The dissertation studies the relationship among durable goods, price indexes and monetary policy in two sticky-price models with durable goods. One is a one-sector model with only durable goods and the other is a two-sector model with durable and non-durable goods. In the models with durable goods, the COLI (Cost of Living Index) and the PPI (Producer Price Index) identical to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) measured by the acquisitions approach are distinguished, and the COLI/PPI ratio plays an important rule in monetary policy transmission. The welfare function based on the household utility can be represented by a quadratic function of the quasi-differenced durables-stock gaps and the PPI inflation rates. In the one-sector model, the optimal policy maximizing welfare is to keep the (acquisition) price and the output gap at a constant rate which does not depend on the durability of consumption goods. In the two-sector model with sticky prices, the central bank has only one policy instrument, so it cannot cope with distortions in both sectors. Simulation results show that the PPI is an adequate price index for monetary policy and that a policy of targeting core inflation constructed by putting more weight on prices in the sector producing more durable goods is near optimal.

Since its introduction in the year 2000 by Ahlswede et al., the network coding paradigm has revolutionized the way we understand information flows in networks. Traditionally, information transmitted in a communication network was treated as a commodity in a transportation network, much like cars on highways or fluids in pipes. This approach, however, fails to capture the very nature of information, which in contrast to material goods, can be coded and decoded. The network coding techniques take full advantage of the inherent properties of information, and allow the nodes in a network, not only to store and forward, but also to "mix", i.e., encode, their received data. This approach was shown to result in a substantial throughput gain over the traditional routing and tree packing techniques. In this dissertation, we study applications of network coding for guarantying reliable and secure information transmission in networks with compromised edges. First, we investigate the construction of robust network codes for achieving network resilience against link failures. We focus on the practical important case of unicast networks with non-uniform edge capacities where a single link can fail at a time. We demonstrate that these networks exhibit unique structural properties when they are minimal, i.e., when they do not contain redundant edges. Based on this structure, we prove that robust linear network codes exist for these networks over GF(2), and devise an efficient algorithm to construct them. Second, we consider the problem of securing a multicast network against an eavesdropper that can intercept the packets on a limited number of network links. We recast this problem as a network generalization of the classical wiretap channel of Type II introduced by Ozarow and Wyner in 1984. In particular, we demonstrate that perfect secrecy can be achieved by using the Ozarow-Wyner scheme of coset coding at the source, on top of the implemented network code. Consequently, we transparently recover important results available in the literature on secure network coding. We also derive new bounds on the required secure code alphabet size and an algorithm for code construction. In the last part of this dissertation, we study the connection between index coding, network coding, and matroid linear representation. We devise a reduction from the index coding problem to the network coding problem, implying that in the linear case these two problems are equivalent. We also present a second reduction from the matroid linear representability problem to index coding, and therefore, to network coding. The latter reduction establishes a strong connection between matroid theory and network coding theory. These two reductions are then used to construct special instances of the index coding problem where vector linear codes outperform scalar linear ones, and where non-linear encoding is needed to achieve the optimal number of transmission. Thereby, we provide a counterexample to a related conjecture in the literature and demonstrate the benefits of vector linear codes.

SAS has become an increasingly important public-health problem in recent years. It can abversely affect neurocognitive, cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and can also cause behavior disorder. Moreover, up to 90¢H of these cases are obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Therefore, it is important that how to diagnose, detect and treat OSA. The respiratory disturbance index is one parameter of estimating OSA. Polysomnography can monitor the OSA with relatively fewer invasive techniques. However, polysomnography-based sleep studies are expensive and time-consuming because they require overnight evaluation in sleep laboratories with dedicated systems and attending personnel. Based on the digital oximetry, this work introduces the estimating respiratory disturbance index. In particular, via signal processing, feature parameters and artificial intelligence, this thesis describes an off-line SpO2-based RDI estimating system.

In the dynamic era, knowledge management is an important means that enterprises show one's talent and maintain the advantage of the competition. If enterprises can manage knowledge well, it can grasp and win the first chance of strength. And in order to maximize the knowledge management effectively, enterprises need to utilize the performance index to weigh the effect, and then improve it. In enterprises, the goal of organizational learning is creating knowledge and using knowledge to solve problems. So organizational learning closely linked with knowledge management. This study attempts to investigate the impact on KM performance based on the organizational learning perspective. As enterprises want to improve the performance index of knowledge management, they only need to find out key factors to the performance index, and then improve it. Furthermore, different KM strategies can help to find out influences on KM performance. When the KM performances of enterprises are not satisfactory, enterprises need to inspect the KM strategy to adopt suitably and adjust the KM strategy accordingly. This study also investigates how organizational learning enabler impacts organizational learning. This study used questionnaire investigation to prove the research model is fit or not, and used ANOVA and regression analysis to test all hypotheses. The result of the study shows that organizational learning has influence on knowledge management performance. Organization position and task complexity will enable organizational learning, and through different KM strategies, the impacts of KM performance based on organizational learning are different.

