Current theories of auditory attention are largely based upon studies examining either the presentation of a single auditory stimulus or requiring the identification and labeling of stimuli presented sequentially. Whether or not these theories apply in more complex ecologically-valid environments where multiple sound sources are simultaneously active is still unknown. This study examined the pattern of neuromagnetic responses elicited when participants had to perform a search in an auditory language-based `scene` for a stimulus matching an imperative target held in working memory. The analysis of source waveforms revealed left lateralized patterns of activity that distinguished target present from target absent trials. Similar source waveform amplitudes were found when the target was presented in the left or right hemispace. The results suggest that auditory search for speech sounds engage a left lateralized process in the superior temporal gyrus.

Facing to the competition of global economic market,an enterprise have to get more chance of transaction with customers for the expansion in market,with the more frequent business,the more rich cash transaction will happen between company and company.And an enterprise surely need to have a good cash management system to help the people control the fund flow inside the enterprise,and people can dispatch the fund.We can rapidly and conveniently get the information about transaction by the E-Process and it will help the people to complete their job immediately. However,follow the change in our environment,or the replacement on government policy and the improvement on company strategy,the E-Process might be some flaw now and it create many trouble while a staff is doing jobs.In my research,there is a object to visit all the related people inside or outside the enterprise,in this way,I will collect the demand and suggestion about the cash process now,and find out a plan to solute the questions. The Accounts Payable is a important item in the company,it will appear when business action get into customer or supplier,also employee can get into it.For rapidly handling the Accounts Payable,accountants usually have their own opinion when using the E-Process.By recording the demand from accountants and to produce functions with process reengineering,and finally create a financial E-Process platform by QFD, this can be a reference to the top manager.

With the liberalization of the telecommunications industry, Taiwan has become a broadband networked society. People hope greatly that the current three private fixed network companies will break the telecommunications monopoly and bring new technology. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the existing service provider, Chunghwa Telecom, keeps raising difficulties over the connection of their lines and the regional governments also have many restrictions of the excavation and pipe laying, the service is unavailable in the place where there is no network deployment. Thus the fixed network companies build networks strategically in high-income metropolitan area and industrial park. The related quality management of network building is much significant. A service blueprinting will identify possible fail points and weak links in the service delivery process and then improve service quality. This study of the analysis of the telecommunications network deployment is to explore possible fail points in the process and provide improvement plans through service blueprints. In order to know the results of process improvement, system simulation which can build the original and improved process modes and ARENA process simulation software for simulation and analysis in a variety of conditions will be used. When the related industries establish the perfect service model, this is for their reference.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an optimization model that will provide a deployment plan of emission reduction technologies to reduce emissions from non-road equipment. The focus of the study was on the counties of Texas that have nonattainment (NA) and near-nonattainment (NNA) status. The objective of this research was to develop methodologies that will help to deploy emission reduction technologies for non-road equipment of TxDOT to reduce emissions in a cost effective and optimal manner. Three technologies were considered for deployment in this research, (1) hydrogen enrichment (HE), (2) selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and (3) fuel additive (FA). Combinations of technologies were also considered in the study, i.e. HE with FA, and SCR with FA. Two approaches were investigated in this research. The first approach was "Method 1" in which all the technologies, i.e. FA, HE and SCR were deployed in the NA counties at the first stage. In the second stage the same technologies were deployed in the NNA counties with the remaining budget, if any. The second approach was called "Method 2" in which all the technologies, i.e. FA, HE and SCR were deployed in the NA counties along with deploying only FA in the NNA counties at the first stage. Then with the remaining budget, SCR and HE were deployed in the NNA counties in the second stage. In each of these methods, 2 options were considered, i.e. maximizing NOx reduction with and without fuel economy consideration in the objective function. Thus, the four options investigated each having different mixes of emission reduction technologies include Case 1A: Method 1 with fuel economy consideration; Case 1B: Method 1 without fuel economy consideration; Case 2A: Method 2 with fuel economy consideration; and Case 2B: Method 2 without fuel economy consideration and were programmed with Visual C++ and ILOG CPLEX. These four options were tested for budget amounts ranging from $500 to $1,183,000 and the results obtained show that for a given budget one option representing a mix of technologies often performed better than others. This is conceivable because for a given budget the optimization model selects an affordable option considering the cost of technologies involved while at the same time maximum emission reduction, with and without fuel economy consideration, is achieved. Thus the alternative options described in this study will assist the decision makers to decide about the deployment preference of technologies. For a given budget, the decision maker can obtain the results for total NOx reduction, combined diesel economy and total combined benefit using the four models mentioned above. Based on their requirements and priorities, they can select the desired model and subsequently obtain the required deployment plan for deploying the emission reduction technologies in the NA and NNA counties.

