Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 250-263).

Research concerning covenants has at large not examined what quantifiable relationship covenants have with yield spreads. We shed light on this topic as we evaluate Swedish bond indentures. By examining the relationship between covenants and yield spread, our results indicate whether covenants effectively mitigate the bondholder-stockholder conflict. The results from our OLS-model indicate that the poison put option and covenants restricting dividends and mergers have a positive relationship with the yield spread, and that the negative pledge has a negative relationship with the yield spread. Furthermore, our results indicate that some covenants are too costly for companies issuing investment grade bonds. Those covenants are therefore only included in bonds with higher yield spreads, where a conflict between bondholders and stockholders could be greater. / Ett kvantifierbart förhållande mellan kovenanter och räntebasmarginalen har överlag i tidigare forskning inte undersökts. I denna uppsats åskådliggör vi detta förhållande genom att undersöka svenska företagsobligationer. Genom att studera relationen mellan kovenanter och räntebasmarginalen kan våra resultat visa på huruvida kovenanter motverkar konflikten mellan obligationsinnehavare och aktieägare. Resultaten från vår OLS-modell visar att poison put option och kovenanter som begränsar utdelningar och fusioner har ett positivt samband med räntebasmarginalen, medan negative pledge har ett negativt samband med räntebasmarginalen. Vidare visar våra resultat att vissa kovenanter är för dyra för företag som ger ut investment grade obligationer. Dessa kovenanter finns därför bara med i obligationer med högre räntebasmarginaler, där en konflikt mellan obligationsinnehavare och aktieägare kan vara större.

Recently, there has been increasing interest within the potential user community of Global Positioning System (GPS) for high precision navigation problems such as aircraft non precision approach, river and harbor navigation, real-time or kinematic surveying. In view of more and more GPS applications, the reliability of GPS is at this issue. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio navigation system that provides consistent positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis. The GPS system receiver provides exact location and time information for an unlimited number of users in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world. The work in this thesis will mainly focuss on how to model a Mathematical expression for tracking GPS Signal using Phase Locked Loop filter receiver. Mathematical formulation of the filter are of two types: the first order and the second order loops are tested successively in order to find out a compromised on which one best provide a zero steady state error that will likely minimize noise bandwidth to tracks frequency modulated signal and returns the phase comparator characteristic to the null point. Then the Z-transform is used to build a phase-locked loop in software for digitized data. Finally, a Numerical Methods approach is developed using either MATLAB or Mathematica containing the package for Gaussian elimination to provide the exact location or the tracking of a GPS in the space for a given a coarse/acquisition (C/A) code.

Transcription and translation of mammalian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) occurs within the mitochondrial matrix to produce oxidative phosphorylation subunits required for efficient energy production. These mtDNA-encoded subunits complex with mitochondrial-localized, nuclear-encoded subunits to form the respiratory chain, and aberrant production or function of these subunits can cause devastating human disease. In addition to 13 oxidative phosphorylation subunits, mtDNA encodes 2 rRNAs and 22 tRNAs. All proteins required for mitochondrial RNA transcription, processing, and translation are encoded in the nucleus and translocated into the mitochondria. Here, I characterize over 100 nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins with predicted RNA-binding domains. Using RNAi and an RNA profiling approach, MitoString, we further characterize previously identified RNA processing factors and identify the novel regulator FASTKD4, which influences the abundance of a subset of mitochondrial mRNAs. Next, we apply knowledge of the RNA degradation component SUPV3L1 gleaned from our RNAi studies and previous research to test whether a specific set of variants influence the function of this gene in patient fibroblasts. Using MitoString, we find no evidence of pathogenicity of these variants in our fibroblast model. Our approach highlights the value of a thorough understanding of mitochondrial proteins and the necessity of experimental techniques to validate the effect of variants found in exome-sequencing studies. Finally, we take an unbiased approach to characterizing the mitochondrial transcriptome of mouse liver by sequencing RNA from sequentially enriched mitochondrial fractions. Although we find an abundance of nuclear-encoded 5S rRNA, consistent with previous research, we fail to identify any imported nuclear-encoded tRNAs. Uniting genomics, biochemistry, and medicine, these findings advance our understanding of mitochondrial RNA biology.

