Packet switches are used in the Internet to forward information between a sender and receiver and are the critical bottleneck in the Internet. Without faster packet switch designs, the Internet cannot continue to scale-up to higher data rates. Packet switches must be able to achieve high throughput and low delay. In addition, they must be stable for all traffic loads, must efficiently support variable length packets, and must be scalable to higher link data rates and greater numbers of ports. This dissertation investigates a new combined input and crossbar queued (CICQ) switch architecture. Some unbalanced traffic loads result in instability for input queued (IQ) and CICQ switches. This instability region was modeled, and the cause of the instability was found to be a lack of work conservation at one port. A new burst stabilization protocol was investigated that was shown to stabilize both IQ and CICQ switches. As an added benefit, this new protocol did not require a costly internal switch speed-up. Switching variable length packets in IQ switches requires the segmentation of packets into cells. The process also requires an internal switch speed-up which can be costly. A new method of cell-merging in IQ switches reduced this speed-up. To improve fairness for CICQ switches, a block and transfer method was proposed and evaluated. Implementation feasibility of the CICQ switch was also investigated via a field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of key components. Two new designs for round robin arbiters were developed and evaluated. The first of these, a proposed priority-encoder-based round robin arbiter that uses feedback masking, has a lower delay than any known design for an FPGA implementation. The second, an overlapped round robin arbiter design that fully overlaps round robin polling and scheduling, was proposed and shown to be scalable, work conserving, and fair. To allow for multi-cabinet implementation and minimization of the size of the cross point buffers, a distributed input port queue scheduler was investigated. This new scheduler minimizes the amount of buffering needed within the crossbar. The two primary contributions of this dissertation are 1) a complete understanding of the performance characteristics of the CICQ switch, and 2) new methods for improving the performance, stability,and scalability of the CICQ switch. This work has shown that the CICQ switch can be the switch architecture of the future.

Esta dissertação tem a intenção de apresentar uma sequência didática que foi aplicada para um grupo de alunos do Ensino Fundamental II com o objetivo de potencializar sua compreensão sobre a praticidade e conveniência da linguagem algébrica. A sequência didática é composta por atividades lúdicas e atividades algébricas que buscaram estimular que os alunos produzam notações e símbolos de forma autônoma, que fizesse sentido para eles, bem como instigar sua curiosidade, em um ambiente um ambiente que estimule a pensar e resolver problemas, onde a relação professor - aluno tenha como base a confiança e o respeito mútuo. O desenvolvimento da pesquisa foi feito por meio de um estudo de caso. As atividades foram aplicadas para uma turma de 6o ano com a intenção de produzir significado para o conceito de incógnita. A análise da efetividade da sequência didática levou em consideração os aspectos particulares dos alunos e da escola, o campo semântico no qual os alunos trabalharam e os tipos de equação do primeiro grau com uma incógnita que os alunos conseguiram resolver. A pesquisa nos permitiu concluir que o trabalho inicial de motivação e entendimento da linguagem algébrica facilita a aceitação, pelos alunos, do uso da letra no lugar de um número desconhecido, tornando-se um facilitador para o aprendizado de equações do primeiro grau. / This dissertation intends to present a didactic sequence that was applied to a group of students from Ensino Fundamental II (6th to 9th grades) in order to enhance their understanding of practicality and convenience of the algebraic language. The didactic sequence consists of recreational activities and algebraic activities, which seeks to stimulate the students to produce notations and symbols autonomously, in a way that makes sense for them, instigating their curiosity, in an environment that encourages to think and solve problems, where the teacher-student relation is based after trustfulness and mutual respect. The development of this research was made through a case study. The activities were applied to a 6th grade class, in order to produce meaning to the concept of the unknown variable. The analysis of the effectiveness of the didactic sequence took into account the particular aspects of the students and the school, the semantic field in which they have worked and kinds of equations with one unknown variable they managed to solve. The research allowed us to conclude that the initial work of motivating and understanding of the algebraic language facilitates the acceptance of the use of a letter instead of an unknown number, becoming a facilitator for learning first degree equations.

This report will first give a brief background on asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and the characteristics that make them interesting to study. Some methods and tools used in the field are then introduced, before the photometric variability of these stars is investigated. This is achieved by using data from dynamical models of AGB stars with differing chemical abundances. The R, J and K bands of the UBVRI system are specifcally investigated to explore whether these are good candidates for AGB photometric and spectroscopic research. Lastly, the molecular features at these wavelengths are investigated to understand the impact that they have on the photometric variability during the pulsation cycle and which molecules are most prominent in this.

