were affected significantly by the adoption of IFRS. The average level of compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosures approximates to 80%. The impact on net income and shareholders’ equity, as a result of the transition to IFRS, as well as audit firm size, are significantly associated with the extent to which companies comply. No change in the value relevance of accounting information between 2004 and 2005 is identified. Reconciliation adjustments are incrementally value relevant and levels of mandatory disclosures do have valuation effects. Based on the findings of the above analyses, the study contributes to the relevant literature and discusses policy implications. It also concludes with suggestions for further research and recommendations on the methods for measuring compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosures.

Approximately 48% of Americans use prescription drugs within each 30-day period, and there are signs this trend is increasing. Although many studies track pharmaceuticals’ fates in contaminating waterways, only fairly recent efforts have examined the potential impacts of these drugs on non-target organisms. The antibiotics sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, often prescribed together to treat bacterial infections, have been detected worldwide in marine and estuarine environments at concentrations up to 700-800 ng/L each. Toxic effects of these drugs have been identified in freshwater organisms, with synergistic effects observed in short-term studies of mixtures of the two; however, little research has examined possible sub-lethal and longer-term effects of antibiotics in environmentally-relevant mixture concentrations on marine organisms. I examined the long-term effects of mixtures of these two antibiotics in species of a marine system: marine microalgal species, and marine mussels, to determine whether the levels currently present in waterways affect organism health and reproduction. Microalgal species may be among the most sensitive organisms to pharmaceutical contaminants based on ecotoxicity research. I exposed three species of marine microalgae (Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros neogracile, and Nannochloropsis oculata) to environmentally-relevant mixtures of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim and examined their three-week growth rates. I found that for each species, the antibiotic treatments significantly suppressed algal growth. Specifically, I found that sulfamethoxazole was a driving factor in suppression of C. neogracile and I. galbana growth, while N. oculata responded more sensitively to a broader range of treatment mixture levels, which also included trimethoprim-only treatment groups and mixtures. These results on marine microalgae address critical data gaps, and identify the impacts of pharmaceuticals on marine primary producers, which could have direct ecosystem implications to higher trophic levels. Antibiotic pharmaceuticals can also affect marine mussel health, based on previous study of sub-cellular endpoints. I hypothesized that the important benthic foundational species, the Mytilus californianus mussel, would be significantly impacted by long-term 12-week exposure to environmentally-relevant concentrations and mixtures of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. Specifically, I measured growth rate, feeding rate, condition index, and gonando-somatic index as indicators of whole-organism and reproductive health. Sulfamethoxazole concentrations, in particular, and trimethoprim to a lesser extent, suppressed mussel growth and significantly affected condition index and gonandosomatic index over time. The results of this study offer an understanding of how an intertidal system responds to chronic presence of antibiotic mixtures in the water, and a more complete picture of the environmental consequences of pharmaceutical contaminants released into marine ecosystems at ever-growing rates.

So far, research on the causes of over-indebtedness in Europe has predominantly focused on the characteristics of individuals or households. This article investigates to what extent country-level factors are associated with a European household's risk of being over-indebted. We examine variables that reflect policies aimed at combating over-indebtedness (the average level of economic literacy prevalent within a country and its classification into a specific debt-discharge regime) and variables that reflect other welfare-state policies (a country's affiliation to a specific employment regime and a summary measure referring to the net replacement rate in the case of long-term unemployment). The results, which are based on multilevel logistic regression analyses of European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data for 27 European countries, suggest that all four country-level factors matter. This particularly applies to the variables reflecting other welfare-state policies, thus underlining the relevance of the design of social policy in fighting over-indebtedness.

There is a significant problem for the paper recycling industry known as “stickies”. “Stickies” are tacky species, present in recycled paper and coated broke, derived from coating formulations, adhesives, etc. They impact negatively on paper quality and cause web runnability problems by deposit build-up. To sustain recycling, stickies are controlled by adsorbing them onto minerals added to the recycled stock. So the aim of the project was to characterise non-porous and porous minerals suitable for paper-making, and then use the knowledge gained to improve the adsorption of stickies. The pore level properties of the minerals used to control stickies are highly relevant in regulating adsorption of the stickies. Levels of pore architecture were investigated by characterising filter media with porosimetry, porometry, electron microscopy and modelling the combined results. Seven samples were studied, with pore size distributions ranging from simple unimodal to complicated bimodal. Porometry, porosimetry and SEM, individually can only determine primary pore architecture. A combination of experimental and modelling techniques allows a full characterisation of pore architecture from primary to quaternary levels. Calcium carbonates can be modified to change the pore architecture, which affects properties such as wetting. Their pore architecture was investigated to understand why some modified calcium carbonates do not show two distinct wetting rates. The investigation implied a significant surface area could be attributed to nano rugosity. The nano rugosity was responsible for the enhanced wetting of a sample. A zero length column was used to study diffusion and desorption of benzene with calcium carbonate. Desorption and diffusion coefficients for calcium carbonate systems were calculated from the corrected concentration versus time measurements. They showed how the pore architecture affects diffusion and desorption. By comparing the experimental results with a pore network simulation, it was possible to deduce the relative effect of surface diffusion. The adsorption of stickies onto different mineral grades was investigated using a novel proxy method to determine equilibrium constants and adsorption isotherms. The results were then used to understand the influence of particle size on the adsorption behaviour, with three mechanisms proposed. The equilibrium constant and adsorption isotherm data also allowed comparisons between hydrophilic and hydrophobic adsorption onto grades of talc. Recommendations are made for the optimum use of minerals for the removal of stickies, and for in-situ methods for monitoring and optimising removal.

