On July 5, 2015, Greek voters were asked to vote on whether the country should accept the terms of austerity offered by the European Union for bailout from the country’s financial crisis. With a turnout rate of 62.5% overall, 61.3% of Greeks voted “no.” While a majority of voters in every district opposed the bailout’s terms, the margin against the proposed austerity measures ranged from 51.2% in Lakonias to 73.8% in Chanion. This paper explores whether political parties influenced Greek voters’ decisions to accept or reject the EU's budgetary reforms. We first review the literature relevant to that question, focusing on whether party platforms are merely “cheap talk” or instead are salient in determining electoral outcomes. We then test our hypotheses empirically at the voting district level. In this model, our key independent variable is party influence, which is measured by party vote shares in the nationwide election held in January of 2015. The dependent variable is the percentage that voted “no” to austerity in July 2015 in each of Greece’s 56 electoral districts. We also control for average age and the unemployment rate across regions, as well as the fraction of first-time voters in each electoral district. After conducting simple regression analysis, we report evidence that a pro-austerity party (New Democracy) was a significant factor impacting the results of the referendum. This research finding bolsters the claim that parties can shape electoral outcomes on questions decided by an institution of direct democracy.

A research project was undertaken to integrate Ultrasonic Consolitation (UC) and Direct-Write (DW) technologies into a single apparatus to fabricate embedded electrical systems within an ultrasonically consolidated metallic enclosure. Process and design guidelines were developed after performing fundamental research on the operational capabilities of the implemented system. In order to develop such guidelines, numerous tests were performed on both UC and DW. The results from those tests, as well as the design and process guidelines for the fabrication of an embedded touch switch, can be used as a base for future research and experimentation on the UC-DW apparatus. The successful fabrication of an embedded touch switch proves the validity of the described design and process parameters and demonstrates the usefulness of this integration.

Die Möglichkeiten der operativen Rekonstruktion degenerativ veränderter Hüftgelenke sind komplex und vielfältig. Bei den derzeit zur Verfügung stehenden operativen Behandlungsmassnahmen führen die Vor- und Nachteile immer wieder zur Diskussionen und Abwägung der Operationsverfahren. Hierbei stehen sich die rasche postoperative Mobilisierung sowie eine verminderte Rekonvaleszenzzeit mit den diskutierten Nachteilen einer schlechteren Übersichtlichkeit und damit verbundenen Fehlimplantationen gegenüber. Dies und die damit verbundene volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung sind ein ständiger Ausgangspunkt für das Bemühen den optimalen Zugangsweg zu etablieren. Daher stellte das von Smith-Peterson 1949 publizierte Verfahren einen Meilenstein in der operativen Therapie dar. Hierdurch konnten zum einen die operationstechnischen Vorteile wie auch das volkswirtschaftliche Begehren nach kürzeren postoperativen Verweildauern vereint werden. Die Modifizierung dieses Zugangsweges hat sich bereits in einer großen Anzahl prospektiver Studien als zuverlässiges Rekonstruktionsverfahren etabliert und erfüllt zudem auch die Anforderungen der heutigen Medizin nach ästhetisch schönen Ergebnissen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde eine prospektive Fallstudie des direkten anterioren Zugangs mit einem gesunden Vergleichskollektiv durchgeführt. Mit dem Ziel, die Aktivität ein Jahr postoperativ nach Implantation einer HTEP mit gesunden Probanden zu vergleichen. Von Januar 2009 bis Mai 2011 wurden insgesamt 77 Patienten und 59 Probanden in die Studie aufgenommen. Als Vergleichswerte wurde zum einen die klinische wie auch die radiologische Untersuchung herangezogen. In der klinischen Untersuchung zeigte sich insgesamt ein signifikanter Anstieg der untersuchten Scores im Vergleich mit den präoperativen Ergebnissen bei den Operierten. Im Vergleich zu den Probanden erzielen die Patienten ein Jahr nach HTEP teilweise noch schlechtere Werte in dem Bewegungsumfang und den Aktivitätsniveaus welche mittels der Auswertung des Stepwatches, des TWB und des Arzt-Patienten-Fragebogens erhoben wurden. Die radiologische Bewertung diente zur Feststellung der Positionierung der HTEP. Mit guten Positionierungen durch den direkten anterioren Zugang. Die Bewertung der Funktionalität zwischen den beiden Gruppen erfolgte durch den HHS, XSFMA- D und den Arzt-Patientenfragenbogen. Hierbei konnten ähnliche Ergebnisse, wie bereits oben beschrieben, verzeichnet werden mit guten Werten in der Gruppe der untersuchten Patienten, jedoch einer geringeren Funktionalität im Vergleich zu den Probanden. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt, dass der direkte anteriore Zugang die Wiederherstellung eines guten postoperativen Gesundheitszustandes mit erreichen eines hohen postoperativen Aktivitätslevels der Patienten ermöglicht. Ebenso erfüllt dieser Zugangsweg die Anforderungen der heutigen Medizin im Sinne einer schnellen postoperativen Mobilisation. Im Vergleich zu anderen minimal-invasiven Verfahren zeigen sich eine gute Implantierbarkeit, eine gute Positionierung und ein niedriges Komplikationsniveau. Prinzipiell hat der minimal-invasive anteriore Zugang das Potenzial sich als ein Standardverfahren in der operativen Rekonstruktion bei Hüftgelenksersatz zu etablieren, jedoch wäre ein direkter Vergleich mit dem lateralen Zugang erstrebenswert und sollte in weiteren Studien verglichen werden. / Background: The aim of this prospectve study was to evaluate the clinical results one year after total hip arthroplasty performed through a minimally invasive direct anterior approach versus a healthy volunteer group. Methods: 77 patients and 59 probands have been evaltuated applying the Stepwatch activity monitor (SAM), the Harris hip score (HHS), the SF 36, a daliy activity questionnaire (DAQ) and the XSFMA. Results: The average SAM showed significant differences of 5658 steps (patients) compared to 6417 steps (proband) (p=0,011). The same routcome can be seen in the DAQ with 4226 (patients) and 4686 (proband) cycles (p=0,327) respectively. No significant difference occured by using the average HHS reflecting an equal outcome of 90,7 points in the patient group compared to 90.8 points in the proband group (p=0,022). In contrast tot he afore-mentioned HHS, was a significant increase of the XSFMA reported with 10,9 (patients) and 5.0 (proband) (p=0,001). The SF -36 physical component scores were 45.8 (patients) and 50.6 (proband) while the psychometric properties added up to 56.6 (patients) and 55.9 (proband). While the physical component scores (p=0,001) showed a significant difference this couldnt be observed for the psychometric properties (p=0,511). Conclusion: In our study, good results have been obtained after the first year of the total hip arthroplasty, however these are not as beneficial as the outcomes in the healthy volunteer group.

