In Taiwan area, the mortality rates at all ages have decreased since the end of World War II, and the life expectancy of people has increased from 62 in 1950's to 75 in 2000, which is an increase of 21%. The mortality improvement of the elderly (i.e. people ages 65 and over) is especially significant, which effects in the rapid population aging in Taiwan area. For example, the proportion of the elderly has increased from 6.14%in 1990 to 8.52% in 2000. On one hand, the prolonged life span for an individual means a longer period of retirement life and thus a larger retirement fund. On the other hand, a longer life for the government is equivalent to a more thorough social system for the elderly. Therefore, a reliable mortality rates projection is essential to both personal financial and social welfare planning. 　　In this study, we have two main objectives: First, we explore some frequent used models, such as Lee-Carter, multivariate regression and principal component methods. We use the data between 1950 to 1995 as the pilot data and 1996 to 2000 as the test data to judge which method has the smallest prediction error. In addition, based on computer simulation, we also evaluate the performance of the estimation methods for the Lee-Carter method. The second part (and the other objective) of this study is to explore the effect of mortality improvement on the pure premium of annuity insurance. In particular, we calculate the pure premium of the annuity under the best model acquired from the first part, and compare those under 1989 TSO and other life tables. We found that the pure premiums under current life tables are under estimated, which may cause the insolvency of insurance companies.

<p>The object of the essay was to investigate the argumentation in the bill, the comments from unions and the authorities, among others and the motions concerning the bill. To analysis this argumentation I have been using feminist theory, specifically Carole Lee Bacchis ”What’s the problem”-aproach. I also used Maud Eduards and Diane Sainsbury to complete my theory. They describe men as the norm of the society and women as deviant. The questions I have been investigating in the texts are</p><p>- What’s the problem?</p><p>- Who or what caused the problem?</p><p>- Who or what is responsible for the problem?</p><p>- Who has the responsibility to change the problem?</p><p>- What problem is not mentioned?</p><p>- Are men mentioned as a gender and a group?</p><p>- Are women mentioned as a gender and a group?</p><p>- How are men and women described?</p><p>The investigation found that the problems that was presented in the theory was very mush present in the text that I investigated. Women are seen as passive and as willingness victims of their employers. Men on the other hand are active and are mentioned as the opposite of these women. The results however varied depending on which text was studied, but the main picture remained the same.</p>

A single-beam acoustic seabed classification system was used to map coral reef environments in the upper Florida Keys, USA, and the Bahamas. The system consisted of two components, both produced by the Quester Tangent Corporation. A QTCView Series V, operating with a 50 kHz sounder, was used for data acquisition, and IMPACT software was used for data processing and classification. First, methodological aspects of system performance were evaluated. Second, the system was applied to the assessment of grouper and snapper habitat. Two methodological properties were explored: transferability (i.e. mapping the same classes at multiple sites) and reproducibility (i.e. surveying one site multiple times). The transferability results showed that a two-class scheme of hard bottom and sediment could be mapped at four sites with overall accuracy ranging from 73% to 86%. The locations of most misclassified echoes had one of two characteristics: a thin sediment veneer overlying hard bottom or within-footprint relief on the order of 0.5 m or greater. Reproducibility experiments showed that consistency of acoustic classes between repeat transects over the same area on different days varied, for the most part, between 50% and 65%. Consistency increased to between 78% and 92% when clustering was limited to two acoustic classes, to between approximately 70% and 100% when only echoes acquired within two degrees of nadir in the pitch direction were used, and to between 81% and 87% when a limited set of features was used for classification. The assessment of grouper and snapper habitat addressed the question whether areas of high fish abundance were associated with characteristic acoustic or geomorphological signatures. The results showed, first, that the hard bottom / sediment classification scheme was a useful first step for stratifying survey areas to increase efficiency of grouper census efforts. Second, an index of acoustic variability complemented the hard bottom / sediment classification by further targeting areas of potential grouper habitat. Finally, five grouper and snapper spawning aggregation sites were all found to have similar associations with drowned shelf edge reefs in the upper Florida Keys.