Este estudo contribui para a literatura existente de value relevance relacionada ao papel do patrimônio líquido contábil e do resultado contábil por intermédio de dados brasileiros em um contexto de reavaliação de ativos e contabilidade em moeda constante. Além disso, são efetuadas discussões a partir de resultados empíricos sobre dois importantes assuntos relacionados à informação contábil: relevância e confiabilidade. É aplicada uma metodologia de value relevance, sendo que a variável dependente é o valor de mercado da empresa e as variáveis independentes são o patrimônio líquido e o resultado. A primeira hipótese é a de que a informação contábil pelo custo histórico é menos value relevant do que a informação contábil com práticas de reavaliação de ativos imobilizados. Para o período 1996-2007, as companhias tinham a opção de reavaliar alguns ativos tangíveis de longo prazo. A participação de avaliadores externos nos processos de reavaliações no Brasil provavelmente proporciona um grau de confiabilidade sem muita imperfeição. No entanto, evidências empíricas mostram que as informações contábeis de empresas que efetuaram reavaliações de ativos não são mais value relevant em relação às empresas que não efetuaram. Análises adicionais baseadas em uma especificação de value relevance incremental mostraram que, se os processos de reavaliação não tivessem ocorrido, então a value relevance seria praticamente a mesma para estas empresas. Em outras palavras, a reserva de reavaliação não foi value relevant, apesar de provavelmente ser confiável. Uma explicação possível para esse resultado é uma falta de relevância para as práticas de reavaliação de ativos observadas. A segunda hipótese é a de que a informação contábil pelo custo histórico é menos value relevant do que a informação contábil pela correção monetária integral. No Brasil, a correção monetária era regra até 1995. A partir de 1996, com a inflação atingindo menores patamares, o Governo Brasileiro proibiu práticas de atualização monetária para fins tributários e societários. Apesar disso, algumas empresas evidenciaram informações adicionais em moeda constante para o período 1996-2007. Evidências empíricas mostram que estas informações não são mais value relevant em comparação às informações sem correção monetária publicadas por estas mesmas empresas. Uma explicação possível para este resultado é a confiabilidade subjacente dos indicadores de inflação utilizados por estas companhias. No geral, as evidências empíricas mostram que a informação contábil pelo custo histórico não é menos value relevant. No entanto, é importante enfatizar que os resultados se relacionam com as práticas contábeis das empresas analisadas, e não com os modelos contábeis propriamente ditos.<br>This study contributes to extent value relevance literature relating to the role of book value and earnings through Brazilian accounting data in an asset revaluation and price level accounting context. Moreover, it brings empirical discussion on two very important issues related to accounting information: relevance and reliability. It is employed a value relevance methodology, with the dependent variable being the equity market value and the independent variables being book value of equity and earnings. The first hypothesis is that historical cost accounting is less value relevant than fixed asset revaluation accounting practices. For the period 1996-2007, companies had the option to revalue some long-lived tangible assets. External appraisals in Brazilian revaluation process likely bring a degree of reliability without too much imperfection. However, empirical evidence shows up that firms that experimented asset revaluations are not more value relevant regarding firms that did not. Further analysis based on an incremental value relevance specification shows that if the revaluation process had not occurred, then the value relevance would be quite the same for those firms. In other words, asset revaluation reserve was not value relevant, in spite of likely being reliable. One possible explanation for this result is the underlying firms\' asset revaluation practices lack of relevance. The second hypothesis is that historical cost accounting is less value relevant than price level accounting. In Brazil, price level accounting was the rule until 1995. From 1996, with inflation rates getting lower degrees, Brazilian Government prohibited price level for tax and financial accounting purposes. Even though, some companies disclosed additional information in price level for the period 1996-2007. Empirical evidence shows that this accounting information is not more value relevant in comparison to the information without price level publicized by the same companies. One possible explanation for this result is the underlying reliability of the inflation index used by the firms. Overall empirical evidence shows that historical cost accounting is not less value relevant. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that the results are related to the underlying firms\' accounting practices, not the accounting models themselves.

Mestrado em Actuarial Science<br>Os dados são o objeto de uma análise atuarial. O primeiro passo de uma avaliação é a revisão dos dados, juntamente com a definição dos pressupostos necessários e tendo conhecimento da teoria atuarial - estas componentes juntas permitirão ao atuário realizar os cálculos necessários e interpretar os resultados obtidos. Tendo isto em consideração, a qualidade dos dados sobressaiu como um elemento fundamental, tendo sido o tema escolhido para este trabalho. Depois de um estágio no escritório de Lisboa da Willis Towers Watson, percebi que os dados são um campo bastante importante, tendo sido algo com que lidei diariamente. Neste trabalho, darei um conhecimento inicial sobre fundos de pensões, especialmente fundos de pensões do Reino Unido, uma vez que foram o meu foco durante o estágio. Apresentarei ainda um caso de estudo sobre dificuldades nos dados e o seu impacto numa avaliação, de forma a fornecer uma ilustração com números reais e o impacto que pequenos problemas podem causar. Para este estudo, um cliente de treino foi usado e os problemas apresentados foram baseados na minha experiência no trabalho diário ? todas as incoerências apresentadas no Capítulo 5 foram encontradas (e corrigidas) em clientes reais nos quais trabalhei durante o estágio.<br>Data is the object of an actuarial analysis. Reviewing the data is the first step of a valuation, along with setting up assumptions and having the knowledge about the actuarial theory - these components together will enable the actuary to perform the necessary calculations and interpret its results. Having this in mind, data quality is something worthy to give a thought about and that's what this work will be for. After an internship at Willis Towers Watson Lisbon office, I realised data was a subject of high importance and the one I dealt with on a daily basis. Here, I will give some background knowledge about pension schemes, mainly United Kingdom pension schemes as they were my main focus. A case study about data issues and their impact on a valuation will be presented to give the reader real numbers and the real impact some minor data issues can have. For this study, a training client was used and the problems described were based on my work-experience - all inaccuracies present in Chapter 5 were found (and corrected) in real clients during my internship.<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Detectores de falhas não confiáveis tradicionais são oráculos disponíveis localmente para processos deumsistema distribuído que fornecem uma lista de processos suspeitos de terem falhado. Este trabalho propõe um novo e flexível detector de falhas não confiável, chamado Impact FD, que fornece como saída um valor trust level que é o grau de confiança no sistema. Ao expressar a relevância de cada processo por um valor de fator de impacto, bem como por uma margem de falhas aceitáveis do sistema, o Impact FD permite ao usuário ajustar a configuração do detector de falhas de acordo com os requisitos da aplicação: em certos cenários, o defeito de umprocesso de baixo impacto ou redundante não compromete a confiança no sistema, enquanto o defeito de um processo de alto fator de impacto pode afetá-la seriamente. Assim, pode ser adotada uma estragégia de monitoramento com maior ou menor rigor. Em particular, definimos algumas propriedades de flexibilidade que caracterizam a capacidade do Impact FD para tolerar uma certa margem de falhas ou falsas suspeitas, ou seja, a sua capacidade de fornecer diferentes conjuntos de respostas que levam o sistema a estados confiáveis. O Impact FD é adequado para sistemas que apresentam redundância de nodos, heterogeneidade de nodos, recurso de agrupamento e permite uma margem de falhas que não degrada a confiança no sistema. Nós também mostramos que algumas classes do Impact FD são equivalentes a § e ­, que são detectores de falhas fundamentais para contornar a impossibilidade de resolver o problema do consenso em sistemas de transmissão de mensagens assíncronas na presença de falhas. Adicionalmente, com base em pressupostos de sincronia e nas abordagens baseada em tempo e padrão de mensagem, apresentamos três algoritmos que implementam o Impact FD. Os resultados da avaliação de desempenho usando traces reais do PlanetLab confirmam o grau de aplicabilidade flexível do nosso detector de falhas e, devido à margem aceitável de falhas, o número de falsas respostas ou suspeitas pode ser tolerado quando comparado a tradicionais detectores de falhas não confiáveis.<br>Traditional unreliable failure detectors are per process oracles that provide a list of processes suspected of having failed. This work proposes a new and flexible unreliable failure detector (FD), denoted the Impact FD, that outputs a trust level value which is the degree of confidence in the system. By expressing the relevance of each process by an impact factor value as well as a margin of acceptable failures of the system, the Impact FD enables the user to tune the failure detection configuration in accordance with the requirements of the application: in some scenarios, the failure of low impact or redundant processes does not jeopardize the confidence in the system, while the crash of a high impact process may seriously affect it. Either a softer or stricter monitoring strategy can be adopted. In particular, we define some flexibility properties that characterize the capacity of the Impact FD to tolerate a certain margin of failures or false suspicions, i.e., its capacity of providing different sets of responses that lead the system to trusted states. The Impact FD is suitable for systems that present node redundancy, heterogeneity of nodes, clustering feature, and allow a margin of failures which does not degrade the confidence in the system. We also show that some classes of the Impact FD are equivalent to ­ and § which are fundamental FDs to circumvent the impossibility of solving the consensus problem in asynchronous message-passing systems in presence of failures. Additionally, based on different synchrony assumptions and message-pattern or timer-based approaches, we present three algorithms which implement the Impact FD. Performance evaluation results using real PlanetLab traces confirmthe degree of flexible applicability of our failure detector and, due to the accepted margin of failures, that false responses or suspicions may be tolerated when compared to traditional unreliable failure detectors.

