The literature on short selling documents substantial evidence that short sellers are generally informed investors (e.g., Diamond and Verrecchia, 1987; Asquith and Muelbrook, 1996). This dissertation investigates three specific implications of informed short selling for a firm and its investors. The first essay investigates if short selling discourages managers from pursuing over-optimistic projects by reducing equity market timing. By conditioning short selling on firm overvaluation, this essay shows that short selling reduces managerial equity market timing and increases leverage. This moderating impact of short selling is more pronounced in smaller firms and those with low institutional ownership or higher intangible assets. Furthermore, the results show that board independence facilitates the above effect of short selling which helps protect shareholder interests. The second essay investigates if board independence reduces informed short selling prior to earnings announcements. This essay estimates short sellers’ correct prediction of the direction of unexpected quarterly earnings through Logistic regression and finds that short sellers’ correct prediction decreases in firms with independent boards relative to firms with non-independent boards. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced in firms with CEO duality and large board size. The quasi-natural experiment using the exogenous shock to board independence from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, provides further support to our hypotheses. The third essay provides Sell recommendations by examining pre-announcement short selling of firms ahead of their earnings announcements. The methodology makes Sell recommendations for firms with the highest short position prior to their quarterly earnings announcement. The post-announcement raw, excess, and abnormal returns of firms having the Sell recommendations are statistically and economically significant for multiple-holding periods showing the methodology’s significant trading strategy implication. This dissertation significantly contributes to short selling, governance, capital structure, and investment literature.

With more functionality added to safety-critical avionics systems, new platforms are required to offer the computational capacity needed. Multi-core platforms offer a potential that is now being explored, but they pose significant challenges with respect to predictability due to shared resources (such as memory) being accessed from several cores in parallel. Multi-core processors also suffer from higher sensitivity to permanent and transient faults due to shrinking transistor sizes. This thesis addresses several of these challenges. First, we review major contributions that assess the impact of fault tolerance on worst-case execution time of processes running on a multi-core platform. In particular, works that evaluate the timing effects using fault injection methods. We conclude that there are few works that address the intricate timing effects that appear when inter-core interferences due to simultaneous accesses of shared resources are combined with the fault tolerance techniques. We assess the applicability of the methods to COTS multi-core processors used in avionics. We identify dark spots on the research map of the joint problem of hardware reliability and timing predictability for multi-core avionics systems. Next, we argue that the memory requests issued by the real-time operating systems (RTOS) must be considered in resource-monitoring systems to ensure proper execution on all cores. We also adapt and extend an existing method for worst-case response time analysis to fulfill the specific requirements of avionics systems. We relax the requirement of private memory banks to also allow cores to share memory banks.

The growing market of portable devices and smart wearables has contributed to innovation and development of systems with longer battery-life. While Near Threshold Computing (NTC) systems address the need for longer battery-life, they have certain limitations. NTC systems are prone to be significantly affected by variations in the fabrication process, commonly called process variation (PV). This dissertation explores an intriguing effect of PV, called choke points. Choke points are especially important due to their multifarious influence on the functional correctness of an NTC system. This work shows why novel research is required in this direction and proposes two techniques to resolve the problems created by choke points, while maintaining the reduced power needs.

The circadian clock defines physiologically optimal times for sleeping, which vary along a continuum of circadian phenotypes from morning- to evening-type. Although different ‘chronotypes’ can be discriminated reliably by the Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), there is little published information on their prevalence. The timing of sleep is also heavily influenced by societal norms. However, the relative contribution of circadian physiology versus psychosocial factors is unknown. This thesis took a multidimensional approach to investigating preferred sleep timing within the general population of New Zealand (30-49 years). A New Zealand version of the MEQ was mailed to a random stratified sample of 5,000 adults living in the Wellington region (55.7% response rate). Using scoring criteria for middle-aged adults, approximately 25% of the population were morning-types and 25% were evening-types. The sleeping patterns of 15 morning- and 16 evening-types were monitored using actiwatches and sleep diaries. Morning-types slept significantly earlier, but there were no differences in sleep duration or quality. Both chronotypes showed evidence of using the weekend to catch-up on sleep, although this was more evident among evening-types. Differences between chronotypes were also investigated using the endogenous melatonin rhythm as a circadian phase marker. The timing of the melatonin rhythm was earlier among morning-types, with the difference being greater for melatonin onset, than offset. However, differences between weekday versus weekend sleep explained more of the variability in sleep timing that did circadian phase. Understanding the genetic differences in the circadian clock is evolving rapidly. While this is of particular scientific interest, little consideration has been given to the ethical implications of this type of work. In the final study, a Kaupapa Māori framework was used to explore Māori hopes and concerns for genetic research in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Thematic analysis indicated that Māori are not anti-science, however there is an urgent need for ethical guidelines that uphold and respect the values of Māori society. This thesis argues that sleep is a major public health issue for New Zealand. However, a number of challenges must be met to ensure that new scientific knowledge meets the needs and expectations of the community.

