Thesis (M.S. in Applied Math and M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Roberto Cristi, Ron Pieper, Craig Rasmussen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121). Also available online.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-113). Also available online.

QPrEST är en ny intern standard för absolut kvantifiering av proteiner utvecklat av företaget Atlas Antibodies AB. I en marknad där det redan finns etablerade standarder kan det vara svårt att konkurrera ut de nuvarande produkterna. Därför har denna rapport gjorts vilken består av en marknadsanalys av nuvarande standarder, statistisk undersökning av publicerade artiklar inom absolut kvantitativ proteomik samt en global kundundersökning med 35 svarande. Resultaten har legat till grund för förbättringsförslag till Atlas Antibodies AB för bättre marknadsföring och lansering av sin nya produkt, QPrEST. Slutsatsen från denna rapport är att Atlas Antibodies AB måste nischa in sin produkt till kvantifiering av ett målprotein då det är där standarden presterar bäst.

Subcontractors in the automotive industry, have a lot of pressure to bring down costs and to deliver products that are effective, optimized and qualitative. The main purpose of this study is to guide and conduct the first step in the project Standard Building Blocks with modular design, within the business area, manual shifter. The project is directly presented by Kongsberg Automotive, a well-known subcontractor of the automotive industry. The aim of the project is to develop a standard manual shifter with modular design containing standard building blocks. Five different components have been selected in the manual shifter for this study. In each component, there are several concepts on how to design that specific component. The target of the study is to evaluate and analyze the concepts and based on the results decide which of the concepts to be standard building blocks. The study identifies, evaluates and analyses the consequences of the project Standard Building Blocks for the chosen concepts. The results from the study show that some concepts have a greater tendency to form standard building blocks when compared to others. In the study it was proven that non-measurable values have the same significance as the measured values. The results also show that the most suitable concepts depends on the customers’ specifications. The consequence analysis presented many consequences of what an implementation of standard building blocks may imply, from the advantages to possible risk elements. Through the consequence analysis the studied company can become more prepared for the future. / Underleverantörerna inom fordonsindustrin har en stor press när det kommer till hålla nere kostnader och att leverera effektiva, optimerade och kvalitativa produkter. Huvudsyftet med studien är att guida och genomföra det första steget i projektet Standard Building Blocks med modulär design, inom affärsområdet, manuella växelreglage. Projektet är direkt framtaget av Kongsberg Automotive, en välkänd underleverantör inom fordonsindustrin. Målet med projektet är att utveckla en standard manuell växelreglage med modulär design innehållande standard building blocks. Fem olika komponenter har valts ut i den manuell växelreglaget för studien. För varje komponent finns det flera koncept hur den specifika komponenten kan designas. Målet med studien är att utvärdera och analysera koncepten och utifrån resultatet avgöra vilka av koncepten som kan bilda standard building blocks. Studien identifierar, utvärderar och analyserar konsekvenser av projektet Standard Building Blocks för de valda koncepten. Resultatet från studien visade att vissa koncept har en större tendens att bilda standard building blocks än andra. I studien blev det bevisat att icke-mätbara värden har lika stor betydelse som uppmätta värdena. Resultatet visade också att de mest lämpade koncepten beror på kundens specifikationer. Konsekvensen analysen presenter många konsekvenser av vad en implementation av standard building blocks kan innebära, från fördelar till eventuella riskfaktorer. Genom konsekvensanalysen kan det studerade företaget bli mer förberedda för framtiden.

This investigation into the origins of Scottish Standard English in the eighteenth century is conducted using the correspondence of James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, to his factor William Rose over a 26 year period in the late eighteenth century, supported by biographical and historical linguistic data. The presence in Fife's writing of contemporaneously identified Scotticisms has been used as an indication of Fife's use of Scots language. A linguistic analysis of the Scotticisms found in Fife's writing showed no restriction in the use of any linguistic category. A quantitative investigation as to which extralinguistic factors of influence promoted the use of Scotticisms showed that the topic of Fife's communication was the greatest influence on his of Scotticisms but that purpose also played a part in determining his Scots language use. Fife's use of Scotticisms was also influenced by his social networks, with an increase in Scots lexicon in letters from Scotland and an increase in Scots syntax when there was no social pressure present to maintain Standard English. A qualitative analysis of Fife's use of Scotticisms showed that he employed Scots variants for pragmatic purposes. Referring to theories of second language acquisition and language contact, these results were interpreted to suggest that Fife maintained the Scots language of his childhood and acquired Standard English by education to become a bilingual adult, although from the relatively standardised nature of his writing. it appears that some vernacular shift had taken place throughout his lifetime. The evidence from Fife's correspondence suggests that any Scots language remaining in the otherwise generally Standard English in Scotland might be due to incomplete shift to Standard English, requirements of register, and pragmatically motivated selection of Scots. All these options require that the emerging speakers of Scottish Standard English had a degree of bilingualism in Scots and English.

published_or_final_version / Statistics and Actuarial Science / Master / Master of Philosophy

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In this dissertation, I examine the effects of regulatory changes that affect the auditor's loss function on investors' perceptions of audit effectiveness. Specifically, I examine two changes intended (1) to improve audit efficiency and (2) to reduce auditor liability exposure. The first regulatory change, which was recently enacted, is the replacement of Auditing Standard 2 (AS2) with Auditing Standard 5 (AS5). The second regulatory change, which is currently a hypothetical change, is the passage of litigation reform aimed at limiting the auditor's liability exposure following an alleged audit failure. I examine perceived audit effectiveness rather than actual effectiveness because actual audit effectiveness is unobservable by investors. In an experiment using 101 MBA students as proxies for individual investors, I find that both changes are perceived by investors as reducing the amount of testing performed by the auditor when performing the internal control audit. I also find that both regulatory changes negatively affect investors' perceptions of audit effectiveness. Following the change in the auditing standard, experienced and inexperienced investors predict opposite stock price movement and, as a result, make different investment allocation decisions. In performing supplemental analyses, I find significant gender differences in predicted future stock prices, but not in perceptions of audit effectiveness or in perceptions of internal control quality.