The atmospheric corrosion of 304L and 3 16L austenitic stainless steels was investigated in conditions relevant to the storage of intermediate level nuclear waste (I L W). Thin electrolyte films were created via automated droplet deposition, allowing multiple tests to be conducted in parallel. In-situ monitoring of droplet arrays on stainless steel samples was conducted with the use of a flat-bed document scanner, allowing large-scale, automated monitoring of corrosion processes. The initiation time for individual corrosion processes was established, showing that corrosion was slower to initiate under less aggressive conditions, and allowing 'true corrosion site lifetimes to be recorded, and compared with their depths. The presence of precipitated species within an electrolyte film was shown to affect the corrosion processes within that film. Both NaCl precipitates and glass shards acted as barriers to ion transport. This affected both the propagation of corrosion, and the electrochemical potential within the droplets; a higher precipitate content decreased the average corrosion depth and the extent of corrosion. The presence of nitrate and sulphate salts, both known corrosion inhibitors in full- immersion conditions, was shown to inhibit atmospheric corrosion when the inhibitor:chloride ratio was above a certain value. This was independent of the absolute amounts of salts, but dependent on the exposure humidity of the test.

This dissertation documents the quality of financial accounting information in a transition economy, the Czech Republic. High quality accounting information decreases the risks for investors, promotes investment activities and increases the ability of companies to raise funds at a reasonable cost of capital. Countries with high quality accounting information have a comparative advantage in attracting financial capital. Transition economies - i.e. countries switching from centrally planned to market economies - are typically in need of capital. Therefore a new accounting regulation had to be developed that would satisfy the needs of new private investors. The quality of financial accounting information depends on accounting quality (an outcome of applied accounting principles) and disclosure quality (an outcome of the amount and characteristics of information provided in the financial statements). Accounting quality is measured as the value relevance of accounting numbers and certain attributes of earnings which promote the value relevance. Disclosure quality is measured in terms of mandatory disclosure requirements, actual disclosures of companies (i.e. the level of compliance with legislation) and additional information provided voluntarily by the companies. Sweden is used as a benchmark for well-developed market economy and the quality of financial accounting information in the Czech Republic is systematically compared to the quality of Swedish financial accounting information throughout the dissertation. The results show that both accounting and disclosure quality in the Czech Republic were inferior in the beginning of the transition period. Over time, the value relevance of accounting numbers has however improved. The change in the value relevance may be attributed in particular to improvements in disclosure quality. The key factors behind the development were improved accounting legislation and control mechanisms, accompanied by changes in the business climate including higher sophistication of both the producers and users of the financial information.<br>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T17:26:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Eduardo_Revisado.pdf: 3489154 bytes, checksum: 3c327ee0bc47d79cd4af46e065105650 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-29<br>Text retrieved from the Internet through Google and Yahoo queries are evaluated using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, a simple assessment measure of text readability. This kind of metrics were created to help writers to evaluate their text, and recently in automatic text simplification for undercapable readers. In this work we apply these metrics to documents freely retrieved from the Internet, seeking to find correlations between legibility and relevance acknowledged to then by search engines. The initial premise guiding the comparison between readability and relevance is the statement known as Occam s Principle, or Principle of Economy. This study employs Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level in text documents retrieved from the Internet through search-engines queries and correlate it with the position. It was found a centralist trend in the texts recovered. The centralist tendency mean that the average spacing of groups of files from the average of the category they belong is meaningfull. With this measure is possible to establish a correlation between relevance and legibility, and also, to detect diferences in the way both search engines derive their relevance calculation. A subsequent experiment seeks to determine whether the measure of legibility can be employed to assist him or her choosing a document combined with original search engine ranking and if it is useful as advance information for choice and user navigation. In a final experiment, based on previously obtained knowledge, a comparison between Wikipedia and Britannica encyclopedias by employing the metric of understandability Flesch-Kincaid<br>Textos recuperados da Internet por interm´edio de consultas ao Google e Yahoo s ao analisados segundo uma m´etrica simples de avaliac¸ ao de inteligibilidade textual. Tais m´etricas foram criadas para orientar a produc¸ ao textual e recentemente tamb´em foram empregadas em simplificadores textuais autom´aticos experimentais para leitores inexperientes. Nesse trabalho aplicam-se essas m´etricas a texto originais livres, recuperados da Internet, para buscar correlacionar o grau de inteligibilidade textual com a relev ancia que lhes ´e conferida pelos buscadores utilizados. A premissa inicial a estimular a comparac¸ ao entre inteligibilidade e relev ancia ´e o enunciado conhecido como Princ´&#305;pio de Occam, ou princ´&#305;pio da economia. Observa-se uma tend encia centralista que ocorre a partir do pequeno afastamento m´edio dos grupos de arquivos melhor colocados no ranking em relac¸ ao `a m´edia da categoria a que pertencem. ´E com a medida do afastamento m´edio que se consegue verificar correlac¸ ao com a posic¸ ao do arquivo no ranking e ´e tamb´em com essa medida que se consegue registrar diferenc¸as entre o m´etodo de calcular a relev ancia do Google e do Yahoo. Um experimento que decorre do primeiro estudo procura determinar se a medida de inteligibilidade pode ser empregada para auxiliar o usu´ario da Internet a escolher arquivos mais simples ou se a sua indicac¸ ao junto `a listagem de links recuperados ´e ´util e informativa para a escolha e navegac¸ ao do usu´ario. Em um experimento final, embasado no conhecimento previamente obtido, s ao comparadas as enciclop´edias Brit anica eWikip´edia por meio do emprego da m´etrica de inteligibilidade Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

My research concluded by the dissertation thesis focused on transfer pricing in financial management. The aim of this paper was to analyze the use of contracts for cost-sharing, contracts for contributing to the cost and service level agreements in a group of related persons of multinational companies. The work is divided into three logical parts. The first part of my dissertation analyzed the available scientific work and literature. A number of publications deals with the issue but only marginally. I thus drew upon mainly legal texts. I assumed the potential for practical use based on my finding that about 72 % of companies doing business in research and development operate in clusters of related persons. The second part of the paper deals with contracts for cost-sharing and cost contribution agreements. The basic problem of both agreements is reasonable estimation of the expected benefits. I suggested a procedure for estimation of benefit sharing among participants and also what indicators to use for measuring. Then I defined the share of costs. I suggested a definition of K.O. criteria for other than the U.S. legislation for incorrectly estimated shares. In this theoretical treatise on the weighted cost of capital I have found that companies that are not part of a group of related persons have a lower WACC. I pointed to the significant impact of agreements on avoidance of double taxation. As an alternative to the above contracts in the Czech Republic I presented a contract of association under the Civil Code. The third part of this work is dedicated to the Service Level Agreement. I conclude that it is necessary in certain ways to measure benefits, as it is a very important factor for the recipient of services. The benefits, however, cannot be measured directly, but through auxiliary variables, when the determining will always be influenced by the applied accounting standards. The second examined aspect was the allocation of costs to the service provider. Here, I conclude that there is no universally correct way. However, essential for these costs are only the actual relevant costs incurred in connection with the provision of intangible assets. Lastly, I focused on the usual profit margin surcharge over the cost provider of intangible assets. I conclude that when setting profit margins in accordance with the arm's length principle one should build on the level of normal returns on the invested assets of the provider.

