This research investigates e-Business strategy for logistics service providers in Taiwan. In order to realize the IT using conditions of the domestic logistics providers, the research use case study research method. After cases analyzing, this research gives some suggestions on e-Business strategy for domestic logistics providers. Focusing on four cases, this research studies on the processes of domestic logistics providers IT implementation and the IT using conditions. And we probe into the four cases on their IT implementation, such as how to plan and how to construct, and therefore, we can realize how the distribution centers use IT to improve its own core competence (integration and agility). From the viewpoint of logistics core competence, the research studies on e-Business strategy. The findings of this study indicated that distribution centers should implement IT with a step-by-step method and accept aids from the government and the academic circles. As for the direction of e-business plan, domestic logistics providers should focus on how to improve the core competence (integration and agility) whit IT. And thus, in order to increase integration, the connection of internal or between companies should be the distribution centers planning key point. As to strengthen the ability, providing real-time business information and modulizing the logistics business activities would be main targets of the e-Logistics. And besides, improving business process is one of the methods to improving core competence. This research suggests that in order to achieve the final goal of improving business process, the distribution centers should be the supply chain middleware and provide one-stop services.

In this thesis, the problem of spectrum sensing in cognitive radio communication networks is considered. This thesis has developed a robust decision fusion scheme that can perform well when the interference caused by other PUs is present. Specifically, the proposed detection scheme is based on fusing the local decisions from energy detectors (EDs) and cyclostationarity- based detectors (CDs). Our proposed fusion scheme is different from other power spectrum sensing technology being developed so far in that other fusion technology are based on fusing the local decisions from the same type of detectors. Our proposed fusion scheme can take the advantage of both EDs and CDs. We compare the proposed scheme with the schemes fusing the same type of detectors, and the results confirm that the proposed scheme is more robust against the possible interference.

Die Kommunikation mit den Kunden und insbesondere die Kundenberatung sind in Zeiten permanent hohen Drucks am Markt durch Mitbewerber wichtiges Marketinginstrument, mit dem die Kunden möglichst dauerhaft an das eigene Unternehmen gebunden werden können. Auslöser für die vorliegende Arbeit war die Idee zur Realisierung einer Kundenberatung mittels Videokonferenzsystemen im Jahr 2000 im Zusammenhang mit dem durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderte Forschungsprojekt „intermobil Region Dresden“. Durch diese Implementierung sollten Internet-Informations- und Vertriebssysteme durch eine Funktion der Individualberatung ergänzt werden und damit ein persönliches Beratungsgespräch möglichst realitätsnah abbilden. Da im B2C-Bereich die Echtzeitberatung über das Internet eine bis jetzt weitgehend ungenutzte Beratungsform ist, obwohl die dafür notwendigen Technologien schon seit Jahren zur Verfügung stehen, verspricht eine wissenschaftliche Untersuchung dieses Gegenstandes neuen Erkenntnisgewinn und ist gleichzeitig wichtigste Motivation für diese Arbeit. Hauptziel und somit grundlegende wissenschaftliche Fragestellung ist es zu untersuchen, ob synchrone Videokommunikation ein geeignetes Echtzeit-Beratungsmittel für die Kundenberatung (in diesem Zusammenhang als Videoberatung bezeichnet) sein kann. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden über die Planung eines Video Call Centers und den damit verbundenen Modellbetrachtungen Einsatzszenarios für die Videoberatung entwickelt. In diese Entwicklung fließen die Ergebnisse aus der Einzelfallanalyse des implementierten Videoberatungssystems ein. Diese Ergebnisse werden auf Basis der durchgeführten Labor- und Feldforschung gewonnen. Die Wirksamkeit des analysierten Video Call Centers in Bezug auf die Kundenzufriedenheit wird abschließend durch eine Evaluation unterstrichen.

Place branding originates from the original term branding and attempts to brand a place instead of a product. Current place branding theories are blurry and many theories have occurred, which has caused confusion among the research community. Place branding theories have mainly focused on branding tourismdestinations, countries, cities and places and not on branding city centers. This study aims to explore the place branding components that are essential when branding city centers and create an adapted model for city centers.Purpose:The purpose is to explore how the place branding components can be applied to city centers.Research questions:RQ1: How can place branding be used in order to brand city centers?RQ2: What components of place branding are essential when branding a city center?Methodology:Qualitative approach, cross-sectionalstudy, semi-structured interviews.Conclusion:The new model suitable to apply on city centers is named City center branding model and includes the following components: City center people, City center identity, City center infrastructure, City center stakeholders and supply, City center communication, City center experience and City center evaluation. Key words:Place branding, city center branding, City center people, City center identity, City center infrastructure, City center stakeholders and supply, City center communication, City center experience and City center evaluation.