Many poets write about the earth or even about God using the language of nature. And many poets and contemporary authors concern themselves with the state of the environment. However, the poetry of Wendell Berry, James Still, Li-Young Lee, Mary Oliver, and Charles Wright seems to engage different kinds of questions about how humans creatively respond to the earth. Collectively, their responses seem influenced by their connections with Christianity rather than any specific ecological agenda. In all of their poetry lies a sensibility about how humans should interact with the earth. All five of the poets seem to acknowledge humanity’s place on the earth as important without elevating humanity as the most important organism on the earth. Their work presupposes the existence of God or creator and because of this, engages the questions of being human in light of that Creator rather than as creators of their own environment or as the architecture of imagination. Their work offers an important insight into how we might live in harmony with all environments—agricultural, rural, wild or urban. Their work also suggests a connection between the Christian concept of worship, and a way of living that takes responsibility for human actions within creation. Their poetry recognizes the earth’s value as well as God’s presence and results in praise of both the beauty of creation and Creator.

This thesis is an analytical study of various cadenzas written for the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K.466. As one of the six of his own concertos for which Mozart did not provide an original cadenza, the D minor concerto poses an important challenge to the performer: should she compose or improvise her own cadenza, or should she select one written by someone else? Many composer/pianists active during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries penned cadenzas to this concerto for their own use, and this thesis explores those by August Eberhard Müller, Emanuel Aloys Förster, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, Bedrich Smetana and Paul Badura-Skoda. In addition to these written-out cadenzas, it also discusses improvised cadenzas in the recordings by Robert Levin and Chick Corea. Each composer/pianist’s unique compositional style is illuminated through the study of each cadenza, and consideration of these styles allows multiple views on a single concerto. A discussion of the meaning and history of cadenzas precedes the analytical study, and in conclusion, the author contributes her own cadenza.

This thesis explores the intersections of a Black Power leisure identity, real property ownership, the progression of economic agency and land development through the example of Black resorts, focusing on Azurest North, a summer community in Sag Harbor, New York developed in the 1950s by Azurest Syndicate Incorporated. The project traces the history of real estate syndicates during the mid-twentieth century as a way to circumvent the practices of Jim Crow housing discrimination. Independent mortgage financing and land development especially in the field of resort housing, also points to the emergence of what I call a Black Power leisure identity. This study also seeks to determine how the American pursuit of leisure during the twentieth century forged identity and how real estate property ownership has been used to maintain and secure community and individual identity.

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The experience and history shaped by various political groups in the modern history of Taiwan has left a significant mark in the hearts of the island¡¦s citizens. Ever since the 1990¡¦s, even the KMT, a party that had always regarded China ethnicity as the essence of localization, has gradually altered its insistence towards a less constrained attitude. As a result of this, the difference in national identity and the notion of culture emerges, leading Taiwan into an era of liberated ideas about national identity. Lee Teng Hiu was the first citizen elected president of Rublic of China, Taiwan. He was brought up during the Japanese occupation, but accepted the radical political changes brought by the national government after the war. During his political career, he had experienced colonial, autocratic, authoritative, and democratic government systems. The combination of Japanese, Chinese, and American education during his academic pursuit had opened up his unique perspective of the world. Profoundly influenced by Kitaro Nishita¡¦s topical philosophy, the samurai spirit of Nitobe Inazo, Christian doctrines, and Marxism and Hegel¡¦s logical thinking, Lee found the motivation to authenticate his principles. In fact, the personal biography of Lee himself, is pretty much a representation of the modern history of Taiwan. Because Lee is one of the most influential political elites in the history of Taiwan, his notion of the awareness of Taiwan and his comprehension and treatment of Mainland China also had a profound influence on the people of Taiwan in terms of their memories of history and collective identity. Thus, to understand how this collective identity had developed and transformed throughout the history of Taiwan, it is essential to scrutinize Lee¡¦s awareness of China, and the origin of his learning. This research seeks to discuss the formation of Lee¡¦s concept of identity, whether or not the key of this identity has evolved, and how that sense of identity has roamed. This will be done through the analysis of the Taiwanese social structure during Lee¡¦s upbringing, restoring the Taiwanese society during the Japanese occupation of the Taisho and Showa dynasties, where the origin of his historical perspective on Mainland China came from, and also his concepts and experiences during adulthood. Lastly, the same notion of identity of his contemporaries will be compared in order to comprehend the origin of influence of the identity of Taiwan in Lee. After all, this sense of identity of the political elites will conceptualize, theorize, and the electoral issues will continuously influence the public notion of national identity. Thus, the clarification of the elite¡¦s notion will allow the understanding the identity at a subterranean level.

Leadership behavior theory and practice¡ÐResearch of the case Leadership behavior Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. Abstract Leadship capability is not only inherent, it must be created by leaning and training also. And the leadership should have characteristics, which depends on the surroundings. Basically leadership has three types, which are dictatorship, laissez-faire, democratic. A leader must be responsible for his subordinates, team and superintendents. Excellent morality and advanced knowledge are the requisites for a good leader. The goal of leadship behavior is to prevent the troubles about people and things, then furthermore start his career and make contributions to the peoples. Finally he is to earn the sympathy of the crowd and erect his enterprise. The leadership behavior is show of creative intelligence and skill during solving the problems of ¡§people¡¨ and ¡§matters¡¨. It condenses the moral, wisdom, experience, ability and social relationship of the leader and displays the outstanding enchantment and boldness. It depends on the brain to operate powerfully, make use of main theme, depend on concentrate one¡¦s attention. Leadership is an very important intellect, it needs both theory and applications. In the daily life and the process of dealing the human affairs, people experience the tastes of leading and being lead. However, in the history, it is not difficult to find that some leaders are very prominent and bring happiness to human being, while some are very bad, caused masses in anguish and distressed. The public would justify that he is a success or a failure. Singapore is well known as a ¡§garden city¡¨ as well as a lawful nation. The government is famous for it ¡§being small with strength and being capable with uprightness¡¨. The leader, Lee Kuan Yew is the greatest contributor. Although he is criticized as tyrant, arbitrary, authoritative, he had been always persisting in his idea, not excited by the Western merits, advocacy ¡§Asian Values¡¨ and ¡§Confucianism¡¨ executing his ¡§Eastern authoritarian leadership style¡¨. Under his conduct, Singapore changes from head to feet and is praised as a miracle of ¡§politics and economics¡¨ in the world. Surely, that a country is strong or feeble depends on many aspects but the leader with sapience and characteristics of a statesman plays the main role. As is said, ¡§soldiers moves around their general¡¨, a leader constantly creates environments, then the people become accustomed in the district and go with his action as the leader go along with the timely opportunity, topographical advantage and social harmony. Lee Kuan Yew and his elitist cadres established the stable foundation for burgeoning by means of subjugating, candid, sagacious and practical leading style. We can examine the political leadership manner of Lee Kuan Yew carefully¡HHow he exert the leadership ability to confront challenge, break through predicament, overcome troubles and finally win the victory, shows boldness, intelligent resolution, braveness of a statesman everywhere. Anyway we can learn much more from Lee Kuan Yew.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions un modèle de décroissance (decay) d'un système quantique à plusieurs niveaux appelé le modèle de Friedrichs. Dans un premier travail, nous considérons un couplage d'un kaon avec un environnement décrit par un continuum d'énergie. On montre que les oscillations du kaon entre les états K_1, K_2, leur decay et la violation CP sont bien décrits par ce type de modèle. Ensuite, nous appliquons à ce modèle le formalisme de l'opérateur de temps qui décrit la résonance, c'est-à-dire la probabilité de survie des états instables. Enfin, nous considérons un gaz de Lorentz comme un ensemble de boules de billard avec des collisions élastiques contre des obstacles et un système de sphères dures en dimension 2. Nous étudions la simulation numérique de la dynamique du système et calculons l'augmentation de l'entropie de non-équilibre au cours du temps sous l'effet des collisions et sa relation avec les exposants de Lyapounov positifs.