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Biológicas<br>Salvia officinalis L (Lamiaceae, salva comum) é uma planta aromática que cresce espontaneamente em Portugal, bastante conhecida pelas suas propriedades medicinais. Duas das principais propriedades medicinais atribuídas a esta planta são como antioxidante e antidiabética. No entanto, ainda não existem suficientes evidências experimentais que demonstrem estes efeitos e em particular os mecanismos inerentes em sistemas biológicos. No presente trabalho, os estudos dos efeitos antioxidantes e antidiabéticos foram realizados no I fígado e em hepatócitos. Uma vez que os compostos da salva passam primeiro pelo fígado após a absorção gastrointestinal, estes podem atingir concentrações consideráveis neste órgão possibilitando a indução de efeitos biológicos. Além disso, o fígado tem uma grande capacidade de biotransformação, é bastante susceptível a efeitos tóxicos de xenobióticos e é também afectado por bastantes doenças onde se reconhece o envolvimento de stresse oxidativo. Deste modo, para além dos prováveis benefícios do consumo de salva para o fígado, estes estudos permitiram-nos observar possíveis efeitos tóxicos desta planta e interacções com outros compostos. Três tipos de extractos foram estudados: o óleo essencial (OE), um extracto metanólico e a extracto aquoso de salva preparado sob a forma de um chá. Numa primeira série de experiências (capítulo 2), usando ensaios com suspensões de hepatócitos de rato, observou-se que o OE de salva não teve efeitos antioxidantes. Pelo contrário, a altas concentrações (maiores que 2 ~1/ml), o óleo de salva induziu significativamente morte nas células, a qual foi acompanhada por uma depleção nos níveis de GSH (forma reduzida da glutationa) mas não por uma indução da peroxidação lipídica. A diminuição dos níveis de GSH foi provavelmente um dos mecanismos responsáveis pelos efeitos tóxicos do OE. Em seguida, após uma experiência in vivo com ratinhos onde se verificou que o chá de salva melhorava a resposta antioxidante do fígado (capítulo 3), no c.apítulo 4 foram estudados os efeitos directos de salva em células HepG2 (linha celular de hepatoma humano). A salva protegeu contra a morte celular induzida pelo tert-butil hidroperóxido - um modelo de stresse oxidativo - revelando o seu potencial antioxidante directo em células. A sua acção nos níveis de GSH foi muito importante, prevenindo significativamente a sua depleção. O efeito citoprotector dos extractos da salva foi dependente da composição dos extractos ym compostos fenólicos bem como da sua actividade antiradicalar. Também no capítulo 4, verificou-se que os mesmos extractos eram capazes de elevar os níveis basais de GSH em células HepG2, indicando uma capacidade em melhorar as defesas antioxidantes. o aumento de GSH poderá ter acontecido através da indução da síntese de novo da glutationa, o que é também corroborado por uma experiência anterior com hepatócitos de rato em cultura (capítulo 3). Nessa experiência, o chá de salva dado in vivo fez recuperar os níveis de GSH dos hepatócitos, após o isolamento com colagenase, para valores mais altos do que na situação controlo. Adicionalmente, o chá de salva induziu significativamente as actividades das enzimas GST (capítulo 3), GPox e NADPH citocromo P450 redutase bem como, em alguma extensão, algumas enzimas citocromo P450 em fígado de ratinho (capítulo 5). Estes efeitos antioxidantes indirectos parecem deixar o fígado mais bem preparado para combater uma situação de stresse oxidativo e o efeito tóxico de xenobióticos. No entanto, contrariamente ao que era esperado, o tratamento prévio com chá de salva não protegeu a hepatotoxicidade induzida pelo tetracloreto de carbono (CC4) em ratinhos (capítulo 5). Em vez disso, ocorreu uma potenciação da toxicidade do CC4. Esta interacção pode ser explicada, pelo menos em parte, pelo aumento significativo induzido pelo chá da proteína CYP 2EI. Estes resultados chamam a atenção para possíveis interacções entre a salva e fármacos ou outros xenobióticos metabolizados pelo fígado. No entanto, isso provavelmente não acontecerá, a menos que uma elevada quantidade de salva for consumi da por um longo período de tempo. Em relação aos estudos das actividades antidiabéticas da salva, descritos no capítulo 6, verificou-se que o chá desta planta reduziu a glucose plasmática em jejum em ratinhos, indicando efeitos ao nível da gluconeogénese. Isto foi confirmado com experiências utilizando hepatócitos em cultura isolados de ratos, nos quais o chá de salva reduziu a indução da gluconeogénese pelo glucagon. Além disso, verificou-se que o chá de salva aumentou o consumo de glucose pelas células e que o OE aumentou a sensibilidade. das células à insulina e inibiu a gluconeogénese. No geral, estes efeitos assemelham-se aos obtidos com o fármaco metformina, usado no tratamento e prevenção da diabetes. No entanto, em hepatócitos isolados de ratos diabéticos induzidos pela estreptozotocina, estes efeitos não foram observados. Os resultados sugerem contudo, que a salva poderá ser utilizada na prevenção da diabetes tipo 2, principalmente em pessoas em risco de a desenvolver. Em conclusão, os resultados aqui apresentados confirmam os efeitos antioxidantes e hipoglicémicos de salva em sistemas biológicos, embora o seu uso terapêutico contra doenças do fígado e a diabetes necessite de mais investigação. No entanto, neste momento a salva pode ser encarada como um suplemento alimentar que poderá ter efeitos benéficos na prevenção, a baixo custo, da diabetes tipo 2 e de doenças do fígado. Para além disso, a prevenção de outro tipo de doenças também poderá ser considerada, principalmente aquelas onde é conhecido o envolvimento de stresse oxidativo, tal como o cancro e doenças neurodegenerativas. Por último, toma-se relevante relembrar que o consumo de salva, por períodos prolongados de tempo, em conjunto com certos fármacos poderá levar a efeitos indesejados devido a interacções planta-fármaco.<br>Salvia officinalis L. (Lamiaceae, common sage) is an aromatic plant that grows in Portugal well known for its medical properties. Antioxidant and antidiabetic effects are among the medicinal properties attributed to this plant. However, both still lack of biological experimental confrnnation. Since sage compounds, after gastrointestinal absorption, first pass through the liver, givingan opportunity to accumulate to considerable concentrations, the antioxidant and antidiabetic studies reported here focused on the liver. In addition, the liver is a biotransforming organ, susceptible to toxic effects of xenobiotics and affected by several tiver ., diseases where oxidative stress is known to be involved. Therefore, these studies allowed us to observe, besides the benefits of sage consumption to the tiver, the possible toxic effects of sage and interactions with other drugs. Three different extracts of sage were studied: the essential oi! (EO), a methanolic extract and a water extract (prepared as a tea). In chapter 2, sage EO was tested in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes. No direct antioxidant effects were observed in tiver cells. On the contrary, at higher concentrations (more than 2 ~l/ml), sage EO induced significant cell death, which was accompanied by GSH. (glutathione - reduced form) depletion but not by tipid peroxidation. The GSH depletion induced by sage EO was probably an important mechanism that explains EO toxic effects. Then, after an in vivo experiment with mice, where sage tea drinking (for 14 days) improved the tiver antioxidant status (chapter 3), the direct effects of sage were studied on HepG2 cells (a human hepatoma cell tine) in chapter 4. Sage extracts protected against cell death induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide - a model of oxidative stress - revealing their direct antioxidant effects at cellular leveI. Sage was able to act at a cell critical parameter, the GSH levels, preventing GSH depletion. The cytoprotective effect of sage was found to be dependent on its composition in phenotic compounds and their antiradical activity. AIso in chapter 4, not only did sage extracts prevent GSH depletion in a situation of oxidative stress, they also increased basal GSH levels in HepG2 cells. This fact indicated a capacity of sage extracts to improve basal cell antioxidant defences. The increase in basal GSH levels may possibly have happened by induction of de novo glutathione synthesis, which was corroborated by a different set of experiments using rat hepatocytes in culture (chapter 3). In that study, sage tea given in vivo restored hepatocyte GSH levels after collagenase isolation to higher levels when compared with controls. Sage tea was, in addi~ion, able to induce significantly the activities of GST (chapter 3), GPox and NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase and also, slightly, some CYP enzymes (chapter 5) in mice liver. These indirect antioxidant effects may leave liver cells better prepared to face oxidative stress and toxicants. However, contrarily to what was expected, sage tea drinking did not protect carbon tetrachloride (CCI4)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice (chapter 5). lnstead, sage tea potentiated the , toxicity of CCl4 in mice liver of both genders. This herb-toxicant interaction may be explained, at least in part, by the significant induction of CYP 2El protein by sage tea. Since the dose of sage tea used in this study was much higher than what is usually taken by humans, sage tea-drug interactions are not likely to happen in humans. Nevertheless, these results draw attention to possible herb-drug interactions between sage and drugs metabolised by the liver. Regarding the antidiabetic effects (chapter 6), sage tea was found to lower fasting plasma glucose in mice indicating effects on gluconeogenesis. This was confmned in the experiments using normal rat hepatocytes in culture, where sage tea drinking induced a decrease in gluconeogenesis in response to glucagon. ln addition, sage tea drinking increased glucose uptake capacity and, sage EO further increased hepatocyte sensitivity to insulin and inhibited gluconeogenesis. Overall, these effects resemble those obtained with the pharmaceutical drug metformin used in the treatment and prevention oftype 2 diabetes mellitus. ln primary cultures of hepatocytes isolated from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats none of these activities, however, was observed. Nevertheless, the metformin-like effect observed here suggests a possible type 2 diabetes preventive potential of sage tea, mainly in people at risk of developing it. ln conclusion, the antioxidant effects of sage, at cellular and liver levels, were demonstrated by these results as well as its hypoglycaemic effects. ln order to apply sage products as a therapeutical tool for diabetes and liver diseases more research has, however, to be done. Nevertheless, sage products may now be considered as a functional food or a food supplements that could have a beneficial impact in low cost prevention strategies of diabetes and liver diseases. ln addition, the treatment and/or the prevention of other kind of diseases where oxidative stress is known to be involved, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, may also benefit from the regular consumption of sage. Care should be taken, however, not to use high doses of sage products, over extended periods of time, in combination with conventional pharmaceutical drugs, since undesired herb-drugs interaction may take place.<br>Ministério da Ciência e do Ensino Superior - Programa Operacional Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, Programa Operacional Ciência e Inovação 2010<br>Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - POCTI/AGR/43482/2001, POCI/AGR/62040/2004<br>Fundo Social Europeu

