The website, Plastic Jungle, is taking advantage of the rapidly growing gift card phenomena by creating a secondary market that enables consumers to buy, sell, and exchange gift cards online at a discount. This paper examines the relationship between this secondary gift card market and the corporate bankruptcy risk of companies with gift cards listed on the market. When a company issues a gift card, the card is unsecured debt and the cardholder becomes an unsecured creditor to the company. This paper investigates whether the cardholder acts similarly to other unsecured creditors or as someone who is merely holding another form of cash. As was expected, this paper finds evidence indicating the spot price on the gift card is correlated to some forms of bankruptcy risk. Specifically, the gift cardholders act like unsecured creditors in terms of excess stock returns, CDS price, and the idiosyncratic risk of companies.

More and more researchers combine biometrics with passwords and smart cards to design remote authentication schemes for the purpose of high-degree security. However, in most of these authentication schemes proposed in the literatures so far, biometric characteristics are verified in the smart cards only, not in the remote servers, during the authentication processes. Although this kind of design can prevent the biometric data of the users from being known to the servers, it will result in that they are not real three-factor authentication schemes and therefore some security flaws may occur since the remote servers do not indeed verify the security factor of biometrics. In this thesis we propose a truly three-factor remote authentication scheme where all of the three security factors, passwords, smart cards, and biometric characteristics, are examined in the remote servers. Especially, the proposed scheme fully preserves the privacy of the biometric data of every user, that is, the scheme does not reveal the biometric data to anyone else, including the remote servers. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that the proposed scheme is immune to both the replay attacks and the offline-dictionary attacks and it achieves the requirement of low-computation cost for smart-card users. Finally, we give a formal analysis based on the GNY logic to prove that our goals are achieved.

This goal of this project is to develop a set of business rules to mitigate risk related to a specific financial decision within the prepaid debit card industry. Under certain circumstances issuers of prepaid debit cards may need to decide if funds on hold can be released early for use by card holders prior to the final transaction settlement. After a brief introduction to the prepaid card industry and the financial risk associated with the early release of funds on hold, the paper presents the motivation to apply the CART (Classification and Regression Trees) method. The paper provides a tutorial of the CART algorithms formally developed by Breiman, Friedman, Olshen and Stone in the monograph Classification and Regression Trees (1984), as well as, a detailed explanation of the R programming code to implement the RPART function. (Therneau 2010) Special attention is given to parameter selection and the process of finding an optimal solution that balances complexity against predictive classification accuracy when measured against an independent data set through a cross validation process. Lastly, the paper presents an analysis of the financial risk mitigation based on the resulting business rules. / text

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Within the growing field of surveillance studies, national identity cards and related issues have become an important research topic. Most research in this field, however, does not consider the role of media in the development of surveillance. This research examines the history of mediated public debates about identity cards in the U.K. In the U.K, since the Identity Cards Bill 2004, National Identity cards have been widely debated across the British national newspapers once again after several heated historical debates in WWI, WWII, and the 1990s. It is this thesis s purpose to analyze the role of the British national newspapers in generating support and resistance in the development of British national identity cards in the past one hundred years, respectively in 1915, 1919, 1939, 1951, and from 1994 to 2008. This thesis also seeks to find out the continuities and changes in the way British national newspapers influence the repeated introduction and withdrawal of identity cards over time. Specifically, by employing the methods of content and frame analysis, the thesis examines the actors involved in the mediated debate of British national identity cards, their argumentation, the frames underlying the argumentation and the themes appeared in the debates, in order to find out to what extent the British print media supported or opposed the identity cards over time.