This research studies the degree of publicity made by Kaoshiung City Government and the anti-corruption condition caused by the degree of administrative transparency. This study also provides further understanding about present Kaoshiung City Government immediate online services, including people¡¦s requests and claims to Mayor¡¦s inbox and the anti-corruption advocated by the Department of Civil Service and Ethics: To explore how fast and how responses are made to citizens through Internet, and also to become the basis of anti-corruption index. To understand the expectations of civilians towards the overall government¡¦s publicity system. To establish a anti-corruption documentation system to provide sources of subsequent denotation of policy and knowledge transformation To design and suggest Kaoshiung¡¦s future anti-corruption policy, improve present file management and increase degree of publicity in order to achieve the goal of high quality and high efficiency To interview officials or others who involve with the administrative procedure, and provide concrete suggestions based on the content from the interview

Objective: To explore correclational relationship between the risk factors and medical resources consumption in cardiovascular disease patients. Methods: A database containing 44940 cardiovascular disease patients in a southern Taiwan Medical center from year 2003 to 2005 was chosen as studying sample. By applying Charlson Comorbidity Index as one of the major risk factors to these cardiovascular disease patients, then using liner regression to analyze the data for their relationship with medical resources consumption. Results: Medical resources consumption increases as the cardiovascular disease patients become older. The higher the comorbidity index weight with the patient, the more the patient consumes medical resources. A patient¡¦s comorbidity index weight has great influence to the length of hospital stay of the patient and the frequency of clinic visit of the patient. The higher the comorbidity index weight a patient he or she, is likely to stay in hospital longer or to see doctors more often. The variance inflation factor (VIF) of each independent variable is ranged between 1 and 1.343, which means there are no high correlations between independent variables in the modes. In other words, there is no correlative influence effect that would invalidate the assumption. Conclusion: The findings of this study can be a good reference to hospital disease management. In addition, they can be applied to predicting the risk factor in medical resources consumption. Also they can be adapted into medical insurance payment system, thereby improving medical resource distribution.

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In recent years, many people use the World Wide Web and Internet to find information that they want. HTML is a document markup language for publishing hypertext on the WWW. HTML has been the target format for content developers around the world. Basically, HTML tags serve the primary purpose of describing how to display a data item. Therefore, HTML documents are difficult to find some useful information. That is because, HTML documents are mixed content with display tags. On the other hand, XML is the another data format for data exchange inter-enterprise applications on the Internet. In order to facilitate data exchange, industry groups define public Document Type Definitions (DTD) that specify the format of the XML documents to be exchanged between their applications. Moreover, WWW/EDI or Electric Commerce is very popular and a lot of business data uses XML to exchange information on the World Wide Web. Basically, XML tags describe the data itself. The contents (meaning) of the XML documents and the display format is separated. It could be easily to find meaningful information of the XML documents and analyze the information. Moreover, when a large volume of business data (XML documents) exists, one way to support the management of the XML documents is to apply the relational databases. For such an approach, we must transform the XML documents to the relational databases. In this thesis, we design and implement the indexing strategies to efficiently access XML documents. XML document is fundamentally different from relational data. XML is a hierarchical and nested document, it is very similar to the semistructured data model. The characteristic of semistructured data is that it may not have a fixed schema and it may be irregular or incomplete. Though, the semistructured data model is flexible in data modeling, it requires a large search space in query processing since there is no schema fixed in advance. Indexing is the way of how to improve query performance efficiently. However, due to the special properties of semistructued data, there are up to five types of queries: (1) complete single path, (2) specified leaf only, (3) specified intrapath, (4) specified attribute/element(value), and (5) multiple paths with the same level. In this thesis, we classify all possible queries into those five query types. Next, we create different indexes for different query types. Moreover, we design and implement the query transformation from XML query statements to SQL statements. Also, we create a user-friendly interface for users to input XML query statements. The whole system is implemented in JAVA and SQL Server 2000. From our experiences, we show that our indexing strategies can improve the XML query processing performance very well.