碩士<br>中原大學<br>商業設計研究所<br>105<br>In addition to the attractive story, the mood of creating a picture is one of the important performance techniques of the cartoonist, and it is also the factor that causes the reader to continue to support the work.In many comic structures, the Effect line is to help the screen to play a narrative function of an important technique, but also the most commonly used elements. These lines through the appropriate arrangements to produce a stable or oppressive visual psychology, so that the static picture display rhythm、speed、directionality and visual focus. Furthermore background effects can also create the role of the character and help readers to understand the emotions. Another different feature from the graphic novels is the Dialog Boxes, these dialogs in addition to guide the reading path, but also use different frame-shaped of presentation the emotions in a static status. In this study, the comic books of the most popular juvenile comics on the list －《ONE PIECE》as a master&apos;&apos;s thesis case studies and sample samples，based on the data obtained from the case study, summarized the effect of this comic performance techniques and application forms. In this study, the density in the comic effect line and the Spikes -type dialog box as the main experimental items, and the emotional vocabulary of the visual psychological from the literature was explored to find out whether the different performance in comic books which stronger emotional response are influences in different readers of the original emotional level. The experimental results showed ：1. "comic books fans readers" who had a higher degree of response to the increase density of effect lines, and also increased emotional responses in the strong emotional vocabulary. The " Used to be Comic books fans readers " and "non-comic books readers " also generally have higher emotions when the density lines increase. 2：the intensity of emotional reaction was not enhanced by the increase of the spike density of the dialog boxes, regardless of whether they have the habit of reading comic books.

碩士<br>開南大學<br>商學院碩士在職專班<br>107<br>Abstract Because participating in high profile social functions is one of the most effective ways for entrepreneurs to establish social relationships, the opportunity for entrepreneurs to increase their business success relies on the level of social group participation. Those participating in social groups must notice others’ motives for participation and whether they have the ability and motives to pass on the messages. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relevance between level of social group participation and business success. Our targets are rotary club members and we have 50 valid questionnaires. After empirical analysis of questionnaires, we find that: 1.Level of social group participation and business success parameters meet reliability criteria. 2.There is a positive correlation between level of social group participation and business success. 3.Level of social group participation has a significant effect on business success, supporting H1 hypothesis. 4.Gender and industry parameters have significant difference on views regarding level of social group participation and business success. 5.Age and educational level parameters have no significant difference on views regarding level of social group participation and business success.

碩士<br>輔仁大學<br>會計學系碩士班<br>105<br>With the issue of International Financial Reporting Standard 13: Fair Value Measurement in 2013. Taiwan started to set a clear specification on fair value accounting. However, in the past, there is little literature on the fair value hierarchy and IFRS 13 in Taiwan. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of the disclosure of Level 3 fair value information on value relevance. This study investigates two research questions, which are that whether there is a positive relationship between the completeness of the disclosure of Level 3 fair value information and value relevance, and whether the ability in accounting of top managers could increase or decrease the value relevance of Level 3 fair value information, respectively. This study proposes a comprehensive score to measure the completeness of the disclosure of the Level 3 fair value information, and the information of the Level 3 fair value is manually collected from the annual reports of listed firms from 2013 to 2015. Furthermore, the ratio of the managers receiving the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certifications among top managers is used to measure the accounting ability of top managers. The empirical results show that the value relevance of the Level 3 fair value information is positively related to the completeness of the disclosure. This result suggests that more information related to the Level 3 fair value disclosed in annual reports helps investors to reflect the Level 3 fair value information on stock prices. The empirical results also suggest that the accounting ability of top managers could enhance the value relevance of the Level 3 fair value information.