Renewable energy-hydrogen systems for remote area power supply (RAPS) constitute an early niche market for sustainable hydrogen energy. The primary objective of this research has been to investigate the possibility of direct coupling of a PV array to a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser by appropriate matching of the current-voltage characteristics of both the components. The degree to which optimal matching can be achieved by direct coupling has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. A procedure for matching the maximum power point output of a PV array with the PEM electrolyser load to maximise the energy transfer between them has been presented. The key element of the matching strategy proposed is to vary the series-parallel stacking of individual cells in both the PV array and the PEM electrolyser so that the characteristic current (I) -voltage (V) curves of both the components align as closely as possible. This procedure is applied to a case study of direct coupling a PV array comprising 75 W panels (BP275) to a PEM electrolyser bank assembled from 50 W PEM electrolyser stacks (h-tec StaXX7). It was estimated theoretically that the optimal PV-electrolyser combination would yield an energy transfer of over 94% of the theoretical maximum on annual basis. This combination also gave the lowest hydrogen production cost on a lifecycle basis. An experimental test of this theoretical result for direct coupling was conducted over a period of 728 hours, with an effective direct-coupling operational time of about 467 hours (omitting the hours of zero solar radiation). Close agreement between the theoretically predicted and actual energy transfer from the PV array to the electrolyser bank in this trial was found. The difference between theoretical and experimental hydrogen production was less then 1.2%. The overall solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency was found to be 7.8%. The electrolysers were characterised before and after the direct coupling experiment, and showed a small decline in Faraday efficiency and energy efficiency. But this decline was less than the uncertainties in the measured values, so that no firm conclusions about electrolyser degradation can be drawn at this stage. Another direct-coupling experiment, using a larger scale PV-electrolyser system, that is, a 2.4 kW PV array at RMIT connected to the 'Oreion Alpha 1' stand-alone 2 kW PEM electrolyser developed by the CSIRO Energy Technology, was also successfully conducted for a period of 1519 hours (with 941 hours of effective operational time of the electrolyser). Energy-efficient direct coupling of a PV array and electrolyser as examined in this thesis promises to improve the economic viability of solar-hydrogen systems for remote power supply since the costs of an electronic coupling system employing a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) and dc-to-dc converter (around US$ 700/ kW) are avoided.

This work extends recent research in the development of a number of direct search methods in nonlinear integer programming. The various algorithms use an extension of the well-known FORTRAN MINOS code of Murtagh and Saunders as a starting point. MINOS is capable of solving quite large problems in which the objective function is nonlinear and the constraints linear. The original MINOS code has been extended in various ways by Murtagh, Saunders and co-workers since the original 1978 landmark paper. Extensions have dealt with methods to handle both nonlinear constraints, most notably MINOS/AUGMENTED and integer requirements on a subset of the variables(MINTO). The starting point for the present thesis is the MINTO code of Murtagh. MINTO is a direct descendant of MINOS in that it extends the capabilities to general nonlinear constraints and integer restrictions. The overriding goal for the work described in this thesis is to obtain a good integer-feasible or near-integer-feasible solution to the general NLIP problem while trying to avoid or at least minimize the use of the ubiquitous branch-and-bound techniques. In general, we assume a small number of nonlinearities and a small number of integer variables.Some initial ideas motivating the present work are summarised in an invited paper presented by Murtagh at the 1989 CTAC (Computational Techniques and Applications) conference in Brisbane, Australia. The approach discussed there was to start a direct search procedure at the solution of the continuous relaxation of a nonlinear mixed-integer problem by first removing integer variables from the simplex basis, then adjusting integer-infeasible superbasic variables, and finally checking for local optimality by trial unit steps in the integers. This may be followed by a reoptimization with the latest point as the starting point, but integer variables held fixed. We describe ideas for the further development of Murtagh’s direct search method. Both the old and new approaches aim to attain an integer-feasible solution from an initially relaxed (continuous) solution. Techniques such as branch-and-bound or Scarf’s neighbourhood search [84] may then be used to obtain a locally optimal solution. The present range of direct search methods differs significantly to that described by Murtagh, both in heuristics used and major and minor steps of the procedures. Chapter 5 summarizes Murtagh’s original approach while Chapter 6 describes the new methods in detail.Afeature of the new approach is that some degree of user-interaction (MINTO/INTERACTIVE) has been provided, so that a skilled user can "drive" the solution towards optimality if this is desired. Alternatively the code can still be run in "automatic" mode, where one of five available direct search methods may be specified in the customary SPECS file. A selection of nonlinear integer programming problems taken from the literature has been solved and the results are presented here in the latter chapters. Further, anewcommunications network topology and allocation model devised by Berry and Sugden has been successfully solved by the direct search methods presented herein. The results are discussed in Chapter 14, where the approach is compared with the branch-and-bound heuristic.

This Study examines some cross-cultural differences in conveying good and bad news in Australian English and Vietnamese. Three major aspects are taken into consideration: address forms, modality, and directness-indirectness. Theoretical issues are raised and discussed, and questionnaire data collected and analysed. Chapter I shows why it is important and necessary to study crosscultural differences and sets up the aims of the study. Chapter II deals with address forms in general and the use of address forms in conveying good and bad news in the Australian and Vietnamese cultural contexts in particular..The similarities and differences between the two systems are also discussed. Chapter III dwells on modality and its devices: modals, modality markers, subjunctive mood (in English) and lexico-modal operators for subjunctive mood (in Vietnamese). The use of these devices in communicating good and bad news in the two cultures is discussed in detail. Chapter IV is concerned theoretically with directness-indirectness, and the relationship between indirectness and politeness. How directness and in-directness are actually used to convey good and bad news in Australian and Vietnamese cultures is also analysed. Chapter V concludes the Study and suggests implications for ELT.

One of the most interesting developments in recent psychological theorising has been a growing appreciation of the need for a viable theory of mental causation. Hitherto, the prospects for reconciling what seems to be the uniquely rational character of human thought and action with the non-rational mechanistic workings of the natural world have appeared to be limited or even illusory, and the pursuit of reconciliation of this sort has therefore formerly been dismissed as being either impossible of completion or inappropriate for contemplation. Much of the scepticism concerning the role of causal processes in human thought and action was dispelled, however, by the philosopher Donald Davidson, who argues that not only is human action capable of being caused by the actor�s thoughts and desires, but that only when such action is so caused, can it be rational. Davidson�s proposal for the reconciliation of human rationality with causal necessitation is articulated in his theory of Anomalous Monism. According to this theory, there exists what may be termed an ontological-conceptual distinction between events themselves and the characters or properties that are attributed to events by human observers, and it is through recognition of this distinction that one discovers how mental events, that is, events that are amenable to description in the psychological vocabulary, are causally efficacious yet free from the constraints typically associated with the necessity and sufficiency of causal laws. Anomalous Monism, if it were workable, would therefore resolve the paradox according to which human mentality is at once integrated in, and yet unconstrained by, the mechanistic natural world, by demonstrating the compatibility of the facts of causation with the intuitions of folk psychology. However, close examination of Anomalous Monism reveals it to rely on logically flawed anti-realist principles concerning the characters of events, properties and causation. It follows from this that the theory itself must be rejected, but the task that it was devised to undertake, the formulation of a viable theory of mental causation, need not be similarly discarded. Rather, what remains is the challenge of delineating an alternative theory, one that withstands logical scrutiny whilst addressing what is characteristic of human mental processes, and thereby what is characteristic of mental causation. The theory of Direct Realism that is derived from the broader philosophical realism of John Anderson provides the materials for meeting this challenge. According to Direct Realism, mental phenomena are relational situations obtaining between certain organisms (including humans) and their environments. As such, mental phenomena are included in the range of phenomena occurring in the natural world and they are therefore subject to all of its ways of working, including its deterministic mechanisms. The particular challenge that a Direct Realist theory of mental causation faces, that of demonstrating that relational situations can be causal, is revealed upon examination of the character of causation to be unproblematic. Furthermore, the seeming incompatibility between human rationality and natural necessitation is resolved when it is acknowledged that, rather than be an inherent feature of thought and action, logical structure is a characteristic of the natural environment that organisms are at times sensitive to, as revealed by its effects on the characters of their thoughts and actions. Far from being remote or illusory, the prospects for reconciling human mentality with the causal mechanisms of the natural world are discovered in the present thesis to be favourable when a realist approach to the characters of both mental events and causation is adopted.