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Η Ηλεκτρονική Διακυβέρνηση (e-government), με τη συνεχή αύξηση της σπουδαιότητας της, απλώνεται σε όλες τις βαθμίδες της δημόσιας διοίκησης, τόσο σε Εθνικό όσο και σε Ευρωπαϊκό επίπεδο. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση έχει προσδώσει βαρύνουσα σημασία στην εφαρμογή υποδομών αλλά και εφαρμογών Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης, σαν μέσο αναβάθμισης της ποιότητας των υπηρεσιών που παρέχουν οι δημόσιοι οργανισμοί στον πολίτη και τις επιχειρήσεις. Επιπλέον, η νέα αυτή τάση υπόσχεται μια μοντέρνα, αξιόπιστη και ανοικτή λύση η οποία θα συμβάλει στην γενικότερη αναδιάρθρωση της διοίκησης σε όλα τα επίπεδα. Για τον καθορισμό των κατευθύνσεων και των προδιαγραφών των συστημάτων Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης, διαμορφώθηκε το πλαίσιο eEurope, το οποίο εξειδικεύει τις αποφάσεις της στρατηγικής της Λισσαβόνας για την ανάπτυξη των τεχνολογιών Πληροφορικής και Επικοινωνιών (ΤΠΕ), με σκοπό να καταστεί η Ευρώπη η πιο ανταγωνιστική και βασισμένη στη γνώση οικονομία, στοχεύοντας παράλληλα στην ανάπτυξη και την κοινωνική συνοχή. Στη παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία περιγράφονται οι βασικές αρχές της Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης, το πλαίσιο μέσα από το οποίο εφαρμόζεται μέχρι σήμερα καθώς και ποιες είναι οι νέες τάσεις και προκλήσεις στο χώρο αυτό (Κεφ. 1 και 2). Στη συνέχεια, αναλύεται λεπτομερώς ένας από τους σημαντικότερους χώρους εφαρμογής της Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης, η Ηλεκτρονική Ψηφοφορία. Συγκεκριμένα, προτείνεται ένα μοντέλο ασφαλούς ηλεκτρονικής ψηφοφορίας (evoting) με τη χρήση της τεχνολογίας των έξυπνων καρτών (smart cards). Η τεχνολογία των έξυπνων καρτών διασφαλίζει το απαιτούμενο επίπεδο ασφάλειας που απαιτείται σε τέτοιου είδους συστήματα, στα οποία η διακινούμενη πληροφορία πολλές φορές αφορά ευαίσθητα και προσωπικά δεδομένα (Κεφ. 3). Τέλος, παρουσιάζεται μια πιλοτική εφαρμογή ηλεκτρονικής ψηφοφορίας, η οποία χρησιμοποιείται σε ένα αντιπροσωπευτικό δείγμα «ψηφοφόρων». Οι απαντήσεις της «ψηφοφορίας» αποτελούν τα τελικά δεδομένα – αποτελέσματα τα οποία αναλύονται τόσο ποσοτικά όσο και ποιοτικά (Κεφ. 4). Από τα δεδομένα αυτά, προκύπτουν τα τελικά συμπεράσματα όσον αφορά την εξοικείωση των πολιτών για θέματα Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης (Κεφ. 5). / -

Phonological awareness is a set of language manipulation skills such as blending, rhyme, alliteration production and detection. There are disagreements among researchers how phonological awareness is connected to literacy learning and also how and if children with Down syndrome acquire phonological awareness. The specific phenotype of Down syndrome shows deficits in both short term memory and language development. It is therefore of great concern to investigate how children with Down syndrome acquire phonological awareness and later on literacy. The PhonicStick is a joystick that generates speech sounds. In this study, the PhonicStick was used in phonological awareness intervention in children with Down syndrome. It was compared to intervention with Praxis cards – an already existing picture material in Swedish speech and language therapy. The aim of the study was to investigate if children with Down syndrome can improve phonological awareness during a six week period, and if this was the case, was there a difference in effectiveness between the materials. Six children with Down syndrome participated in this cross-over study. The results indicated that some children can acquire phonological awareness during a six week period. However, it was not possible to address the effectiveness to a certain material. The preference among the children to play with PhonicStick, showed that this is a material that motivates the children to participate in intervention. If the PhonicStick is adapted to this population of children with Down syndrome, this material can be used for phonological awareness intervention in children with Down syndrome.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama Lietuvoje veikiančių komercinių bankų elektroninės bankininkystės paslaugos 2006 – 2010 m. laikotarpiu. Pirmoje darbo dalyje pateikiami teoriniai elektroninės bankininkystės aspektai. Antroje darbo dalyje atlikta elektroninės bankininkystės paslaugų analizė: nustatyta, jog bankų pajamų iš elektroninės bankininkystės paslaugų rodikliai buvo pasiskirstę gana netolygiai; elektroninės bankininkystės vartotojų skaičius visuose bankuose didėja. Negrynųjų pinigų atsiskaitymus palyginus su grynųjų pinigų atsiskaitymais nustatyta, jog negrynieji pinigai labiausiai yra naudojami didelės sumos operacijoms atlikti. Atlikus mokėjimo kortelių operacijų įvertinimą nustatyta, jog Lietuvos vartotojai 2006 – 2010 m. buvo linkę atsiskaitinėti grynaisiais pinigais, tačiau ši tendencija ateityje turėtų pasikeisti. Koreliacinės – regresinės analizės metu nustatyta, jog negrynųjų pinigų atsiskaitymų ryšys su grynųjų pinigų atsiskaitymais yra atvirkštinis, o negrynųjų pinigų atsiskaitymų ir šalies BVP – tiesioginis. Atlikus elektroninės bankininkystės perspektyvų vertinimą, nustatyta, jog elektroninė bankininkystė Lietuvoje ir toliau plėsis. / Bachelor final work examines e-banking services of the commercial banks operating in Lithuania, for the period of year 2006 – 2010. The first part presents the theoretical aspects of electronic banking. The second part of the work presents the carried out analysis of electronic banking services: the figures of established banking income from electronic banking services were quite unevenly distributed; the number of users of electronic banking is increasing for all banks. Non-cash payments were compared to the cash payments, which showed that most non-cash money is used for transactions of large sums of money. The evaluation of payment card operations showed that residents of Lithuania in period of year 2006 – 2010 tended to pay with cash, but this trend should change in the future. The correlation – regression analysis showed that there is inverse relation between non-cash payments and cash payments and direct relation between non-cash payments and Lithuanian’s GDP. The qualitative assessment of prospects for online banking showed that e-banking in Lithuania continues to grow.

Bakalauro darbe „Koziris“ sukurta drabužių kolekcija kortų simbolių motyvais, atspindinti azartinių žaidimų simboliką, formas ir spalvas. Darbe nagrinėjamas azartinių žaidimų poveikis žmonėms, aiškinamasi, kaip ši tematika reflektuojama įvairiuose meno kūriniuose, o taip pat ir pasaulio aprangos dizainerių kolekcijose. Bakalauro darbą sudaro dvi dalys: teorinis aprašas ir moteriškų drabužių kolekcija. Pirmame teorinio aprašo skyriuje analizuojama azartinių žaidimų istorija, jų kilmė, rūšys, taip pat apžvengiami garsiausi pasaulio kazino, jų etiketas ir aprangos nuostatai. Antrajame skyriuje aptariama informacija apie priklausomybę nuo azartinių žaidimų, jos priežastis ir formas bei visuomenės požiūrį į lošiančiuosius. Trečiajame skyriuje pateikiami įvairių menininkų kūrinių pavyzdžiai, taikomi meninėje ir daiktinėje aplinkoje, taip pat pateikiamos aprangos dizainerių kurtos kolekcijos, susijusios su azartinių žaidimų tematika. Detaliau analizuojamos dizainerių kurtos drabužių kolekcijos, kuriose naudojami tik kortų simboliai. Ketvirtajame - pagrindžiama kūrybinės darbo dalies koncepcija, pateikiami eskizai, projektai, technologiniai mėginiai, aprašomas drabužių kolekcijos kūrimo procesas – konstravimas, modeliavimas, siuvimas. Taip pat pateikiamos įvykdytų drabužių modelių fotografijos ir numatomo kolekcijos pristatymo planas. Penktajame skyriuje aptariamos sukurtos kolekcijos realizavimo galimybės, pateikiama kolekcijos sąmata. Ateityje kolekciją planuojama papildyti ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This bachelor work „trump“ show how can based on games of chance, their symbols, shapes and colors to create a collection. In this work i try to analyzed gambling effects on humans, how this theme is reflected in the various works of art and fashion designers clothes collections. Gambling history, their kinds, and the most famous casinos in the world are analyzed in the first chapter of this work. The second chapter informacion is about gambling addiction and its causes and forms. The third chapter analyzes various artists and examples of works of art, and fashion designers with their collections inspired by the games of chance, 3.3 section presents various collections of clothes based on cards symbols. Presentation of the collection based on play cards symbols given in the fourth chapter. There is also analysis of pecularities of form, texture, symbols and colors in order to interpret it in the clothes collection there is a well-founded idea. Sketches, projects and technological samples are presented. The process of creation of clothes ensemble ( construction, modeling, sewing) is also described. There are photos of accomplished models and the presentation is foreseen. Possibility of realization of created clothes collection is discussed in fifth chapter. It is planned to enrich this collection , present it to society and to take part with it in the fashion events in the future. Information which had been analyzed before to create a collection based on play cards symbols... [to full text]