Double Degree. A Work Project presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA- School of Business and Economics and a Masters Degree in Business Engineering from Louvain school of Management<br>In this Work Project, I evaluate the relevance of the debate around fair value’s Level II and Level III assets and liabilities. The literature outlines some qualitative shortcomings of this valuation technique. However, it seems important to understand how those assets and liabilities affect the balance sheet from a quantitative point of view. The data collected indicate that 10% of the balance sheets of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies is evaluated using fair value measurement. My analysis reveals that the market prices are positively associated with fair value. It shows they are highly and positively sensible to Level III assets, suggesting that shortcomings outlined in the literature concerning the poor reliance in those inputs are not translated in the market behavior. The market even reacts in the opposite way as it approves the use of Level III inputs.<br>NSBE - UNL

A general concern in science education is that change in the curriculum has had little impact on the classroom practice. Following the introduction of a new curriculum called the Botswana Government Certificate in Secondary Education (BGCSE) curriculum in Botswana senior secondary schools, this study set out to investigate issues relating to implementation of the proposed curriculum, that is, mapping teaching effectiveness intended to improve students’ learning of chemistry compared with teaching during the old curriculum. This thesis reports the extent to which some chemistry teachers in Botswana senior secondary schools are implementing classroom methodologies that focus on learner-centred and hands-on activities. This investigation involved working with eleven chemistry teachers in four secondary schools in Botswana. The case study research methodology included observations and semi-structured interviews. The sub-constructs from Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) theory were used to guide data collection as well as analysis and interpretation of data. From the categories, it was possible to identify level of operation for the schools as well as the Zone of Feasible Implementation (ZFI) which spelt possible routes for interventions in individual schools. There were common areas observed about the teachers and the schools, in that they · All possessed the right qualifications to teach chemistry at senior school level. · All were relatively young in the teaching field · According to Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale, the teachers are operating at a very low level in the science practical and contextualisation dimensions. · Classroom dimensions were characterized by patches of rich interactions for most teachers. These were evidenced by some teaching interactions at level 3 on Rogan and Grayson’s operational levels. Some teachers’ lesson activities were more interactive in that there were presentations that encouraged the use of various communication skills. Learners presented organised information to support their positions, showing there had been a search for information before presentations. The other teachers limited involvement by learners, as their focus was on articulating the content. · Otherwise teachers were generally operating at lower levels in Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale. This is a clear indication that to some extent the teachers are not doing much in implementing the teaching ideas intended by the new curriculum. Mind and hands-on activities are still limited. Though teachers possess the right qualifications, there seems to be little desire to try new things. According to the operational levels on classroom interaction, practical work and contextualisation, it was found that teachers generally operated moderately on Rogan and Grayson’ scale. Though interviews results showed that teachers saw the need to have practical work as a way to actively engage learners, classroom observations showed that it was not a favoured method. Classroom observations revealed that the lecture method was still the favoured approach. Some learner-engaging activities in the form of group discussions, group experiments and demonstrations were practiced. Contextualizing of science was still generally low in all schools. The study also looked at the construct of capacity to support innovation. The three sub-constructs which were investigated in this study were physical resources, teacher factors and ecology and management systems. These factors had a great impact on how the sub-construct on profile of implementation panned out. The three factors were found to be higher on the Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) scale than the profile of implementation. This was found to be linked with a great deal of improvement of infrastructure by the Botswana government soon after the curriculum implementation e.g. science related facilities (laboratories, apparatus, chemicals) and teacher qualifications. Though this was the case, it was found out that classroom implementation was not as inflated as the resources on ground seemed to suggest. Several influential factors were found to be linked to the unfolding of a curriculum inside the classroom such as departmental contexts. The contexts were found to relate closely with the nature of communities that existed in science departments, which were linked to how teachers were distributed within departments.

Introdução: A exposição a alergénios de origem biológica está associada ao desenvolvimento e exacerbação da asma e rinite alérgicas. A avaliação desta exposição em unidades prestadoras de cuidados de saúde contribui para a monitorização da higiene e pesquisa de alergénios específicos causadores de sintomas em indivíduos previamente sensibilizados. Objetivo: Avaliar a concentração de alergénios alimentares e aeroalergénios em diferentes unidades prestadoras de cuidados de saúde. Métodos: As amostras provenientes dos centros de cuidados de saúde primários foram colhidas por aspiração nos consultórios médicos, salas de vacinação e de tratamento, corredores e áreas de armazenamento, enquanto as provenientes do hospital central universitário foram aspiradas na urgência, hospital de dia, serviço de medicina interna, bloco operatório e consultas externas. As amostras foram filtradas, pesadas, submetidas a processos de extração e medidas as concentrações de leite (Nbos d 5), avelã (Cor a 9), ovo (Gal d 2), amendoim (Ara h 3 e Ara h 6), ácaros (Derp 1), gato (Fel d 1), cão (Can f 1), barata (Bla g 2), bolores (Alt a 1) e gramínea (Phl p 5) através do kit MARIA (r). Resultados: Todos os alergénios alimentares e aeroalergénios pesquisados foram encontrados em pelo menos uma área, exceto o Alt a 1. As concentrações do alergénio do cão e do gato (que variaram entre 13.0 g/g e 971.0 g/g e entre 7.0 g/g e 4618.8 g/g, respetivamente) são superiores ao limiar definido para o desenvolvimento de sintomas de asma. A urgência foi o local com concentração mais elevada de alergénios alimentares, nomeadamente o Nbos d 5 (16034.0 g/g) e o Cor a 9 (10649.5 g/g). Conclusão: Com a exceção do bloco operatório, os níveis de exposição das diferentes áreas analisadas são superiores ao limiar definido para o desenvolvimento de sintomas alérgicos em doentes sensibilizados ao ácaro, cão e gato.<br>Background: Exposure to airborne allergens of biological origin associates with the development and exacerbation of allergic asthma and rhinitis. Assessment of allergens exposure in healthcare facilities may contribute to monitor hygiene and survey specific allergens which may cause symptoms in sensitized subjects. Objective: To assess concentration of indoor and airborne food allergens across different healthcare settings. Methods: Dust was vacuumed from primary health care centers and emergency unit, day hospital, internal medicine ward, operating room and the outpatient clinic of a university central hospital. Samples were sieved, weighed, extracted and concentrations of Nbos d 5, Cor a 9, Gal d 2, Ara h 3, Ara h 6, Derp 1, Fel d 1, Can f 1, Bla g 2, Alt a 1 and Phl p 5 were determined using a multiplex array for allergens (MARIA(r)). Results: All airborne food and aeroallergens were found at least in one sampled area, except for Alt a 1. All levels of Derp 1 and almost all levels of Fel d 1 were above the threshold for the development of asthma symptoms, ranging from 13.0 g/g to 971.0 g/g and from 7.0 g/g to 4618.8 g/g, respectively. The emergency unit revealed the higher levels of food allergens, namely Nbos d 5 (16034.0 g/g) and Cor a 9 (10649.5 g/g). Conclusions: With the exception of the operating room, exposure levels across different healthcare settings were above the threshold for the development of allergic symptoms in mite, cat or dog sensitized subjects.