In the past decade, the number of universities and colleges grew rapidly. The nature of the advanced education has also changed substantially. The change of the elite education into the democratic education could remove the pressure for students to enter a higher and more prestigious educational institute, but it causes the financial problems on the government and also the deterioration of educational quality. It leads to the dispute about distribution and application of university¡¦s resources, promotion of the university¡¦s competitiveness and the diversification of advanced education. Due to the fierce competition of the advanced education environment that grows gradually, the performance of operation and management of national universities become more important. This research chose one national technical university as the sample to discuss its performance management system and applied the concept of Balanced Scorecard on the case based on the characteristics of the school, so that it can design an appropriate performance management system, which is exclusively suitable for every different school. This research conducted interviews and distributed questionnaires for a further discussion. After compiling the results from interviews and questionnaires and information gathered from literature review, the main conclusion could be summarized as follows: 1. The current performance management system of the case school is not complete. It could not integrate long-term strategies and the bonus system properly that should be improved. 2. The performance management system of Balanced Scorecard¡¦s framework could fully carry out the strategies of the research case school. It helps promote the cooperation between departments, solve the difficulties the university is facing, and it is efficient to deal with the future changes of the advanced education. 3. The most representative performance measurement indexes of each perspective of the research case school include ¡§the ranking of students joint recruiting¡¨ for customer perspective, ¡§the rate of freshmen¡¦s enrollment¡¨ for financial perspective, and ¡§the satisfaction of in-campus learning environment¡¨ for internal business process perspective. As for the learning and growth perspective, ¡§the willingness of cooperation required for both the ability and position of faculty¡¨ can represent the index. 4. National universities always have distinguishing features, prospect and the projects of middle-long term. Using four perspectives of Balanced Scorecard to establish measuring criterion and standards that can build a well consideration and direction for action-project of competition for school¡¦s strategies. In this study, we found that the four different perspectives can obtain a uniform chance for development by questionnaires from directors of the case school and experts of the universities in south area. From interviewers, we also got the results that the Balanced Scorecard can be used in other national universities. Based on reasonable performance results, the Balanced Scorecard could be applied for all national universities. The conclusion could be a reference for the research case school to apply the Balanced Scorecard on the performance management system in the future, so that when the university encounters the impacts of fast-paced society, it could adopt the appropriate methods and respond in real time. The process and method adopted in this research could also provide the national universities a reference to develop their own perfect performance management system.

ABSTRACT The domestic economic activity has been still in recession for several years. Besides moving outwards, the enterprises gradually decreased predominance in competition and are obliged to try every endeavor to find out any of proper management system. Hoping via applying diversified thinking model and managing skills that could revive the enterprises. Firmly, improve the management performance and promote the competence. The Balanced Scorecard¡]BSC¡^,a new management method, has been presented in such an occasion¡]by Kaplan & Norton in 1990¡^.This management system starts from erecting the company¡¦s vision and mission, further to choose his own strategy. However these strategic targets are planned to form a strategy- map, which consisting of four dimensions. Moreover in each dimension respectively to have various Key Performance Index¡]KPI¡^and those KPI will drive future performance -evaluation-indicators. Precisely speaking that BSC can transform the strategic targets into practical actions. As BSC can link strategy with execution, evaluation and learning to be a feedback loop so that performs to test strategy and adjust it to conform to the variation of external environment. Finally a company, which has applied above system will form a high-performing organization. This case study is based on the biggest domestic integrated stainless steel producer. Reviewing its constructed procedure of introducing the BSC and comparing its actual performance data of before and after applying of BSC system. At the same time, reconfirm by analyzing the outcome of questionnaires & visiting data. Hopefully, to prove applying BSC is an effective way to improve management performance. About this section, first of all, referring to data collection, to collect the questionnaires which are respondent from all of department managers and customers of case company. Secondly, to choose specific top managers of main departments of case company for deep visiting- survey. Finally, to analyze above data and get the following conclusions: 1. There are still some unrevealed problems existing in case company after the analysis of data acquired. 2. There is an only effective way to promote management performance that should be under a combination between monitoring KPI and incentive system. 3. The BSC can promote the management performance indeed. This study can offer a reference for other related steel producer or other enterprises to adopt the BSC in future. Absolutely, to construct such a system could make company act efficiently response against the impacts resulted from the fast variation of external environment and no doubt that could keep the management more flexible and more competent forever. Keywords: Balanced Scorecard Management performance Key performance index