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Electronic Passive Component ¡]E.P.C.¡^industry has been developed for over 40 years in local industries. Which created the raise of the early Taiwan¡¦s Electronic Component Industry. In the recent few years, Taiwan¡¦s E.P.C. industry has rapidly grown as well as 3C Industries generation by turns from worldwide. Although the market share of Taiwan¡¦s E.P.C. industry seems growing as well, but the serious weakness of the low entry barrier of the low end products, the competition of cost price reduction, lacking of the capability of core materials and Research ¡®Development and the consolidated role in Mainland China will deeply threaten the exists of Taiwan E.P.C.. Based on case studies from E.P.C. industries and domestic firms. The thesis explored the success experience of competitive advantage from the case research of utilizing The Six Force Factor Analysis model and The SWOT Analysis model and also adopted several competitive strategies to recommend. The consequence were concluded as follows¡G 1.To the Government¡Gto promote and cooperate the local E.P.C. industry to obtain the advantage of global resource of high technical staff and abroad market. 2.To Taiwan E.P.C. industry¡Gto make a advantaged alliance to enhance the marketing strategies of one time shop and solve the weakness of R¡®D. 3.To the research firm¡Gto fulfill the value chain advantage in forging an alliance with the core materials resource and target market oriented, and flexible adjusting the strategy of production lines cooperation between Mainland China and Taiwan.

Deterioration of concrete bridge decks has become a serious problem in the past few decades. Fortunately, non-corrosive, light-weight Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) material provides an excellent alternative. More than 117 bridges in the USA have been built or repaired with FRP. In Canada, no FRP bridge deck has been used in the field, yet. However, Wardrop Engineering Inc., Faroex Ltd., and ISIS Canada have successfully designed, manufactured, and patented the filament-wound Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bridge deck. Since there is no design code for FRP bridge decks, a finite element method, labeled “L&D”, is proposed in this thesis to help bridge engineers better understand the structural behavior of FRP bridge decks. The L&D method is validated by comparing the analysis results with the experimental results of three filament-wound GFRP bridge decks. This L&D method is also applicable for analyzing FRP bridge decks manufactured by other processes.

Deterioration of concrete bridge decks has become a serious problem in the past few decades. Fortunately, non-corrosive, light-weight Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) material provides an excellent alternative. More than 117 bridges in the USA have been built or repaired with FRP. In Canada, no FRP bridge deck has been used in the field, yet. However, Wardrop Engineering Inc., Faroex Ltd., and ISIS Canada have successfully designed, manufactured, and patented the filament-wound Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bridge deck. Since there is no design code for FRP bridge decks, a finite element method, labeled “L&D”, is proposed in this thesis to help bridge engineers better understand the structural behavior of FRP bridge decks. The L&D method is validated by comparing the analysis results with the experimental results of three filament-wound GFRP bridge decks. This L&D method is also applicable for analyzing FRP bridge decks manufactured by other processes.

The impact on banks' portfolio under BIS amendment to the capital accord of 1996 and reserve requirement.

Model-based clustering allows for the identification of subgroups in a data set through the use of finite mixture models. When applied to high-dimensional microarray data, we can discover groups of genes characterized by their gene expression profiles. In this thesis, a mixture of skew-t factor analyzers is introduced for the clustering of high-dimensional data. Notably, we make use of a version of the skew-t distribution which has not previously appeared in mixture-modelling literature. Allowing a constraint on the factor loading matrix leads to two mixtures of skew-t factor analyzers models. These models are implemented using the alternating expectation-conditional maximization algorithm for parameter estimation with an Aitken's acceleration stopping criterion used to determine convergence. The Bayesian information criterion is used for model selection and the performance of each model is assessed using the adjusted Rand index. The models are applied to both real and simulated data, obtaining clustering results which are equivalent or superior to those of established clustering methods.

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Introduction: Can the choice to start with either harmony or drums affect a music production and, in such case, how? How could one analyze this? This thesis intends to try to answer just that by investigating the differences that arise when I start a music production with either harmony or drums. To analyze the differences, I created my own model for analysis that I call the Miki model.  Aim: The aim of this thesis is to investigate if and in such case what differences arise in harmony, rhythm and arrangement in a song depending on whether I start the music production with harmony or drums. The aim is also to help understand this possible correlation by attempting to create a new model for analysis that can both be tested and further developed to analyze the impact of a certain approach at the beginning of a music production. Methodology: For this project, I made an EP consisting of four songs. Two of the songs started off with harmony production while I began the other two with drum production. In order to analyze the results, I created a model for quantitative analysis by setting up five different aspects that I consider to be important when measuring the impact of starting with harmony or drums when creating a music production: number of chords and colored chords, number of drum elements, if the number of drum elements was altered during the song, and if the number of chords was altered during the song.  Results: The Miki model was applied to each song on the EP. In this way I was able to examine the differences that had arisen in the harmony, the rhythm, and the arrangement in each song. The results showed an increased number of chords in the songs where the production was started with harmony. It also showed that the number of drum elements was increased when the production was started with drums. The number of colored chords was not significantly different, and the arrangement was not noticeably affected either.  Reflection: Even though the results showed an increased number of chords when starting with harmony and an increased number of drum elements when starting with drums, it was hard to draw the conclusion that the result depended on the respective approach. It was rather more likely because of the desire to make the first element in the production interesting enough to stand by its own, which made it take a lot of room in the sonic space. That in turn left less room for other elements.

<p>The accumulation of high-throughput data from vast sources has drawn a lot attentions to develop methods for extracting meaningful information out of the massive data. More interesting questions arise from how to combine the disparate information, which goes beyond modeling sparsity and dimension reduction. This dissertation focuses on the innovations in the area of heterogeneous data integration.</p><p>Chapter 1 contextualizes this dissertation by introducing different aspects of meta-analysis and model frameworks for high-dimensional genomic data.</p><p>Chapter 2 introduces a novel technique, joint Bayesian sparse factor analysis model, to vertically integrate multi-dimensional genomic data from different platforms. </p><p>Chapter 3 extends the above model to a nonparametric Bayes formula. It directly infers number of factors from a model-based approach.</p><p>On the other hand, chapter 4 deals with horizontal integration of diverse gene expression data; the model infers pathway activities across various experimental conditions. </p><p>All the methods mentioned above are demonstrated in both simulation studies and real data applications in chapters 2-4.</p><p>Finally, chapter 5 summarizes the dissertation and discusses future directions.</p> / Dissertation

Student Number : 9506626A - MSc (Eng) research report - School of Mining - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Significant research has been carried out over the years into what effect blast designs and techniques have on the final product in the mining process. There are numerous parameters that can be altered to deliver downstream benefits – the key is to determine which changes are appropriate for the rock body in question. A project is currently underway at Thabazimbi Iron Ore Mine (Northern Province, South Africa) to improve the operational efficiency through attention to the blasting operation. Previous research suggests changing fragmentation will have an effect on mining efficiency, but no definitive model has been developed directly linking the two. Using data collected during the project, the author developed a sensitivity analysis tool, which defines the effect of changing fragmentation on overall mine efficiency. This prediction model was based partly on theory and partly on empirical information gathered from mine databases and personnel. Over the course of this project, this model was validated through the practical implementation of the theory behind its development. This involved decreasing powder factors through increasing the drilling pattern, thus changing the resulting fragmentation of the muckpile. Subsequently, downstream effects on mining efficiency were monitored and these results were recorded in the model. The proven model was then used to identify areas of opportunity for improvement. In this report two areas are discussed, firstly, the implementation of a doped emulsion replacing ANFO across the mine, and secondly the introduction of electronic detonators. The second option would require further test work to develop confidence in the assumptions made in the model, concerning the effect of timing accuracy on fragmentation. This research report covers the background to the project, an explanation of the model and the final results obtained.