Introdução: A exposição a alergénios de origem biológica está associada ao desenvolvimento e exacerbação da asma e rinite alérgicas. A avaliação desta exposição em unidades prestadoras de cuidados de saúde contribui para a monitorização da higiene e pesquisa de alergénios específicos causadores de sintomas em indivíduos previamente sensibilizados. Objetivo: Avaliar a concentração de alergénios alimentares e aeroalergénios em diferentes unidades prestadoras de cuidados de saúde. Métodos: As amostras provenientes dos centros de cuidados de saúde primários foram colhidas por aspiração nos consultórios médicos, salas de vacinação e de tratamento, corredores e áreas de armazenamento, enquanto as provenientes do hospital central universitário foram aspiradas na urgência, hospital de dia, serviço de medicina interna, bloco operatório e consultas externas. As amostras foram filtradas, pesadas, submetidas a processos de extração e medidas as concentrações de leite (Nbos d 5), avelã (Cor a 9), ovo (Gal d 2), amendoim (Ara h 3 e Ara h 6), ácaros (Derp 1), gato (Fel d 1), cão (Can f 1), barata (Bla g 2), bolores (Alt a 1) e gramínea (Phl p 5) através do kit MARIA (r). Resultados: Todos os alergénios alimentares e aeroalergénios pesquisados foram encontrados em pelo menos uma área, exceto o Alt a 1. As concentrações do alergénio do cão e do gato (que variaram entre 13.0 g/g e 971.0 g/g e entre 7.0 g/g e 4618.8 g/g, respetivamente) são superiores ao limiar definido para o desenvolvimento de sintomas de asma. A urgência foi o local com concentração mais elevada de alergénios alimentares, nomeadamente o Nbos d 5 (16034.0 g/g) e o Cor a 9 (10649.5 g/g). Conclusão: Com a exceção do bloco operatório, os níveis de exposição das diferentes áreas analisadas são superiores ao limiar definido para o desenvolvimento de sintomas alérgicos em doentes sensibilizados ao ácaro, cão e gato.<br>Background: Exposure to airborne allergens of biological origin associates with the development and exacerbation of allergic asthma and rhinitis. Assessment of allergens exposure in healthcare facilities may contribute to monitor hygiene and survey specific allergens which may cause symptoms in sensitized subjects. Objective: To assess concentration of indoor and airborne food allergens across different healthcare settings. Methods: Dust was vacuumed from primary health care centers and emergency unit, day hospital, internal medicine ward, operating room and the outpatient clinic of a university central hospital. Samples were sieved, weighed, extracted and concentrations of Nbos d 5, Cor a 9, Gal d 2, Ara h 3, Ara h 6, Derp 1, Fel d 1, Can f 1, Bla g 2, Alt a 1 and Phl p 5 were determined using a multiplex array for allergens (MARIA(r)). Results: All airborne food and aeroallergens were found at least in one sampled area, except for Alt a 1. All levels of Derp 1 and almost all levels of Fel d 1 were above the threshold for the development of asthma symptoms, ranging from 13.0 g/g to 971.0 g/g and from 7.0 g/g to 4618.8 g/g, respectively. The emergency unit revealed the higher levels of food allergens, namely Nbos d 5 (16034.0 g/g) and Cor a 9 (10649.5 g/g). Conclusions: With the exception of the operating room, exposure levels across different healthcare settings were above the threshold for the development of allergic symptoms in mite, cat or dog sensitized subjects.

碩士<br>國立彰化師範大學<br>人力資源管理研究所<br>97<br>In the hierarchical organizations, people want to achieve the goal in the work. In prior research, people would stay in the organization when they had good relationship with their company and felt good work condition and leadership. Furthermore, this study aimed to explore the relationship among organization condition, leadership and promotability ratings. In addition, the purposes of this study were (1) the relationship between ingratiation behavior and promotability ratings; (2) the relationship between quality of relationship and promotabilty ratings; (3) the mediating effect of quality of relationship on ingratiation behavior and promotability ratings; (4) the relationship between cross-level transformational leadership and promotability ratings; (5) the relationship between team potency and promotability ratings; (6) the mediating effect of team potency on transformational leadership and promotability ratings. In this study, the target samples were the supervisors and subordinates worked in the common enterprises, and the 150 work teams were convenience sampled. Each work team had to fill out 4 questionnaires (one for supervisor and three for subordinates). There were 213 valid questionnaires collected from 71 work teams. We used confirmation factor analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical linear modeling to testify our hypotheses. The findings revealed: (1) ingratiation behavior has positive relation to promotability ratings; (2) quality of relationship has positive relation to promotability ratings; (3) quality of relationship has full mediating effect on ingratiation behavior and promotability ratings; (4) cross-level transformational leadership has positive relation to team potency; (5) team potency has positive relation to promotability ratings. In sum, the practical implications were illustrated as following: (1) it is important to make a positive relationship and impression between supervisors and subordinates; (2) giving feedback to subordinates is important to supervisors; (3) the supervisors should act as a mentor to help subordinates deal with problems.

碩士<br>國立臺灣大學<br>環境衛生研究所<br>100<br>Biological monitoring of metals in blood is important in characterizing human’s exposure to metals. The aim of this study was set to establish the norm of metal levels in blood of the preschool children in Taiwan as well as to explore their determinants in order to set forth the benchmarks for further toxic metal exposure prevention. Stratum random sampling was adopted based on administrative area and in total 44 districts, cities, towns, and villages were selected. Within these areas, after being invited in sequence, 85 kindergartens agreed to participate in this study. All the parents of children of the participating kindergarten were informed the study goals and processes, and asked to sign a statement of consent once they agreed to take part in this study. Questionnaires were administrated through help of the kindergarten teachers, while blood samples were collected by pediatric nurses or doctors. From April to October 2011, in total, 932 blood samples were collected from the volunteering kindergarten children, and stored in tubes with heparin at 4℃ until laboratory analysis with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for 18 trace metals, including beryllium, lead, strontium, molybdenum, cadmium, antimony, cesium, uranium, vanadium, manganese, cobalt, copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, rubidium, tin, mercury. As being defined as mean plus/minus two times the standard deviation, the norms of metal levels in blood of preschool children were set as 0.774 to 4.47 μg/dL for lead, less than 1.47μg/L for beryllium, 7.75 to 38.0 μg/L for strontium, less than 2.47μg/L for molybdenum, less than 0.340μg/L for cadmium, 1.49 to 6.24 μg/L for antimony, 0.752 to 4.12 μg/L for cesium, less than 0.0170 μg/L for uranium, less than 0.674 μg/L for vanadium, 6.00 to 22.1μg/L for manganese, 0.0481 to 0.917 μg/L for cobalt, 674 to 1397 μg/L for copper, 2623 to 6315 μg/L for zinc, 0.745 to 11.4 μg/L for arsenic, 79.7 to 154 μg/L for selenium, 1140 to 3059 μg/L for rubidium, less than 1.44 μg/L for tin and 1.04 to 17.7 μg/L for mercury, respectively. Except for cadmium and antimony, levels of all study metals in children’s blood were significantly different among geographical zones, i.e. northern, central, southern, eastern Taiwan, and off-shore islands (p<0.025). The highest levels of lead and tin in children’s blood were found in off-shore islands; the highest levels of beryllium, molybdenum, cesium, manganese, arsenic, rubidium and mercury were found in eastern Taiwan; the highest level of strontium was found in central Taiwan; the highest levels of vanadium, cobalt, copper, zinc and selenium were found in southern Taiwan. The lowest levels of lead, manganese, zinc, rubidium and mercury in children’s blood were found in northern Taiwan; the lowest levels of beryllium, strontium, cesium, vanadium, copper and selenium were found in off-shore islands; the lowest levels of cobalt and tin in children’s blood were found in eastern Taiwan; the lowest level of arsenic was found in southern Taiwan. The distribution of blood lead level of the preschool children in Taiwan was skewed to right with most blood lead levels ranging from 1 to 2 μg/dL. Such a distribution was similar to the findings in the surveys on American children aged 4-7 years in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006, respectively. It is expected that the blood lead level distribution of the preschool children in Taiwan will get close to the contemporary blood lead level of same age children of the United States in the upcoming four to six years. It was found that incense burning at home was associated with arsenic, mercury and lead levels in children’s blood samples. Especially, there was a dose-response relationship between frequency of incense burning at home and lead level in children’s blood samples, indicating incense burning probably a lead exposure source for children. Besides, factories located in the vicinity of the study subject’s residence is positively correlated with lead level in children’s blood samples; smell of odor in the vicinity of study subject’s residence was also positively correlated with antimony level in children’s blood samples. Lead level in children’s blood samples was negatively correlated to family income, and blood strontium and tin levels in children’s blood samples were also negatively correlated to parental education levels. These relevant metals are generally used in the manufacturing industry, implying parental occupational exposure could indirectly lead to children’s metal exposure. With different cut-points applied in categoring high-low blood lead level groups, results of logistic regression model showed that the major variables for high blood lead level group were demographic related factors as cut-point set at 2 or 3 μg/dL, while the major affecting factors for high blood lead level group were parental occupation and general living environmental related factors as cut-point set at 4 or 5 μg/dL. Therefore, from the viewpoint of health administration, considering the norm of blood lead level of preschool children and limited administrative resources, the alert for blood lead level of preschool children could be set at 5 μg/dL, in order to launch lead exposure prevention by focusing on the small part of children with relatively high level of lead in blood. As compared to the traditional hazardous metal exposure environment with conspicuous pollution sources and high levels of pollutant contents, the hazardous metal exposure nowadays becomes low level multi-elements exposure with obscure sources, and was reflected by low social economic status, low educational level and culture heritage. This phenomenon suggested that the exposure prevention for hazardous metals in the future should focus on the disadvantaged minority.