The solar wind has an important impact on the Earth and its magnetic field. Among the solar wind perturbations, there can be jumps in the solar wind dynamic pressure as well as strong magnetic excursions in the z-component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF B_(Z )). When coronal mass ejections and other solar disturbances take place in the solar wind, there can be clear changes in the global geomagnetic field, as measured by a magnetic index called Sym-H. In this thesis some unusual events were found for which there were large fluctuations either in the solar wind dynamic pressure or in the IMF B_Z but not simultaneously in both. These events suggest that the response of the geomagnetic field to the dynamic pressure fluctuations of the solar wind is variable. In particular, it was found that the earthward component (x-component) of the IMF appeared to influence the magnitude of the Sym-H response. By contrast, there was no visible impact of the y-component of the IMF. In a second exceptional event it was found that the IMF was changing substantially while the solar wind dynamic pressure remained very constant. From this study a time delay between the IMF B_Z component and the resulting Sym-H was found to be of the order of 60 to 90 minutes.

Ο όρος μη-γραμμική οπτική αντιπροσωπεύει τον κλάδο της οπτικής ο οποίος μελετά την αλληλεπίδραση της ύλης με ακτινοβολία πολύ ισχυρής έντασης. Όταν ένα υλικό εκτεθεί σε ακτινοβολία υψηλής έντασης όπως αυτή του laser, οι οπτικές του ιδιότητες αλλάζουν εξαιτίας της πόλωσης που επάγεται στα δομικά υλικά του και το αποτέλεσμα είναι η αλλαγή των οπτικών του ιδιοτήτων. Αυτό με τη σειρά του οδηγεί σε μια πληθώρα φαινομένων τα οποία μας βοηθούν στη κατανόηση της δομής του υλικού αλλά και των φυσικών μηχανισμών που κρύβονται πίσω από αυτά. Στην παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή εργασία μελετώνται οι μη γραμμικές οπτικές ιδιότητες χρωμοφόρων τύπου BODIPY υπό μορφή διαλυμάτων. Η σύνθεση των μορίων έγινε στο Ινστιτούτο Φυσικοχημείας του ΕΚΕΦΕ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΙΤΟΣ από την ερευνητική ομάδα του κ.Πιστόλη στα πλαίσια ενός έργου ΘΑΛΛΗ. Η διάρθωση της εργασίας είναι η εξής: Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια εισαγωγή και παρουσιάζονται κάποιες βασικές έννοιες της μη γραμμικής οπτικής. Ενώ ταυτόχρονα αναπτύσσονται αναλυτικότερα μερικά φαινόμενα τα οποία οφείλονται στη μη γραμμική επιδεκτικότητα τρίτης τάξης. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο γίνεται η παρουσίαση της πειραματικής τεχνικής Z-scan, που χρησιμοποιήθηκε για τη διεξαγωγή των πειραμάτων, αλλά και η διαδικασία που ακολουθήθηκε για την εξαγωγή των μη γραμμικών οπτικών ιδιοτήτων από τα πειραματικά δεδομένα. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται τα πειραματικά αποτελέσματα των συστημάτων που μελετήθηκαν. Αρχικά, παρουσιάζεται μια περιγραφή των ιδιαίτερων φωτοφυσικών ιδιοτήτων των μορίων BODIPY που μελετήθηκαν. 'Επειτα, ακολουθεί η μη γραμμική οπτική απόκριση των συστημάτων για διέγερση στα 532nm και 1064nm με παλμούς χρονικής διάρκειας 532ps και 4ns. Τέλος, ακολουθούν τα συμπεράσματα από τη μελέτη των συστημάτων και μια πρόταση για μελλοντική μελέτη. / Nonlinear optics (NLO) is related to laser-matter interactions, as well as the changes which are induced in materials during their interaction with intense laser fields. Laser beams can provide strong enough electromagnetic fields, capable of inducing optical changes. In these cases the response of the material is not linearly dependent on the intensity of the electric field. The primary objective of this thesis was the investigation of the non-linear optical properties of BODIPY derivatives. In particular, we focused on the determination of the second-order hyperpolarizability in order to correlate the magnitude and the sign of the observed nonlinearities with their photophysical characteristics. The main experimental technique used was the Z-scan technique, employing 35 ps and 4 ns laser pulses at both 532 nm and 1064 nm. The molecules were synthesized by the research group of Dr. Pistolis at the Institute of Physical Chemistry NCSR ''Demokritos" as a part of the ''THALIS" programme. The structure of the thesis is as follows: In Chapter 1, the basic NLO phenomena and the corresponding related nonlinear optical parameters are introduced. In Chapter 2, the theoretical background of the Z-scan technique is briefly presented, while the Z-scan experimental set-up is fully described. In Chapter 3, experimental results on the NLO properties of the Bodipy derivatives are presented. The relationship between the nonlinear optical properties and photophysical properties of the derivatives is also considered. The conclusion summarizes the results of the NLO response of the BODIPY derivatives and details a proposal for future work..