The aim of thesis is to analyse the economic model of urban residential location through the application of duality methods. Whilst some dual methods have been used in urban economic modelling in the past this paper proposes alternative dual approaches which appear to be novel, but are complimentary to existing approaches to the urban model. As part of the application of dual techniques the paper proposes a method of application which is general enough to be applied to all Von Thunen type models and tests this proposition on the fundamental agrarian model of Von Thunen. As part of the dual analysis of the urban residential model the conditions for the traditional lot size hypothesis are examined in the light of conditional demand functions stemming from the dual analysis. The work also empirically tests the traditional residential lot size hypothesis for various Australian cities. The empirical method adopted involves estimation of density gradients utilising competing non-nested flexible form models and discrimination between these alternative models utilising semi-parametric non-nested tests based on an artificial regression model. Two of the three competing models have not been used in this context before, one of them being completely novel. Moreover, the artificial regression model has not been previously used in this context, requiring some modification to deal with the problem of competing models with dependent variable transformation. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

AIM The purpose of this experiment is to assess whether the advantages of variable practice are due to schema formation or to enhanced information processing (contextual interference) alone. DESIGN The design involved a 2 (mode; cognitive and motor) x 5 (practice schedule; blocked, random, constant distance one, constant distance two, and constant distance three) between subjects design resulting in ten groups. One hundred participants were randomly chosen from Human Movement students at Australian Catholic University and assigned to each of the ten groups (n=10). The cognitive mode involved the participants having to recognise the appropriate target from three geometrical shapes (triangle, square or circle), the triangle being the target in every case. The motor mode involved the participants having to tap on the target among three boxes that was merely filled in. The experiment consisted of ninety (3 blocks of 30) acquisition trials followed by ten transfer trials to a novel movement. MAIN HYPOTHESIS It was hypothesised that if facilitated transfer to a novel target occurs through schema formation, then there would be no differences between the motor groups and their corresponding cognitive groups. However, if facilitated transfer to a novel target occurs through enhanced information processing, then there would be differences between the motor groups and their corresponding cognitive groups. RESULTS Statistical analysis revealed a contextual interference effect for participants involved in the cognitive mode, in that the cognitive blocked group outperformed the cognitive random group in acquisition, but the reverse was the case in transfer. In the motor mode, the motor blocked group outperformed the motor random group in acquisition, and repeated the performance in transfer. CONCLUSION The results appear to indicate that for simple motor tasks it is the amount of variability of practice that is important for transfer to a novel task, while for tasks with a cognitive component, the schedule of practice is critical.

The benefits of microwave technology in materials processing is well documented and researched. It offers many potential advantages over conventional processing such as rapid heating, faster processing times and more consistent product quality. However the actual implementation of this technology has been lacking and the benefits have gone largely unrealised. This is due largely in part to the non-uniform heating obtained in multimode cavities in conventional microwave processing. Recently, a new processing method dubbed the Variable Frequency Microwave (VFM) Technique has been developed to overcome the inherent problems associated with conventional microwave processing. By sweeping through a bandwidth of frequencies, the limitations observed in conventional processing, and specifically the problem of heat uniformity, are avoided. With the increase in research activities in alternative processing methods for new and current materials that will provide better product quality as well as time and cost savings, the VFM technique has the potential to rejuvenate interest in microwave processing. This thesis documents the research work undertaken on the VFM technique with emphasis on its characterization, optimisation and implementation to suitable applications in particular in the upcoming area of Microfabrication. A commercial Variable Frequency Microwave with an operating bandwidth of 2.5-8.0 GHz was investigated through modelling and experimental work to determine the energy distribution within a multimode cavity and to provide an insight of the mechanisms of the method. Modelling was found to be an efficient and cost-effective tool to simulate VFM and to examine the reported advantages of this new technique. Results obtained confirm the superiority of the VFM method over the conventional fixed-frequency processing showing a marked improvement in the heating uniformity achieved. Quantitative analysis of the three major VFM parameters that influence heat uniformity - Sweep Rate, Bandwidth and Central Frequency - indicate that although slight variation in heat uniformity was observed when changing these parameters, these variations are only small which implies that the VFM technique is quite insensitive to changes in the parameters making it quite a robust system. An analytical model of the Variable Frequency Microwave technique was developed and it was found that the heating uniformity could be further optimised using a sweep rate that varies as the inverse of the frequency squared (weighted-sweep). In this study, VFM Technique was successfully extended to the Micro-Electro- Mechanical Systems (MEMS) industry as an alternative method for the processing of a polymer system - negative-tone SU8 photoresist - which is gaining widespread use in Microfabrication. The VFM method was compared to conventional hotplate curing as well as a new hybrid curing method introduced in this work and the product quality assessed optically and by thermal analysis. Results from this work indicate that the Variable Frequency Microwave technique is a viable alternative to the conventional cure currently used in practice. With proper optimisation of the VFM parameters, VFM was found to provide samples that are comparable or better than conventionally cured samples in terms of properties and microstructure quality. Using the VFM method, enhancement in cure rates and drying rates, which are described by others as microwave effects, were observed and investigated. A significant increase on the degree of cure of up to 20% greater than conventional cure was observed when VFM was utilized and an apparent enhancement in solvent evaporation in the thin SU8 films observed. Experiments undertaken show that microwaves irradiation can enhance diffusion rates of cyclopentanone in the SU8 system by approximately 75-100%. The findings signify that SU8 curing at lower temperatures or rapid curing are possible and long drying times could be reduced significantly thus alleviating many of the problems associated with conventional thermal curing. Outcomes of this study demonstrate the ability of the new VFM technique to provide uniform heating which is essential for materials processing. Its application to the emerging field of Microfabrication exhibits its unique advantages over conventional curing methods and establishes itself to be a versatile and robust processing tool. The experimental observations made under microwave irradiation are further proof of the existence of specific microwave effects which is one of the most debatable topics in the Microwave processing field. A mechanism based on the Cage Model by Zwanzig [1983] was put forward to explain the increase in transport rates.

