Through Value Net Analysis and Co-opetition, we study the reasons why Apple iPhone becomes so successful nowadays. Apple Inc. has changed the ecosystem and the rules of the game, Apple iPhone sells like hot cakes when appearing on the market. Furthermore, the App Store becomes the most popular software shop in recent years. Apple Inc.,a closed ecological system, threatens the telecom companies such as AT&T, and Apple Inc. versus AT&T are complementary with each other. In this case, Apple Inc. wants to use AT&T¡¦s market share to expand its territories; On the other hand, AT&T hopes that the iPhone makes profits to AT&T as well. Therefore, AT&T signs a tie with the Apple iPhone with a 2-year contract, and sells an iPhone to pay for each additional subsidies of USD$ 250-$300 to Apple Inc.. Apple Inc. used the integration of iPod + iTunes software, bringing consumers customized services. Apple Inc. launched an iPhone in 2007 with the concept of iPod + cell phone + Internet, to subvert the traditional cellphone using habits. Apple Inc. would like to fill its product lines, such as, using memory segments (8G, 16G, 32G ...) to distinguish iPhone 4S for high-end markets, iPhone 4 for the middle markets, iPhone 3GS for low-end customers and so forth. Apple Inc. also adopts different pricing, marketing strategies, to bring high added value to its loyal customers. Apple Inc. took a small risk of judo strategy, to turn the incumbent's advantage into obstacles.Apple Inc. was a late mover, only got 10% market share, it still stands on its niche market. Apple Inc. targets on the high-end markets, and differentiates with itself with other players (including NOKIA, MOTOROLA, HTC, SAMSUNG and so on). Apple Inc. changes the scope of game, and redefines the industrial boundaries, so Nintendo and SONY have to face intense competition in few years. Apple Inc. launched App Store, letting different groups of people to join the software application development, in this way Apple Inc. lowers the software price to attract more consumers. Theoritically,that is so-called bilateral market effects (It¡¦s a positive loop between software programmers and consumers). As long as the bilateral market effects get stronger, Apple Inc. will have stronger bargaining power for its suppliers. In order to control the suppliers, Apple Inc. always signs a contract with them or takes part in their shares. Apple Inc. would not only give its suppliers a great amount of single order, but also give same orders in turn between two manufacturers. Under this situation, its suppliers can easily be replaced and Apple Inc. will benefit from this condition. According to reports, Apple Inc. would limit all raw materials of an iPhone and try so hard to cost down in advance, and even follow-up iPhone logistics and maintenance as well. As a result, Apple Inc.¡¦s suppliers do nothing but the OEM jobs for Apple Inc. after all.

The Commercial Times reported on 9th December, 2010 that EU imposed a fine of 26 billion on five TFT-LCD firms. Also it was covered that during the enforcement of Antitrust, Samsung was indemnified against punishment since it acted as an informer, while Chimei Innolux incurred the heaviest fine of £á0.3 billion. Samsung is not only playing the role of a supplier to TFT-LCD firms in Taiwan, it is also a competitor and an important customer of them. At the time when 911 terrorist attacks happened in USA, global economy had entered a deep recession. Taiwan¡¦s TFT-LCD industry formed an alliance with Samsung after experiencing a deficit for three consecutive quarters. However, when investigation of Anti-dumping was undergoing, Samsung betrayed its promises. By studying this incident, the co-opetition relationship between Samsung and the TFT-LCD industry in Taiwan was being explored. Besides, how and what the industry should learn from this lesson is reviewed from the application of co-opetition strategies as well as the viewpoint of Game Theory.

The processing and characterization of thin film metallic glasses (TFMGs) and bulk metallic glass foams (BMGFs), prepared by the dealloying corrosion process, have been studied. The TFMGs were fabricated by the co-sputtering with the Zr65Cu25Ti10 (wt%) alloy target and the pure Ta target. For BMG, there are two kinds of amorphous metallic powders adopted, namely, Zr53Cu30Ni9Al8, and Ti40Cu36Pd14Zr10. The Zr- and Ti-based powders were sintered at the temperature that Zr- and Ti-based powders overlap their supercooled regions. To fabricate the porous structure, these materials were selectively dissolved using electrochemical treatments in 0.1 M HNO3 solution. The glassy nature and the pore morphology of the corroded materials were confirmed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. In the current study, the pore size is about 10-30 £gm and the porosity volume faction is about 43%. By using different combinations of the powders size and volume fraction, the resulting pore size and porosity fraction can be upgraded to 200-500 £gm and 60-80%, respectively.