Note: / Karol Szymanowski's music has fascinated me for a long time. The first time I encountered his name was in Artur Rubinstein's autobiography, which recounts how they first met and narrates many anecdotes about their friendship. At the time, I was living in Brazil, and was unable to find any recordings of his music. Nonetheless, Rubinstein's ardent praise of him (“a master!”, “a great Polish composer!”, “a powerful, original personality”) made me very curious, and I did not abandon my desire to keep looking for his music. Then, when I moved to Montreal in order to start my undergraduate degree at McGill University, I was finally able to find many recordings of his works at the school's library.[...]

Bakgrund: Många företag går i konkurs varje år vilket leder till att olika intressenter drabbas hårt till följd av konkursen. Därmed har konkursprognostiseringsmodeller utvecklats för att ge en tidig varning till intressenterna om företags framtida finansiella kris.  I Sverige använder kreditinstituten sig av sina egna modeller för att förutspå konkurser, dessa modeller är inte publicerade för allmänheten. I och med detta är vi intresserade att tillämpa utländska modeller på den svenska marknaden. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka fyra internationella prognostiseringsmodeller för att analysera hur tillämpbara de är på den svenska marknaden. Metod: Undersökningen har baserats på en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi och en deduktiv forskningsansats. Urvalet grundades på de företag som inlett konkurs år 2012 samt en kontrollgrupp bestående av friska företag. Slutligen bestod det slumpmässiga urvalet av 31 konkursföretag och 31 friska företag som tillhör tillverknings- och industribranschen. Teori: Under teoriavsnittet beskrivs de modeller som används i denna studieforskning. Vidare redogörs för nyckeltalens betydelse vid bedömning av företags finansiella förhållanden. Slutligen beskrivs tidigare forskning inom konkursprognostisering. Resultat och slutsats: Modellerna är inte tillämpbara på den svenska tillverknings- och industribranschen då dessa inte har presenterat tillförlitliga resultat på vår studie. Vi anser att en vidare revidering av dessa modeller behövs för att dessa ska kunna tillämpas på den svenska marknaden.

Significance tests for the measure of raw agreement are proposed. First, it is shown that the measure of raw agreement can be expressed as a proportionate reduction-in-error measure, sharing this characteristic with Cohen's Kappa and Brennan and Prediger's Kappa_n. Second, it is shown that the coefficient of raw agreement is linearly related to Brennan and Prediger's Kappa_n. Therefore, using the same base model for the estimation of expected cell frequencies as Brennan and Prediger's Kappa_n, one can devise significance tests for the measure of raw agreement. Two tests are proposed. The first uses Stouffer's Z, a probability pooler. The second test is the binomial test. A data example analyzes the agreement between two psychiatrists' diagnoses. The covariance structure of the agreement cells in a rater by rater table is described. Simulation studies show the performance and power functions of the test statistics. (author's abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

This master thesis examines the development of the two earlier independent IR protocols Z39.50 and SR (Search and Retrieve, ISO 10162/10163), now Z39.50/SR, from the beginning of the 80s to 1996 and their functionality in the client/server environment. Z39.50 applications in library systems will allow easy access to information regardless of platform or location. The use of Z39.50 will create a new user environment. Almost all the library systems of the market support the Z39.50 and surprisingly the use of it in Sweden lied on a very low leve! in 1996. This thesis was followed-up by an interview and a questioner among the Swedish Z39.50 users. They could see a huge potential of development concerning the future IR process. Z39.50 will change the libraries' traditional IR structure and the behaviour of the end-users.