Följande C-uppsats är skriven vid Företagsekonomiska institutionen vid Uppsala universitet och omfattar 15 högskolepoäng. Studien behandlar motivering av olika komponenter av assessment center i rekryteringsprocessen för företag inom IT- och managementkonsultbranschen. Detta sker genom en studie av fem företag, där företagen inom nämnd sektor studerats utifrån en referensram innehållande teorier inom organisationskultur, kompetensbaserad rekrytering, samt assessment center. Dessa teorier kombinerades sedan till en enhetlig analysmodell av cykliskt format. Syftet med undersökningen har varit att analysera varför och hur ett företag väljer sina komponenter i rekryteringsprocessen  och vad för effekter dessa har på organisationskulturen. För att skapa en bred och balanserad empirisk bas har både representanter från rekrytering samt nyanställda på företagen intervjuats. De slutsatser som kunnat dras är att skillnaden i rekryteringsprocessen delvis beror på företagens storlek och tillgängliga resurser, subjektiva faktorer såsom upplevd effektivitet, samt tradition och tidigare erfarenheter. Hur effektiv rekryteringsprocessen beror på ett antal faktorer och deras komplexitet, samt att rätt kandidater attraheras till företaget.

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Asina nos criaron': Contesting the Narratives and Claiming Space in the Atomic Age: 1912-1955 examines how the establishment of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories (LASL), on the Pajarito Plateau, affected ethnic Spanish-speaking residents of the adjacent Pojoaque Valley. This thesis traces the long-standing history of a rural population who resided in the Pojoaque Valley, generally considered to be vacant land prior to LASL. Although this work focuses mostly on the 1940s, it also outlines the shifts in land ownership. Additionally, this thesis traces the physical changes and cultural negotiations that allowed these long time residents to remain on their land. It is argued that the imposition of LASL's social and economic hierarchies altered the Pojoaque valley's traditional intracultural relationships, which led to the subjugation of the area's ethnic Spanish-speaking nuevomexicanos. As a result, this population resorted to altering its ethnic identity in order to combat the racism introduced and enforced by LASL.

During a T-dependent immune response, activated B cells enter structures called germinal centers (GC) in the follicles of secondary lymphoid organs. GC B cells proliferate and undergo diversification of their Ig through somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination. These Ig diversifications require the activity of the enzyme activation-induced deaminase (AID). Clonal selection within GCs selects GC B cells with the highest affinities for antigen to mature into plasma cells and memory B cells. GCs are underpinned by stromal cells called follicular dendritic cells (FDC). FDC functions include secretion of B cell chemokines and the retention of Ag complexes that allow GC B cells to test the affinity of their Ig. FDCs require constitutive signaling through lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTβR) from lymphotoxin alpha-beta (LTαβ) on the surface of B cells to maintain their functions. In these studies, I investigated the properties of GCs using two primary experimental models. First, I employed genetic and pharmacological ablation of LTβR signaling to investigate the expression of AID and the function of GCs in the absence of FDCs. I determined that FDCs are not required for GC formation or the expression of AID in lymph nodes, but that FDCs are crucial for affinity maturation. Second, I examined the competition between AID-/- and WT B cells in the GCs of mixed BM chimeras to investigate the role of affinity maturation during clonal selection. I found that AID increases GC B cell apoptosis, likely by inducing DNA damage, and that this is important in regulating GC size. I also found that AID-/- B cells accumulate at the centrocyte stage of the GC reaction and that this is due to a partial block in plasma cell maturation.

The hip joint center (HJC) is needed for calculation of hip kinematics in various applications. In the functional method, the center is determined by moving femur with respect to acetabulum. A popular way for measuring this movement is through an optical motion capture system. This method is fast and economical for most applications where we require an instant HJC even though the reconstruction error in bone position calculation exists due to skin artifact. This error is caused by movement of markers placed on skin rather than on actual bone. Here we introduce ultrasound imaging as an additional modality to measure the change in soft tissue thickness above bone while hip is flexed. We use this information on the tissue thickness change to recalculate position of markers placed on skin to match the movement of bone. A good advantage of using ultrasound machine is its non-invasiveness. We calculated HJC using a symmetric center of rotation estimation (SCoRE) algorithm, which uses the concept of coordinate transformation on 3D marker position data. The algorithm gives the 3D position of two centers, one for each hip bone. The distance between these two centers (SCoRE residual) gives us a hint on the accuracy of the HJC calculation and has been proved to be proportional to the error with respect to actual center in previous studies. These two centers should ideally coincide as they collectively form a spherical joint. Our new algorithm for HJC calculation with tissue thickness compensation, measured using ultrasound imaging shows the error has been reduced from 9.13 mm to 4.87 mm

Real-time estimates of weight and mass center location for helicopters are desirable for flight control and condition-based maintenance purposes. While methods to estimate mass parameters of helicopters have been developed, they often assume near-perfect knowledge of helicopter dynamics and have been validated only through simulated measurement data. The work described here aims to experimentally validate a method for weight and mass center estimation using an ALIGN T-REX 600e R/C helicopter. The estimation algorithm utilizes an extended Kalman filter (EKF) which estimates the helicopter states along with the weight and mass center location in real-time. Nonlinear system identification is performed using maximum likelihood estimation to create an accurate dynamic model for use in the EKF. Results show that given a reasonably accurate dynamic model, weight, stationline mass center location, and buttline mass center location can be reliably estimated in non-descending flight conditions. Weight estimation is shown to be robust to sudden weight changes during flight, whereas stationline and buttline mass center estimates are marginally robust to sudden shifts in the mass center location. Waterline mass center proved to be unobservable for the axial flight maneuvers conducted. Detailed flight test studies characterize estimation error in weight and three-dimensional mass center position using the EKF formulation.