Cadmium (Cd) is a priority pollutant in ecosystems worldwide. It is highly toxic to aquatic organisms including fish at fairly low concentrations. Numerous studies have investigated the influence of Cd exposure on fish, but few of them have considered how environmentally relevant levels of Cd affect reproduction, particularly reproductive behaviour. To assess the toxicity of Cd on fish reproduction, breeding fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to water-borne Cd for 21 days at four different concentrations (0, 1, 2.5 and 5 µg/L, respectively) based on a standard short-term reproductive assay and reproductive performance as well as behaviour were examined during or at the end of the exposure period. The results showed that Cd accumulated in a dose-dependent manner in the livers and ovaries of female fish. Brood size and mean egg production were significantly reduced in Cd-exposure treatment groups. When fertilized eggs were incubated in the water containing 2.5 µg/L or higher Cd, there was delayed hatching, but at the same time there was greater synchronous hatching after hatching started. Hatching success of Cd-exposed eggs also declined compared to the control. No significant difference was observed among treatments in adult fish survival, the number of breeding attempts, fertilization success, egg size, plasma β-estradiol levels of female, larval deformities, reproductive behaviour, gonadosomatic index or liver somatic index. The results of this study demonstrate that Cd is able to impair reproduction of fathead minnow at the concentration as low as 0.64 µg/L. It is harmful to both breeding fish and their offspring. The traditional endpoints used in standard reproduction assay (e.g. egg production and brood size) are probably more sensitive than behavioural endpoints, but the traditional method of interpreting reproductive impairment may underestimate toxic effects. The findings of this study have important implications for understanding the effects of chronic Cd exposure in metal-impacted feral fish populations. It can be applied to the protection or restoration of fish populations in Cd contaminated aquatic systems.

碩士<br>國立臺灣大學<br>商學研究所<br>96<br>Correction behavior has been of lots of interests to many researchers in the social and psychological area and has been applied to many other domains, such as persuasion, impression formation, attribution, courtroom judgment, etc. However, few of past researches discussed about the possible factors that might influence the correction behaviors, the direction and magnitude of correction. Thus, this article aimed to examine that when a product needed people to have specific knowledge to make judgment, how people of high and low knowledge levels, both were under the manipulation of high involvement, would adjust their attitude ratings of product after being reminded of potential bias across the three different situations which also stood for the different contents of the target advertisements of three studies in this article. In study 1, when there were central arguments and a likeable but irrelevant endorser in the target advertisement, people of high knowledge level would not correct; however, people of low knowledge level would. In study 2, when the target advertisement only contained a likeable but irrelevant endorser, both people of high and low knowledge levels would engage in correction. Then in study 3, when the target advertisement only contained a likeable and relevant endorser, both people of high and low knowledge levels would not engage in correction. The results showed that knowledge levels about a product especially when it implied the ability of processing product-relevant information to make judgment did have its impact on the correction behaviors across different situations with different contents in the target advertisements. These results could be helpful to apply the concepts of Flexible Correction Model (FCM) to a firm’s advertising strategy in marketing domain. Besides, this article allowed for further future researches in the aspects of any other potential factors that might influence the correction behaviors or that might mediate the effect of knowledge levels on correction behavior, the application of experimental design and procedures to other products to see if knowledge levels really had effect on correction behaviors.

碩士<br>國立彰化師範大學<br>人力資源管理研究所<br>96<br>Performance appraisal did have been proved to affect different management function profoundly, and it was the most effective way to enhance the efficacy of performance appraisal by increasing performance appraisal satisfaction. With the team-oriented job design widely adopted by the industry, appraisal satisfaction became the highlight of this study. There were several things verified as whether the development of relationship between team leader and team member affect appraisal satisfaction? Or did the relationship influence team member’s feedback seeking behavior and team’s justice climate? Hence, this study aimed to explore (1)the effect of individual-LMX on feedback seeking behavior and appraisal satisfaction;(2)the effect of feedback seeking behavior on appraisal satisfaction;(3)the mediating effect of feedback seeking behavior on individual-LMX and appraisal satisfaction; (4)the effect of team-LMX on justice climate and appraisal satisfaction;(5)the effect of justice climate on appraisal satisfaction;(6)the mediating effect of justice climate on team-LMX and appraisal satisfaction;(7)the moderating effect of justice climate on individual-LMX and appraisal satisfaction. In this study, the target samples were the work teams from the companies of the industry database, and the 150 teams were purposively sampled. Each work team had to fill out 4 questionnaires (one for team supervisor and three for team members). Three were 324 valid questionnaires collected from 81 teams that were empirically analyzed using the method of hierarchical linear modeling. The findings revealed: (1) individual LMX has a positive effect on feedback seeking behavior, performance session and system satisfaction;(2) feedback seeking behavior has a positive effect on session satisfaction;(3) feedback seeking behavior has partial mediating effect on individual LMX and session satisfaction.;(4).procedural justice climate has a cross-level direct effect on session and system satisfaction.

Thesis (MMed (Virology))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2020<br>Objectives: The feasibility of HIV genotyping at low-level viraemia (LLV) using an in-house assay in a South African population was assessed and the prevalence as well as the clinical relevance of drug resistance (HIVDR) in this population was determined. Methods: We conducted an observational, retrospective, cohort study on patient samples with LLV referred for routine HIVDR testing at a public sector Johannesburg laboratory from Aup•ust 2017 to October 2018. Genotyping was performed usinp• a nested RT-PCR assay. The genotyping success rate was evaluated for different viraemia categories. HIV-1 drug resistance analysis was done using Sanger sequencing and sequences were loaded onto the Stanford HIVdb genotypic resistance tool (v 8.7) for drug resistance interpretation. Results: Plasma samples from 159 HIV-I infected, treatment-experienced adults with LLV were analysed. The in-house assay performed well with an overall success rate of 78.67a (125f 159, 95% CI 71.6 — 84.3). The prevalence of drug resistance mutations in the LLV cohort was 79.2Yo (99/125, 95% CI 71.2 — 85.4) with most patients (n = 109, 68.6'7o) on a PI-based regimen at the time of genotyping. Of 125 sequences obtained, 73.67a (92/125) had *1 NRTI mutation while 70.47c (88/125) had Al NNRTI mutation. Importantly, major PI mutations including M46I and V82A were detected in 7.270 (9/125) of patients. Conclusion: Current South African virological failure guidelines may keep patients on failing regimens for longer than necessary. Our data suggests that genotyping at LLV is feasible and implementation could result in earlier identification and referral of patients requiring third - line regimens.<br>CK2021