Sustaining economic growth and prevailing democratic system have promoted consumers¡¦ sense for their rights and interests. We could see organizations for protecting consumers around the world, including Taiwan who established its consumers¡¦ organization in 1980. On the other hand, advances in information technology and continuous development of internet, both by means of flow of information extend the expression of quality issues of producers. All of this forces producers to more concern their product¡¦s quality. Besides, the global competition is now far more intense, not only by the convenience of transportation, but also by the spread of media. Producers who could enjoy its proprietary local niche in the past, now is facing the diminishing market that is invaded by much more foreign newcomers. This tendency also forces producers to review their competitive strategy. Not only do they focus on lower price, but also they appeal to product quality. This research, under the premises of escalating strategic level of quality, explores the operation of quality system of producers in Southern Taiwan. This research tries to verify the effect form the power position of QA Department to performance of QA system. It also considers the disturbing effects from quality sense of organizational members and the integrality of QA system. On the basis of a sample of Southern Taiwan manufacturing companies, the research analysis shows that the power position of QA Department will influence the performance of QA system. But both of quality sense of organizational members and the integrality of QA system also have substantial effect on it.

This research investigates the influence of the reacting force which suffered from the handle of a hammer to strike an object. To achieve the study purpose, an impulse on the hammer face in a very short time was investigated. The researcher used computer-aided design software Solidworks to set up the hammer model and he used finite element software LS-DYNA to analysis the dynamic problem of the hammer by impulse loading. This study aims to find out the reaction force at the gripping position of different shape of cross-section, length, gripping position and angle of the handle and compares the results along x, y, and z axis respectively. After summing up an optimum handle shape and gripping position, users can operate the tool easily. The optimum also reduces the probability of musculoskeletal disorders. It is expected the study findings can not only provide some reliable data for the reference in hammer manufactures but also make a breakthrough in computing aided engineering.

¡@Due to the advancement of technology and technique, the differences between products and product function gradually decrease. To avoid unnecessary competition among the peers, the most productive method is by establishing unique brand value within consumers¡¦ perspective. In the case of instant noodle market, which suffers with limited funding and low-priced and low-profited product, it is necessary to implement the methodology of market segregation and target marketing. Therefore, a minimum investment with appropriate marketing approach can also receive a rewardable profit. ¡@This study is based on the instant noodle brand ¡§UU¡¨, it is mainly focus on consumers in the Kaoshung area. By using the method of public questionnaire investigation, the 180 valid samples are collected for the study. Based on the interviewers¡¦ ¡§descriptive characteristics¡¨ and ¡§behavioral considerations¡¨, the group is segregated by factors analysis and group analysis. According to the characteristics of each segment, appropriate market is determined for the development of brand value that contributes to target marketing. Purpose of this study: ¡@1.An outline of the instant noodle consumer ¡@2.The eating habit of instant noodle consumer ¡@3.Brand equilty ¡@4.Brand loyalty ¡@5.Product experience and brand value ¡@According to the study result, consumer can be classified into three different segments: fashion (trendy) group, traditional (mature) group, and passionate (personal) group. Among the three segments, there are significant differences mostly on population, eating habit, the rights of brand, product experience, and brand value. By clarifying the characteristics of each group; this study is able to provide a suggestion for ¡§UU¡¨ to implement different marketing stredagy for different market segment.

According to the information, the value of corporation acquired in global mergers amounted to US$4 trillion. Last year the biggest merger & acquisition was the AT&A bought the BellSouth Group in US for US$860 billion. After 1990, the corporate mergers & acquisitions become a main magic tool of a company to strengthen its market competition. Examples of same industry mergers were: Glaxo Wellcom PLC bought SmithKline Beecham PLC & Pfizer with Warner-Lambert in Pharmaceutical industry Daimler Benz bought Chrysler in vehicle industry Compaq with Digital in high technology industry Seibu Group with Itochu in Supermarket industry Bank of Tokyo with Mitsubishi Bank in banking industry Taiwan Mobile with Columbia in communication industry The diversification of M&A such as: Viacom with CBS Corporation The famous Canadian wine group ¡V Seagram acquired the well-known Asian company Polygram Musical Company at US$106 billion America Online with Time Warner. The above illustrated that the M&A in the diversification and related industry has become a trend and as vital element in the main tool to enhance market competition. In 2002, the figure showed the total global value in M&A was US$1.1 trillion. Regionally, the M&A trading in Europe, US and Japan (excluding other Asian countries) were US$1.5 trillion, US$1.44 trillion and US$3,815 billion respectively. However, research by the KPMG Consulting illustrated that 59% of M&A performances were not good as expected. Many cases and statistics revealed that about 30% - 50% of the completed M&A in US failed, whereas the success rate did not reach 50% in the M&A cases in Europe. The cases showed that the performance of M&A would need to go through a conformity process to become effective. In this study, the case used was two apparel firms of different products in Hong Kong (Horizontal Merger), which for the reasons other than the above, agreed to merger to become one of the biggest apparel corporation in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, during the process of combination, many problems had arisen, such as: 1. Corporate Culture 2. Core Value 3. Measurement of Performance 4. Market Positioning 5. Organization Structure 6. Sales Operation 7. Operation Mode of Production 8. R&D Because of the differences in conceptual recognition, and changes in internal and external circumstances, the right and wrong attempts, in the course of learning process, had made from profits to loss, from loss to profits again and achieved a mixed effect in the growth path and future expectation. In this regard the operation was not smooth after the merger. But after continual improvement and re-engineering, the new company has become to make profit in 2004.