為保險業跨業經營預先佈局、增加保單持有人之投資選擇權及因應市場利率之低糜，我國擬於近日推出投資型保險，然而投資型保險基於其特有之性質，其監理自應與一般傳統型保險有所不同。本文先就投資型保險作一定義，並論述其性質及特色，次敘述其歷史發展沿革，再予以介紹其主要之種類。而關於投資型保險監理部分，一般來說，保險監理可分為財務監理及業務監理二部分，本文即依循此二面向分別作一探討。就財務監理部分而言，分就分離帳戶之規範、資金運用規範、責任準備金提存之規範、解約金之規範及稅賦規範五個議題作分析探討，再行提出建議。另一方面，就業務監理部分而言，則分就經營資格規範、資訊揭露規範、商品規範及銷售規範四個議題作分析探討，再行提出建議；最後總結全文以提出結論並針對我國投資型保險之監理提出建議。 / For facilitating of cross-business operation of the insurance industry, increasing policyholders’ choices in financial services, and shifting attach of interest risk, investment linked insurance products will introduced into the Taiwan insurance market soon. Based on it’s special features, the regulation of investment linked insurance should be different from the regulation of traditional life insurance. This paper defines the scope of investment linked insurance and discourses it’s nature and special features in the first place, and then describes it’s historical evolution and main types. In terms of insurance regulation, it is generally divided into two broad categories: i.e. financial regulation and market conduct regulation. This paper studies on the issues of regulation of investment linked insurance in such an approach. With regard to financial regulation of investment linked insurance, five aspects of regulation of investment linked insurance are examined: separate accounts, investments, liability reserves, surrender cash value and tax. With regard to market conduct regulation, this paper includes four aspects: operational qualification, information discourse, products and marketing. Finally the author submits his conclusion and recommendations to the regulatory authority to enhance the framework of regulation of investment linked insurance in Taiwan.

本篇研究主要在探討，臺灣股價指數與重要總體經濟變數之間是否具有長期的穩定關係。並藉由計量模型的估計、比較與研究，希望能因而找出較為準確的估計方法，並瞭解各經濟變數之間的影響與關係。 　　選擇的變數包括：臺灣股票發行量加權指數(SIDX)、美元匯率(UER)、貨幣供給(M2)、利率(IR)、消費者物價指數(CPI)、工業生產指數(PIDX)。資料期間從1975年7月至1995年12月，頻率為月，共246筆資料。 　　第一步我們先對各變數資料作分析檢定，檢定其是否具有單根，亦即檢定其是否為穩定變數；結果有一單根（PIDX）。分析完資料特性之後再做各變數之間的相關檢定，在此以(Canonical Analysis)典型分析的方法為之；結果得出一穩定的共積關係，藉此找出誤差調整項。最後做模型的選定與解釋變數的選擇，以做股價指數（SIDX）的迴歸估計，因其中含有穩定與非穩定的解釋變數，因此我們採取FMOLS（FULLY MODIFIED OLS）作為估計的方法，其中加入誤差調整項為下一期變動方向的解釋，希望如此有助於我們對股價的分析預測，此外並做DYNAMIC-OLS的估計方法與FM-OLS估計方法比較，最後再作股價變動的估計分析。結果發現M2、IR、UER對股價指數（SIDX）較具影響力的變數，而落後一，二期的誤差調整項是最顯著的參數，且股市波動較小時，似乎總體的經濟因素可能有較顯著的影響，股市波動較大時，可能受風險報酬的影響較顯著，詳細內容參見本文。

The use of transformation can usually simplify the analysis of data, especially when the original observations deviate from the underlying assumption of linear model. Box-Cox transformation receives much more attention than others. In this dissertation,. we will review the theory about the estimation, hypotheses test on transformation parameter and about the sensitivity of the linear model parameters in Box-Cox transformation. Monte Carlo simulation is used to study the performance of the transformations. We also display whether Box-Cox transformation make the transformed observations satisfy the assumption of linear model actually.

中國大陸自一九七八年之後，展開了一連串的經濟改革，而金融改革則是其中的主要重點。 　　金融改革的主要目的，是企圖透過組織結構上的改良，來強化其集資之能力，以解決中國大陸經濟發展中，資金不足的問題。經濟發展需要以穩定的資金作為支持，中國大陸的資金困境不是其資金量的不足，而是資金調撥效率的低落，使得無法在即時、適時的條件下，將資金移交至需求者的手上，而此即是金融體制的問題。金融體制改革的結果使得大陸已經產生了金融深化，而金融深化將導致資金問題的獲得解決，也緩和了經濟發展中資金不足的現象。