"July 12, 2002" / Bibliography: p. 130-137 / viii, 160 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, 2002

In this article we analyse the structure of Markov processes and reciprocal processes to underline their time symmetrical properties, and to compare them. Our originality consists in adopting a unifying approach of reciprocal processes, independently of special frameworks in which the theory was developped till now (diffusions, or pure jump processes). This leads to some new results, too.

Enron is examined as a critical case study to understand the role of information in the Enron’s Board’s decision-making processes. Three major events in the Enron failure were analyzed in detail using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified regarding the communication and use of information in Enron: interdependency of authority relationships, information control, and decision protocol and policies that shaped the information that management sent to the Board during the approval process. The Board was dependent on advisors to provide approvals first, prior to Board approval. The relationships between advisors and management influenced the information sent to the Board and affected controls used to monitor deals. The Board maintained that they were unaware of red flags, such as warnings related to incomplete disclosures and conflict of interest issues. The Board received information for arrangements which required Board approval but it had limited access to information regarding Enron’s operations.

Enron is examined as a critical case study to understand the role of information in the Enron’s Board’s decision-making processes. Three major events in the Enron failure were analyzed in detail using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified regarding the communication and use of information in Enron: interdependency of authority relationships, information control, and decision protocol and policies that shaped the information that management sent to the Board during the approval process. The Board was dependent on advisors to provide approvals first, prior to Board approval. The relationships between advisors and management influenced the information sent to the Board and affected controls used to monitor deals. The Board maintained that they were unaware of red flags, such as warnings related to incomplete disclosures and conflict of interest issues. The Board received information for arrangements which required Board approval but it had limited access to information regarding Enron’s operations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

The current study addresses the overarching issue of the role that different types of involvement play in cognitive and behavioral processes and attitude formation by investigating 1) if and how SI and EI function jointly to form the level of AMI, 2) how SI, EI and AMI are interwoven to affect the level of RI, 3) the joint role of SI and EI on the routes to attitude formation. The findings suggest that SI and EI additively influence the level of AMI with stronger role of EI on the formation of AMI. Moreover, while SI and/or EI may affect AMI and subsequent cognitive and behavioral processes such as attention, comprehension, elaboration and information search intention their influences on such cognitive processes are only observed indirectly via the mediating role of AMI. No direct influence of SI and/or EI is observed when AMI is included in the models tested. In addition, AMI appears to be a robust indicator to the level of attention and information search intention regardless of the types of situational source of personal relevance and product types used, while SI and/or EI provide somewhat mixed results depending on the type of situational source of personal relevance and the type of products considered. With regard to joint function of SI, EI and AMI on the information search intention, there is an initial evidence of direct interactive influence of SI and EI on information search intention beyond the mediating role of AMI. However, this interactive function is only found via moderated regression analyses rather than ANOVA with a median-split of EI. Concerning attitude formation via dual-route theories of ELM and HSM, the current study suggests that systematic (central) vs. heuristic (peripheral) processing based on SI is inadequate to account for the two qualitatively different processes in advertising context dealing with laptop computer and digital camera ad. / text

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The main objectives of this study are:- 1 - to construct a wiring connecting system between the pulsed and direct current units to produce a pulsed submerged arc weld. 2 - to determine the boundary conditions for the welding parameters used to control weld profile and metal transfer during pulsed current submerged arc welding. 3 - to establish a relationship between the pulsed current frequency and the geometry of the deposited weld metal, and to apply the results to narrow gap welding. 4 - to design and construct a microprocessor interface system capable of handling, presenting and storing the data. The thesis has been divided into three parts as follows:- Part I The feasibility of pulsed current submerged arc welding process. Part II The use of pulsed current to control the geometry and properties of welding metal. Part III Computer aided monitoring of the welding parameters. In the first part, a review of relevant information is presented together with a description of the experimental technique used in connecting the pulsed and background current units. In the second part attention is focus sed on the procedure for identifying the usable zones within which a successful weld can be obtained. Critical boundary conditions of welding parameters were established using the combination of pulsed and direct currents. Having established these boundaries, the effects of pulsed current frequency on the weld profile and weld metal properties were investigated and the results used to establish a practical guide line on narrow gap applications. In the third part the design and construction of a microprocessor- based system was designed to monitor the welding parameters using binary counter, an analogue switch and voltage to frequency converters which enables real time values of welding variables to be determined over a period of between 1 - 100 seconds, depending on the memory size of the microprocessor.

published_or_final_version / Statistics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy