Since 1980s, Mainland China had attracted enormous investment from the worldwide. Through three decades developments, the economy of China has dramatic change. However, under the strong attempt of government interference, the conditions of the business environment are worsen and unfavorable for certain industries. The resource based theory view argues that the firm with core resource and competence can have substantial competitive ability and enduring advantages to succeed in the market. From this perspective, we would like to know how the case company is accumulating and cultivating the core resource and competence for it to succeed in the market. Based on our finding of the core resource, this research uses the five force framework for industrial analysis and attempt to have suggestions for future development. This research conducted a case analysis of a Taiwanese SME in Lead-acid battery industry with interviewing with the president and managers of the company. The finding show that the SME has built up the core competence with its competitive strategy management. However, in coping with changing environment and business conditions, this research has suggested the SME Company need to upgrade its product level and customer types. It also suggests building up alliance within the same and different industries in order to form its core competence for the future.

<p><p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim was to evaluate height measurements made with the single view metrology method and to investigate the influence of standing position and different phases of gait and running on vertical height.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Ten healthy men were recorded simultaneously by a 2D web camera and a 3D motion analysis system. They performed six trials, three standing and three during gait and running. The vertical height was measured with the single view metrology method and in Qualisys Track Manager. The results were compared for evaluation. The vertical height in the different postures was compared to the actual height.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The measurements made with the single view metrology method were significantly higher than the measurements made with Qualisys Track Manager (p<0.001). The vertical height in the two standing positions was significantly lower than the actual height (p<0.05). The vertical height in midstance was significantly lower than actual height in the walking trials (p<0.05). No significant difference was found between maximum vertical height and actual height during running (p>0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The single view metrology method measured vertical heights with a mean error of +2.30 cm. Posture influence vertical body height. Midstance in walking is the position where vertical height corresponds best with actual height, in running it is the non-support phase.</p><p> </p></p><p> </p>

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 247-251).

Traditional computer vision algorithms depend on information taken by visible-light cameras. But there are inherent limitations of this data source, e.g. they are sensitive to illumination changes, occlusions and background clutter. Range sensors give us 3D structural information of the scene and it’s robust to the change of color and illumination. In this thesis, we present a series of approaches which are developed using the depth information by Kinect to address the issues regarding human detection and action recognition. Taking the depth information, the basic problem we consider is to detect humans in the scene. We propose a model based approach, which is comprised of a 2D head contour detector and a 3D head surface detector. We propose a segmentation scheme to segment the human from the surroundings based on the detection point and extract the whole body of the subject. We also explore the tracking algorithm based on our detection result. The methods are tested on a dataset we collected and present superior results over the existing algorithms. With the detection result, we further studied on recognizing their actions. We present a novel approach for human action recognition with histograms of 3D joint locations (HOJ3D) as a compact representation of postures. We extract the 3D skeletal joint locations from Kinect depth maps using Shotton et al.’s method. The HOJ3D computed from the action depth sequences are reprojected using LDA and then clustered into k posture visual words, which represent the prototypical poses of actions. The temporal evolutions of those visual words are modeled by discrete hidden Markov models (HMMs). In addition, due to the design of our spherical coordinate system and the robust 3D skeleton estimation from Kinect, our method demonstrates significant view invariance on our 3D action dataset. Our dataset is composed of 200 3D sequences of 10 indoor activities performed by 10 individuals in varied views. Our method is real-time and achieves superior results on the challenging 3D action dataset. We also tested our algorithm on the MSR Action3D dataset and our algorithm outperforms existing algorithm on most of the cases. / text

This dissertation studies the four major works of Jose Donoso which belong to what could be termed his "Chilean cycle" of novels. This cycle comprises Coronacion, Este domingo, El lugar sin l(')imites, and El obsceno pajaro de la noche. The purpose of the study is to determine the structure of the point of view of the narrator. The research is based on semiotic theories of language, particularly those of Boris Uspensky, and includes much of the contemporary French theories of semiotic criticism. The dissertation attempts to construct a format for the study of the point of view of the narrator, basing itself on, but not restricting itself to, the theories of Uspensky. In every respect the dissertation endeavors to restrict its approach to an entirely intrinsic method, based on the idea that the novel exists apart from the man whose name appears on the cover. For the purpose of this study, the novel has been examined on four partially theoretical levels: the spatio-temporal, the phraseological, the psychological and the ideological. This method presupposes an additional distinction between what could be termed the "surface level," that which is immediately and physically observable, and the "deep structure," comprising the ideological level or "world view" basic to each novel. It could be stated that we find the "point of view" of the narrator in the surface structure of the first three levels and the "perspective" or world view in the "deep structure." The first chapter discusses in detail the history of the study of point of view in the novel as a genre, the various theories, including those of Uspensky, and sets forth the methods and procedures used. Each of the following chapters is dedicated to an individual novel, each novel being studied on all four of the levels mentioned. While the works of Donoso have often been studied with respect to their dedication of the deterioration of a particular society, this dissertation deals more specifically with following the process of destruction of the narrator himself. This process can be observed by means of a detailed examination of the structure and function of the point of view in each separate novel. The various stages of development can be observed clearly begining with Coronacion and culminating in El obsceno pajaro de la noche. In Coronacion and Este domingo we can observe the deterioration of the point of view of the narrator. In the former novel, the deterioration of the point of view is linked with the conflict between past and present; in the latter novel we see this dichotomy expanded to include two basic narrators. In El lugar sin límites there is a schism within the personality, and therefore the point of view, of the main character. The El obsceno pajaro de la noche we are confronted with an "open" novel in which the reader must participate. Here we see the complete destruction of the point of view of the narrator and, in effect, the destruction of the narrator himself. It is this process of destruction that this dissertation describes and studies.