This dissertation is focused on understanding the structure-activity relationship in heterogeneous catalysis by studying model catalytic systems. The catalytic oxidation of CO was chosen as a model reaction for studies on a variety of catalysts. A series of Au/TiO2 catalysts were prepared from various metalorganic gold complexes. The catalytic activity and the particle size of the gold catalysts were strongly dependent on the gold complexes. The Au/TiO2 catalyst prepared from a tetranuclear gold complex showed the best performance for CO oxidation, and the average gold particle size of this catalyst was 3.1 nm. CO oxidation was also studied over Au/MgO catalysts, where the MgO supports were annealed to various temperatures between 900 and 1300 K prior to deposition of Au. A correlation was found between the activity of Au clusters for the catalytic oxidation of CO and the F-center concentration in the MgO support. In addition, the catalytic oxidation of CO was studied in a batch reactor over supported Pd/Al2O3 catalysts, a Pd(100) single crystal, as well as polycrystalline metals of rhodium, palladium, and platinum. A hyperactive state, corresponding to an oxygen covered surface, was observed at high O2/CO ratios at elevated pressures. The reaction rate at this state was significantly higher than that on CO-covered surfaces at stoichiometric conditions. The oxygen chemical potential required to achieve the hyperactive state depends on the intrinsic properties of the metal, the particle size, and the reaction temperature. A well-ordered ultra-thin titanium oxide film was synthesized on the Mo(112) surface as a model catalyst support. Two methods were used to prepare this Mo(112)- (8x2)-TiOx film, including direct growth on Mo(112) and indirect growth by deposition of Ti onto monolayer SiO2/Mo(112). The latter method was more reproducible with respect to film quality as determined by low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. The thickness of this TiOx film was one monolayer and the oxidation state of Ti was +3 as determined by Auger spectroscopy, high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Homeschooling is a growing trend in America. Studies on homeschooling in the past three decades have focused on the reasons why parents choose to homeschool, the academic and social quality of homeschooling, and the perceptions of public and private school officials towards homeschooling, as well as homeschooling parents' perceptions of public and private schools. The literature on homeschool cooperatives is scarce. A homeschool cooperative (co-op) is a group of homeschooling parents who have gathered to collectively teach their children. Co-ops might teach core subjects, electives, athletics, or just serve as an opportunity for homeschooling families to gather for fellowship and social time. This dissertation is a study of a homeschool co-op in San Antonio, Texas. The researcher for this study attempted to answer two questions: 1) What is a history of the co-op, and 2) What are the daily operations of the co-op? This researcher observed the selected co-op in action, reviewed documents supplied by co-op members, and interviewed four members of the co-op who have varying degrees of participation in the co-op. Through triangulation of interviews, observations, and documents, this researcher has described a history of the selected co-op, including its founding and daily operations. The co-op, formed in 2005, is a large, Catholic-affiliated co-op that meets weekly for twelve weeks each semester. The teachers, all paid, are either parents of co-op students or individuals hired from outside the co-op. Students in the co-op have twenty to twenty-five courses from which to choose each semester. The participants in the study are satisfied with their experiences in the Quality Homeschool Co-op. The participants state that the co-op is providing quality academic classes that supplement the curricula used at home. The participants are also pleased with the positive socialization that their children receive while attending the co-op. This study adds to the literature on homeschooling cooperatives. Although further research on this study is possible based on different research questions, this researcher has presented a history of Quality Homeschool Co-op and has documented the co-op's daily operations.

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Abstract This study is dedicated to discussing Semiconductor Industrial Cluster competitive advantages on both shores of the Taiwan Straits, and finding out Taiwan IC design industries co-competition strategies with Main Land China. The theory base on the Industrial Cluster by Michael E. Porter. The analytical tool is Diamond Structure of The Competitive Advantage of nations by Michael E. Porter. There are four dimensions¡GFactor Endowments, Demand Conditions, Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry, Related and Supporting Industries, and another two factors¡G Government and Chance. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1. Taiwan IC design industries must make use of Main Land China IC design resource to increase Taiwan competitive advantages. 2. For increase IC design human resource supply purpose. The industrial policy made by Taiwan government must be changed to recruit Hi-Tec engineer from Main Land China. 3. Taiwan has on geography and culture market competitive advantage, IC design industries should participate in establishing China industrial standard. 4. Build up Taiwan's own brand. 5. Build up patent alliance to increase Taiwan IC design industrial competitive advantages. 6. Globalize the enterprise-integrated resource.

Inclusion of students at all levels is a challenge. The acceptance of this challenge, however, has been mandated by the No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. Co-teaching is one among the service delivery models of inclusion implemented in the general education classroom (Rea & Connell, 2005; Weiss & Lloyd, 2002). This study compared the achievement of general education students in general education classes to the achievement of general education students in co-teach classes to determine if there is a significant difference in the achievement of general education students because of participation in a co-teach classroom instructional arrangement. The population of this quantitative study consisted of secondary general education students from a large suburban school district in Texas conducting science and social studies courses in both co-teach and non-co-teach classrooms. The t-test for the two independent samples was used to determine the statistical difference between the mean Science scores and the mean social studies scores of the treatment group and the comparison group on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills in science and social studies. An alpha level of .05 was used as the standard of significance on all tests. Two-way ANOVA was used to determine student achievement differences in treatment and/or comparison groups by gender, ethnicity, English language learner status, and socioeconomic status. Post-hoc analysis of the impact of ethnicity was also undertaken. Results indicate that general education students performed at higher levels in regular Science classes than in co-teach science classes. Results also concluded that general education students performed at higher levels in regular social studies classes than in co-teach social studies classes. Significant student achievement variations were also found to be correlated with each of the other variables considered. Recommendations for further research and stakeholders were provided.

Reconfigurable supercomputing has been used by many high-performance computer systems to accelerate the processing speed. Thus, it is the present trend to use the microprocessor to combine with reconfigurable FPGA as the embedded system platform. However, the hardware-software co-design and integration of embedded system become great challenges of the designer. Beside this, the communication between hardware and software is crucial for the system to be operated effectively. Our concept consists of the design of FPGA configuration, described in I-Link hardware/software integration, improve the communication among the hardware and software. Besides, by using command packet method, we put the data to multi-hardware through hardware management unit (HMU). While system is operated, The Boot Loader will set up TCB and HCB data structure through PSP. The PSP can be regarded as the important reference segment of messages switching among system and hardware/software. The HMU has data buffering and management ability which can let the processes more easy and smooth. We successfully accomplish a hardware-software integrated system in HSCP, which is developed in our laboratory. The basic components of our platform include ARM7TDMI CPU, memory and Altera ACEK 1K-100 of FPGA. By using ARM-code, we also preliminary accomplish the Boot Loader, HW Constructor and self-developed embedded system. Finally, we make use of a large amount of multiplication operation and matrix summation to verify the feasibility of this system architecture.