This thesis reports on the recent results of a continuing, high-precision pulsar timing project, currently focused on the nearby, binary millisecond pulsar, PSR J0437_4715. Pulse arrival time analysis has yielded a remarkable series of constraints on the physical parameters of this system and evidence for the distortion of space-time as predicted by the General Theory of Relativity. Owing to the proximity of the PSR J0437_4715 system, relative changes in the positions of the Earth and pulsar result in both annual and secular evolution of the line of sight to the pulsar. Although the changes are miniscule, the effects on the projected orbital parameters are detectable in our data at a high level of significance, necessitating the implementation of an improved timing model. In addition to producing estimates of astrometric parameters with unparalleled precision, the study has also yielded the first three-dimensional orbital geometry of a binary pulsar. This achievement includes the first classical determination of the orbital inclination, thereby providing the unique opportunity to verify the shape of the Shapiro delay and independently confirm a general relativistic prediction. With a current post-fit arrival time residual RMS of 130 ns over four years, the unrivaled quality of the timing data presented herein may eventually contribute to the most stringent limit on the energy density of the proposed stochastic gravitational wave background. Continuing the quest for even greater timing precision, a detailed study of the polarimetry of PSR J0437_4715 was undertaken. This effort culminated in the development of a new, phase-coherent technique for calibrating the instrumental response of the observing system. Observations were conducted at the Parkes 64-m radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia, using baseband recorder technologies developed at York University, Toronto, and at the California Institute of Technology. Data were processed off-line at Swinburne University using a beowulf-style cluster of high-performance workstations and custom software developed by the candidate as part of this thesis.

Delay to antibiotic treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) greater than 4 hours following hospital admission is associated with a 15% increase in mortality. Paper-based guidelines have been widely introduced to improve CAP care, but these interventions have under-performed due to poor compliance in complex clinical workflows. Unlike passive paper-based guidelines, alerting systems based on computer-based decision support systems (CDSS) have the capacity to actively draw attention to delayed clinical processes. Formal consideration of local workflow is key to the design and successful implementation of CDSS. I used workflow analysis techniques to develop an evidence-based alerting system designed to reduce the delay to treatment of CAP in the emergency department (ED) of an Australian tertiary hospital. A sample of 6 CAP patients were observed during October 2001 to derive a structural process flow model, which was refined via stakeholder interview. A deterministic process flow model was then developed using an existing retrospectively compiled CAP database, consisting of 246 patients admitted June-December 1998 and 146 patients admitted May-December 2000. A stratified control sample presenting with respiratory symptoms (n=74, January-December 2003) was collected for the assessment of diagnosis and chest x-ray (CXR) accuracy. Treatment delay greater than 4 hours was associated with failure to diagnose CAP in the ED, the absence of CXR evidence, low triage score, delayed CXR, and failure to treat in the ED. ED physicians only identified 54-57% of those discharged with CAP. Radiologists only reported CAP features in 47% - 67% of initial CXRs for these patients. I hypothesised that a CDSS-based alerting system, composed of a CAP early diagnosis model (EDM) and a simple risk model (CRB-65), would identify enough CAP patients to reduce the percentage treated after 4 hours. I constructed an evidence-based naïve Bayesian EDM (sensitivity = 36%, specificity = 93%). It was able to identify 24% of CAP patients that died in hospital, 38% of those with antibiotics delayed greater than 4 hours, and 26% of those with CXR delayed greater than 4 hours. CAP-specific risk models were equivalent to the Australasian Triage Score (ATS) in predicting mortality. I simulated alerting policy by combining the CDSS with the deterministic process flow model. Alerting for treatment at triage or initial physician assessment, when the EDM was positive, approximately halved the median treatment time of 5.53 hours, and decreased the number treated after 4 hours (62%) by 1/3. Treating EDM-positive patients as ATS category 2 produced a similar effect. Current triage practices, embodied mainly by the disease-independent, sign and symptom based ATS are too coarse to deal with conditions such as CAP, where there is high diagnostic uncertainty and delays in diagnosis and treatment are critical determinants of outcomes. Better outcomes may be achieved with quicker diagnostic and treatment workflows via: analysis of current diagnosis and treatment workflows, analysis and correlation of a comprehensive set of patient symptoms, signs and risk factors for the specific disease, and improving triaging and subsequent workflow through a disease-specific CDSS based on early diagnostic models derived from the previous analyses. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374804 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Medicine, 2009