This thesis answers calls for fine-grained studies of product diversification, in this case, predominantly using the resource based view of the firm. The context is UK providers of banking services. The thesis has developed the concept of resource matching. Resource matching combines levels of: resource heterogeneity, resource similarity and difference, and the external environmental setting of the organisation with the business performance of product diversification. Resource matching significantly increases the limited conceptual underpinning of diversification RBV by adapting and developing concepts from single firm RBV literature. Two new research strategies were developed to gather data on multiple resources and external factors. One was unused due to access issues during the credit crunch. The other, which was used, utilised multiple sources of publicly available information both qualitative and quantitative. These conceptual and methodological developments offer a way to restart the research on the impact of product diversification on business performance. This research has stalled due to conflicting results and methodological issues. Twenty nine providers of banking services in the UK where examined: building societies; other providers of retail banking services; providers of investment banking services; and combined banks which offer both investment and retail banking services. This thesis found: varying amounts of resource heterogeneity, resource bundles can be constructed from publicly available external data, performance in diversification does not adhere to the previously posited curvilinear pattern but to one of the greater the product diversification the greater the business performance risk and reward, with rewards being both positive and negative, and finally the external environment does vary within the industry. The results on product diversification performance suggest of a new way of looking at product diversification which might reconcile the previous conflicting results. A modified version of the conceptual model of resource matching was developed to take account of the results. Opportunities for further work include; studying other industries and providers of banking services in other countries, refining the single industry fine grained research methods and further developing the resource matching model.

Poster / Soc 397a / 2015 Poverty in Tucson Field Workshop

Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių asmenybės vertybių ir pasaulėžiūros ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. Hipotezė. Kauno VDU „Rasos“ gimnazijoje vykdomas ugdymo procesas įtakoja moksleivių pozityvius asmenybės vertybių ir pasaulėžiūros pokyčius. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių asmenybės vertybių ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. 2. Ištirti Kauno VDU “Rasos” gimnazijos moksleivių pasaulėžiūros ypatumus 2004 ir 2007 metais. Tyrimo metodai 1. Mokslinės literatūros šaltinių analizė. 2. Anketavimas. 3. Matematinė statistika. Išvados 1. Išryškėjo, kad tiriamuoju laikotarpiu dalinai pakito moksleivių Atsakingumo, Tikėjimo, Pagarbos asmenybės vertybės. Visiškai nepakito Jautrumo asmenybės vertybės. Nustatytas statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas (p<0,05), tarp 2004 ir 2007 metų respondentų, atsakomybės prisiėmimo dėl mokymo rezultatų, duomenų. Atsakomybę už kritikos sulaukusius mokymo rezultatus, prisiimtų 65% (2004 m.) ir 83,3% (2007 m.) jaunuolių. Taip pat pastebėtas respondentų Pagarbos vertybės rezultatų pagerėjimas. Tiriamieji nurodė, jog gerbia kiekvieną žmogų, nepriklausomai nuo jo socialinės, materialinės padėties (2004 - 63,3%; 2007 – 80%) (p<0,01). Tikinčių Meile, respondentų sumažėjo (2004 m.– 58,3%; 2007 – 43,3%) (p<0,05). 45% apklaustųjų jaunuolių 2004 metais teigė tikintys, jog žmogaus likimą valdo aukštesnė jėga (Dievas), o 2007 metais taip manančių gimnazistų išaugo iki 63,3% (p<0,05). 2. Nustatyta, kad... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the research is - to ascertain Kaunas VDU gymnasium children’s personal worth and world – view peculiarities in 2004 and 2007. The hypothesis of the research is - development effect on children in Kaunas VDU gymnasium is positive. The objectives of the research are: 1. To investigate the peculiarities of children’s world personal worth in 2004 and 2007. 2. To ascertain the peculiarities of children’s world – view in 2004 and 2007. The object of the research is: Personal worth and world – view of children from Kaunas VDU Rasos gymnasium. The methods of the research are: 1. Literature analysis. 2. Survey. 3. Mathematical statistics. The expected research result is: 1. At the experiment’s time from 2004 to 2007 children’s personal worth of the Responsibility, Faith, Respect have been particularly changed. 2. From 2004 to 2007 children’s world – view have not been changed.

In computed tomography (CT) there are many situations where reconstruction may need to be performed with sparse-view data. In sparse-view CT imaging, strong streak artifacts may appear in conventionally reconstructed images due to the limited sampling rate, compromising image quality. Compressed sensing (CS) algorithm has shown potential to accurately recover images from highly undersampled data. In the past few years, total variation (TV)-base compressed sensing algorithms have been proposed to suppress the streak artifact in CT image reconstruction. In this paper, we formulate the problem of CT imaging under transform sparsity and sparse-view constraints, and propose a novel compressed sensing-based algorithm for CT image reconstruction from few-view data, in which we simultaneously minimize the ℓ1 norm, total variation and a least square measure. The main feature of our algorithm is the use of two sparsity transforms: discrete wavelet transform and discrete gradient transform, both of which are proven to be powerful sparsity transforms. Experiments with simulated and real projections were performed to evaluate and validate the proposed algorithm. The reconstructions using the proposed approach have less streak artifacts and reconstruction errors than other conventional methods.

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