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This dissertation presents an experimental and analytical study of the Vision Based Navigation system (VisNav). VisNav is a novel intelligent optical sensor system invented by Texas A&M University recently for autonomous proximity operations. This dissertation is focused on system calibration techniques and navigation algorithms. This dissertation is composed of four parts. First, the fundamental hardware and software design configuration of the VisNav system is introduced. Second, system calibration techniques are discussed that should enable an accurate VisNav system application, as well as characterization of errors. Third, a new six degree-of-freedom navigation algorithm based on the Gaussian Least Squares Differential Correction is presented that provides a geometrical best position and attitude estimates through batch iterations. Finally, a dynamic state estimation algorithm utilizing the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed that recursively estimates position, attitude, linear velocities, and angular rates. Moreover, an approach for integration of VisNav measurements with those made by an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU) is derived. This novel VisNav/IMU integration technique is shown to significantly improve the navigation accuracy and guarantee the robustness of the navigation system in the event of occasional dropout of VisNav data.

Total mercury (Hg) levels were determined in the tissues of ten taxa of pelagic fishes, with a special emphasis on apex predators (large vertebrates). Highest Hg levels were observed in blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), carcharhinid sharks (Genus Carcharhinus) and little tunny (Euthynnus alletteratus), ranging from 1.08 to 10.52 ppm. Moderate to low concentrations (<1.0 ppm) were observed in blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus), cobia (Rachycentron canadum), dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili), king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla), wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). For the majority of species examined, Hg level did not vary significantly between locations (Texas and Louisiana) and years (2002 and 2003). The relationship between Hg level and fish size/weight was also explored and six taxa (blackfin tuna, carcharhinid sharks, dolphinfish, king mackerel, wahoo, yellowfin tuna) showed significant positive relationships between Hg level and body size and/or weight. Natural dietary tracers, stable isotopes (15N, 13C) and fatty acids were used to evaluate the relationship between Hg and trophic position and the relationship between Hg and dietary history. Stable nitrogen isotope analysis showed that Hg levels in fish tissues were positively associated with trophic position. Based on the 13C and 15N values of pelagic consumers examined in this study, three natural groups were identified with cluster analysis, and the same groupings were detected based on fatty acid profiles. This not only confirmed the existence of these natural groupings, but also indicated that the distinguishing factors for the grouping was likely connected with the dietary history of these fishes. The classification tree based on the fatty acid profiles of pelagic fishes readily separated fishes from different regions, suggesting that diets of pelagic taxa within the same region are similar or these consumers share a common source of organic matter in their food web. Findings from this study complement other Hg investigations conducted in the Gulf and also furthered our understanding of the link between feeding ecology and Hg accumulation. Moreover, the combined use of stable isotope and fatty acid techniques provided new insights on the dietary history of pelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Abstract The Art of War by Sun Tzu is ¡§To know yourself and enemy, will be ever-victorious¡¨ The mainland China has always ¡§threatening by characters and militarily force to Taiwan¡¨, and emphasized ¡§ not get rid of and liberate Taiwan by militarily ¡§, can nearly confirm the mainland China regard military affair as the fundamental key of negotiation backing. It is worth noting , Many military exercises and strategy and over the years of the mainland China, analysed the report by military experts and media analysis such as , Dong-Shan Island military exercises of East China Sea, and guess the mainland China is dispatch troops the first-selected strategic objective which is attacking the Penghu(Pescadores) in recent years. Why the archipelago of Penghu is the locking goal of simulation to attack Taiwan by mainland China ? Especially the high-ranking military officer Shi Lang campaign and seized Penghu against Ching Dynasty, it was from Dong-Shan Island of the mainland China before going to war is Zheng's Dynasty strategy by force fighting to surrender too. In history experience and example, all kinds of overseas attacked of Taiwan campaigns, it took Penghu as the strategic objective. in war history, The fate between Taiwan and Penghu seems link up together and closely. what was the trick and strategy about this by mainland China? According to international strategy, the Penghu is the first island chain of Pacific Ocean while enclose and stopping up strategy by the U.S. it is one of the main pass of international crude oil channel of Taiwan Straits. the modern international war all arises because of petroleum, that China while emerging rapidly is dependent on the petroleum, has already become the second major energy-consuming country in the world, the security imported of the crude oil is increasingly day by day, the Penghu is looks like prickles down the back for China. Taiwan is the narrow and long island, extremely short of the strategic depth, the modern war has already struck the speed that the persons who defend react greatly, To ensure security of Taiwan , it must to overcome this disadvantage; In addition, The Ministry of National Defence is carrying on the withdrawing troops of Kim-Men and Ma-Zu. How to use the limited defence weapons, strive for early warning time, and resist enemy out of the territory when attacked on suddenly and frighten effective become the task of top priority of our strategic Distribution, and whether Penghu archipelago can play the key role of the leading base appropriately, It is worth to deep discussion. This research is since the instance of the war between two sides of the Taiwan Straits verifying, Commenting strategic position and worth were in the war incident of the Taiwan Straits .And Mainland China bet on all strategic phenomenon in Taiwan Straits as well as defend the essence action of strategy with Taiwan¡¦s defenses in recent years, including the influence between Taiwan and Mainland China through transport and exchange, To be necessary to discussion the change about Penghu. Hope from ancient and modern documents research, let everyone know how importance of Penghu to Taiwan, and bring up appropriate suggestions as strategic value to make the best of the Penghu from theory and science. Keyword¡GPenghu, Taiwan Strait, Cross-Strait, Strategic research, Strategic position

In the thesis, we propose a non-line of sight (NLOS) mitigation approach based on the interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm. The IMM-based structure, composed of a biased Kalman filter (BKF) and a Kalman filter with NLOS-discarding process (KF-D), is capable of mitigating the ranging error caused by the NLOS effects, and therefore improving the performance and accuracy in wireless location systems. The NLOS effect on signal transmission is one of the major factors that affect the accuracy of the time-based location systems. Effective NLOS identification and mitigation usually count on pre-determined statistic distribution and hypothesis assumption in the signals. Because the variance of the NLOS error is much large than that of measurement noise, hypothesis testing on the LOS/NLOS status can be formulated.The BKF combines the sliding window and decides the status by using hypothesis testing. The calculated variance and the detection result are used in switching between the biased and unbiased modes in the Kalman filter. In the contrast, the KF-D scheme identifies the NLOS status and tries to eliminate the NLOS effects by directly using the estimated results from the LOS stage. The KF-D scheme can achieve reasonably good NLOS mitigation if the estimates in the LOS status are obtained. Due to the discarding process, changes of the state vector within the NLOS stage are possibly ignored, and will cause larger errors in the state estimates. The BKF and KF-D can make up for each other by formulating the filters in an IMM structure, which could tune up the probabilities of BKF and KF-D. In our approach, the measured data are smoothed by sliding window and a BKF. The variance of data and the hypothesis test result are passed to the two filters. The BKF switches between the biased/unbiased modes by using the result. The KF-D may receive the estimated value from BKF based on the results. The probability computation unit changes the weights to get the estimated TOA values. With the simulations in ultra-wideband (UWB) signals, it can be seen that the proposed IMM-based approach can effectively mitigate the NLOS effects and increase the accuracy in wireless position.

The high demands of manual wheelchair propulsion put users at risk of additional pain and injury that can lead to further reductions in independence and quality of life. Seat position is an adjustable parameter that has been shown to influence propulsion biomechanics. As a result, a number of studies have attempted to optimize this position. However, due to complexities in quantifying upper extremity demand, seat position guidelines are often based on studies aimed at reducing indirect quantities (e.g., cadence, handrim forces, joint ranges of motion and muscle excitation levels) rather than more direct measures of demand (e.g., muscle stress and metabolic cost). Forward dynamics simulations provide an alternative approach to systematically investigate the influence of seat position on more direct measures of upper extremity demand. The objective of this study was to generate and analyze a set of forward dynamics simulations of wheelchair propulsion across the range of attainable seat positions to identify the optimal seat position that minimizes upper extremity demand (i.e., muscle stress, metabolic cost and muscle antagonism). The optimization results showed both metabolic cost and muscle stresses were near minimal values at superior/inferior positions corresponding to top dead center elbow angles between 110 and 120 degrees while at an anterior/posterior position with a hub-shoulder angle between 10 and 2.5 degrees. These minimal values coincided with a reduction in the level of antagonistic muscle activity, primarily at the glenohumeral joint. Seat positions that deviated from these minimal values increased the level of co-contraction required to maintain a stable, smooth propulsive stroke, and consequentially increased upper extremity demand. These results can provide guidelines for positioning the seat to help reduce upper extremity overuse injuries and pain, and thus improve the overall quality of life for wheelchair users. / text