<p>This master's thesis deals with timing effects in complex on chip systems. It is written in cooperation with the research and development centre of Infineon Technologies. </p><p>One primary goal of all integrated circuit designers is to make the chips as small as possible. In deep sub micron designs timing effects like crosstalk have severe impact on the functionality of the chip. Therefore, accurate timing analyses must be made before the chip is ready for manufacturing. Otherwise the production yield can be reduced drastically. A case study on timing analysis with the 0.13 µm technology is made on the bus system of the device S-GOLD. </p><p>The computer-based program PrimeTime is used to carry out the timing analysis. During the evolution of 0.13 µm technology three design packages have been developed to characterize the timing. Two releases of SGOLD have been designed based on the first and the second design package. The different design packages were compared, with and without pin capacitance variations, on chip variations and crosstalk. Furthermore the two releases are compared. The result from the analysis tool may not correlate well with what you see on the manufactured chips. In order to investigate the correlation, some tests were finally performed on an evaluation board. </p><p>The results from the timing analysis are as expected. The second netlist version is better optimized than the first one. Design package three is most pessimistic among the three design packages. Design package one is most optimistic and does not match the real performance. Both design package two and three fit to the real performance well. Among the three design packages, design package three fits the real performance best.</p>

<p>This masters thesis investigates the possibility to estimate the ethanol content in the fuel using ion currents. Flexible fuel cars can be run on gasoline-ethanol blends with an ethanol content from0 to 85 percentage. It is important for the engine control system to have information about the fuel. In todays cars the measurements of the fuel blend are done by a sensor. If it is possible to do this with ion currents this can be used to detect if the sensor is broken, and then estimate the ethanol content until the sensor gets fixed. The benefit</p><p>of using ion currents is that the signal is measured directly from the spark plug and therefore no extra hardware is needed. To be able to see how the ethanol ratio affects the ion currents, the dependencies of the operating point have been investigated. This has been done by a literature review and by measurements in a Saab 9-3. Engine speed, load, ignition timing, lambda and spark plugs effects on the ion currents are especially studied. A black box model for the ion currents dependence on operating point is developed. This model describes the engine speed, load and ignition timing dependencies well, but it can not be used to estimate the ethanol ratio.</p>

<p>Puberty is the process of becoming sexually mature and it has fundamental somatic and psychosocial implications. The focus of this dissertation was the short and long term developmental significance, concerning both soma et psyche, of female pubertal timing. Four studies were designed to accomplish these aims. Six samples of different ages from different countries and from different time points, comprising several thousand females some of which were followed longitudinally, were used. Age at menarche was used as the primary measure of pubertal maturation. The first main aim of this dissertation was to explore the mechanisms that might explain the well-established link between female pubertal timing and problem behavior, and to identify contextual conditions at which associations are stronger or weaker. Existing explanations are unsatisfactory and little is known about conditions that might affect the strength of the associations.</p><p>In Paper I, we tested and confirmed a peer socialization hypothesis as a satisfactory explanation for the link between early puberty and problematic adjustment. In short, this hypothesis posits that early developing girls associate with older peers and boyfriends because they feel more mature than their same age peers, and through these peers and boyfriends the early developed girls are channeled into more socially advanced behaviors, including normbreaking. This should be particularly true in contexts where heterosexual relationships are sanctioned and where there is an abundance of deviant youth. In Paper II, I used a biopsychosocial approach and studied pubertal timing along with self-perceptions of maturity and early romantic relationships. The findings revealed that early puberty had very different implications depending on the psychological and social contexts in which it was embedded. For instance, when early puberty was coupled with feeling mature and having early romantic relationships, it was associated with adjustment problems. When early puberty was coupled with neither, it was not linked to particularly high levels of problem behavior.</p><p>In stark contrast to the vast literature on the role of female pubertal timing in adolescence, the literature on long-term implications is remarkably limited. For this reason, the second main aim of this dissertation was to study the adult implications of female pubertal timing. In Papers III and IV, we examined long term implications of pubertal timing, particularly as it relates to somatic development. The findings suggested that pubertal timing does have future implications for women’s body perception and composition, with early developing females having higher body mass indexes in adulthood, but only under certain circumstances. The findings of this dissertation help further understanding of the soma et psyche implications of female pubertal timing. They indicate that pubertal timing has concurrent and future implications. It seems, however, that timing is not everything. The developmental significance of female pubertal timing appears to be very different under different contextual conditions. Thus, it is only when girls’ psychological and social contexts are considered that fruitful predictions can be made. As such, the findings have important implications for prevention, policy, and practice.</p>

<p>The aim of this investigation was to find out how students react to and make use of oral and written feedback given to them in class. Another aim was to find out if they preferred one form over the other and whether they make more use of that form. The investigation was conducted at a Swedish upper secondary school and consisted of a questionnaire survey and interviews with groups of students and with their teachers. The interviews with the students focused on clarifying some of the results from the questionnaire. The teacher interviews gave the teachers a chance to give their version of what they thought worked better and why they chose to work that way.</p><p> </p><p>The results showed that students welcome feedback, especially positive feedback used for encouragement. However, they also thought that there was a higher limit to the amount of feedback they could benefit from. Too much of one sort could be ignored or perceived as discouraging. The feedback mostly used in class was oral feedback. This was also what the students thought they benefited from the most since it invited to discussion about their work. Most of the students thought the feedback should be delivered in private because it could be embarrassing to receive feedback in front of their peers. Nevertheless, feedback on pronunciation and smaller errors that could be of use for their peers as well was acceptable in front of the class.</p>