Synthèses sur le test aléatoire de mémoire RAM. Étude des problèmes liés à la détection des pannes. Modèle de pannes, et calcul des longueurs de séquence de test nécessaire à leur détection. Nouveaux modèles pour le problème des pannes multiples. Méthodologie de diagnostic basée sur les expériences de test aléatoire dont le séquencement est donné sous forme d'algorithme. Cahier des charges d'une machine de test pour mettre en œuvre ces résultats

<p>The world-wide globalisation that has taken place during the past decades has led to more Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) choosing to relocate some parts of their organisation to other countries. China, which is in command of the world’s lowest-cost manufacturing plants, is the first destination for MNEs. Although China presents a great opportunity for MNEs, this investment does not come without its difficulties, MNEs wishing to invest in China are confronted with certain challenges. MNEs are faced with dealing with the notable differences in Western and Chinese business culture. One particular difference is related to intercultural communication between western managers and Chinese managers. The theory of low context and high context cultures states that the Chinese communicate indirectly and Western countries directly.</p><p>The main purpose of this research is to find out if the Chinese manager, after obtaining experience negotiating with foreign managers from low context cultures, adopts a more direct communication style. The purpose of this research is to answer the following question:</p><p>Does the Chinese manager have a preference for direct or indirect communication when negotiating with foreign managers?</p><p>The following hypotheses were stated:</p><p>Ho: Chinese managers prefer direct communication during business negotiations with foreign managers.</p><p>Ha: Chinese managers prefer indirect communication during business negotiations with foreign managers</p><p>A quantitative method with a positivistic epistemology was used for the research. Quantitative research is an exploratory study with a deductive approach and therefore the most appropriate method for this research was a survey. A survey was chosen for data collection and a questionnaire based on the research model was developed and used as the survey instrument to collect data from the target group.</p><p>The target group was stated as Chinese managers with at least three years work experience, fluent in English and with experience in negotiations with managers from cultures considered as low-context cultures such as Germany, Sweden and the United States of America.</p><p>The target group was selected from the MBA programs at Fudan University.</p><p>The SPSS program was utilised to analyse the responses and to test the hypothesis. Numeric values were assigned to each of the responses, with 5 being the most direct and 1 being the most indirect. The scale was appropriately reversed for negative questions.</p><p>Descriptive statistics were obtained about distribution, variability and central tendency of the variables. t tests were applied to compare group means. Furthermore, a regression analysis was conducted to estimate a linear relationship between direct communication and the lack of miscommunication showed by the descriptive test. All tests were conducted at a 95% confidence level.</p><p>The result of the hypothesis test indicated that Chinese managers have preference towards direct communication when conducting business negotiations with foreign managers.</p>

<p>In this thesis work, a design of RF down-conversion mixer for WLAN standard, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is presented. The target technology is 0.35um CMOS process. Several mixer topologies are analyzed and simulated at the schematic level using the Cadence Spectre-RF software. The active double balanced mixer is chosen for the ultimate implementation. For this mixer simulation results from schematic level to layout level are presented and discussed in detail. </p><p>To build an RF front-end, the complete mixer is integrated with an available LNA block. The performance of the front-end is evaluated as well. The obtained simulation results satisfy the specification for Wi-Fi standard. </p><p>Since the RF front-end is designed for testability, the fault simulation is incorporated as well. So the performance of the front end is also evaluated for so called “spot defects”, typical of CMOS technology. They are modeled using resistive shorts or opens in the circuit.</p>