Thanks for the wide application of mobile technology and the incre- asing popularization of wireless networking, a brand new business oper- ation model, which breaks out the limitation of fixed working time and space and brings more real-time and activity to life and work, is therefore brought to enterprises, and has eventually brought up the booming deve- lopment of M-commerce (Mobile Commerce). With the attribute of regard- lessness of location, and the high flexibility and mobility, people can expect that more and more diversified mobile technology applications will be available and popularized in the coming future. However, if corporations only take suggestions from mobile technology providers or consultants, but understood neither what their corporations really need, nor ignored what their users most concerns, expenditure of time and money can be resulted, and no effect can be expected. Therefore, the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) method, with its MRM (Matrix Re- lation Map) tool, is introduced as a valid methodology to help identify users¡¦ requirements, and to sketch the relationships between each step of implementation. This research also adopts ¡§qualitative single case study with multiple units of analysis¡¨ as the basic approach, and the subject of this research is a steel manufacturer. By using QFD to clarify the voice from users of their needs, entprises can realize what the users really want. And by using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) skill to syste- matically transfer customers¡¦ requirements into design considerations, corporations can check if their capabilities can meet those voice from users, and then make practical plans that the entprises should do while implementing mobile environment. Finally, this research had, from the view of end-users, evaluated and consequently proposed a set of functions module and priority, as well as practice suggestions, for implementing mobile environment; The outcome of this research can be used as a basic for advanced study, and be adopted by corporations and industries in all areas.

With the developments in space technology, the capabilities of spacecrafts have been increased considerably which in turn have entailed the development of more efficient spacecrafts in terms of cost, mass, size and power. One way to achieve such a development is the replacement of body mounted appendages with the deployable ones, which greatly reduces the size, mass and cost of the spacecraft especially when large appendages are considered. In order to obtain these deployable structures, deployment mechanisms and deployment mechanism drivers are used. A deployment mechanism is a combination of electrical and/or mechanical structures which hold the appendages in the stowed position before launch and deploys them after the launch with the power and commands supplied by the deployment mechanism driver. This necessary power of the deployment mechanism driver is produced by the Power Stage of the deployment mechanism driver and the necessary commands required by the deployment mechanism are supplied by the Control Stage of the deployment mechanism driver. In this thesis, the power stage of a deployment mechanism driver will be designed and implemented taking into account of the requirements for Low Earth Orbit Satellites such as temperature tolerance, reliability and radiation limits. In order to acquire a cost, mass and size efficient Power Stage, different deployment mechanism topologies will be studied and the most convenient one among these topologies will be chosen as the deployment mechanism driver load and the design will be performed accordingly.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 21, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Glen Cameron. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., 1995-96. / Title from title screen (viewed Nov. 7, 2003). "June 1996." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Research suggests that the deployment cycle is associated with decreased psychological well-being in military spouses, yet not all individuals married to military service members experience psychopathology. It may be that spouses who do not experience reduced well-being possess personal resources, such as positive emotions, that protect them against the stresses of military life. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effect of deployment on the well-being of military spouses and examine whether personal resources protected military spouses and enhanced their wellbeing throughout the deployment cycle. A synthesis of the existing literature was performed in order to determine the direction and magnitude of the effect of deployment on the psychological well-being of military spouses. For the primary analyses, participants were drawn from a convenience sample of military spouses stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Meta-analysis, hierarchical linear regression, and structural equation modeling were used to test study hypotheses. In the first study, a meta-analytic review, deployment was found to have a moderate effect on psychological well-being, such that spouses experienced greater psychological problems during deployment. Two studies were conducted as part of the primary analyses. In the first, positivity was found to moderate the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms during deployment. Specifically, the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms was stronger for spouses with low levels of positivity. Finally, the third study found that adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and resilience completely mediated the relationship between positive emotions and depressive symptoms. Of the three mediators, adaptive coping was found to be the most influential. Together, the results of these three studies illuminate the detrimental effect of deployment on the psychological well-being of military spouses, while providing support for the broaden-and-build theory's proposed roles of positive emotions -- broadening, building, and undoing -- in a unique population. Study limitations, implications for military spouses, and suggestions for future directions in research are discussed.