In the first essay, "The Source of Cash and Its Marginal Value," we study the relation between the source of firms' cash holdings and the value of the cash to shareholders. The marginal value of a dollar of cash holdings depends on the source of the dollar: $1.00 of cash has a value of $1.27 when it is from operations, $0.80 when from financing, and $0.46 when from investing. Within the same source, the marginal value of an added dollar of cash holdings is significantly higher than the absolute value of a subtracted dollar. Shareholders of financially constrained or distressed firms value incremental cash holdings from almost any source more highly than do shareholders of unconstrained or stronger firms, but differences in value remain across the sources of cash within each subsample. Agency costs and information asymmetry are two frictions that appear to have the largest impact upon the value of cash. In the second essay, "Explanations for Diverging Values of Cash," we further explain the differing values of cash found in the first essay. Intertemporal relationships among the sources and uses of cash provide a rational basis for shareholders to assign different values of cash based on the source. Sources of cash provide information about likely uses of cash up to two to three years in the future, and many of the intertemporal relations are statistically and economically significant. Likewise, prior uses of cash relate significantly to later uses of cash. Past sources of cash inform investors about likely future sources, even up to five years into the future. The fact that different kinds of cash flows have predictive power for future cash flows helps explain the wide range of the values of cash associated with different sources.

Les xarxes WLANs possibiliten un accés de banda ampla a Internet des d'un terminal mòbil, essent una possible solució alternativa a les xarxes cel·lulars. Tanmateix, aquest tipus de tecnologia presenta certes limitacions, com és la difícil coexistència entre fluxos de tràfic rígids (VoIP) i fluxos de tràfic elàstic (TCP), degut al propi protocol d'accés al medi. En aquesta tesi es proposa la utilització d'un nou mecanisme de control d'admissió que utilitzant el nou estàndard de qualitat de servei en xarxes WLAN (EDCA). La utilització del mecanisme de control d'admissió millora notablement les prestacions que es poden obtenir de la xarxa, solucionant les diferents limitacions de la tecnologia. Per a l'avaluació i optimització del mecanisme de control d'admissió s'ha desenvolupat un conjunt d'eines matemàtiques que permeten capturar tant la dinàmica del protocol d'accés com el comportament dels diferents fluxos de tràfic multimèdia que s'han consideren (VoIP i tràfic elàstic, TCP). / WLANs provide a broadband access to Internet from a mobile terminal, which can be a possible alternative solution to cellular networks. However, this technology presents several limitations, as it is the difficult coexistence between rigid traffic flows (VoIP) and elastic traffic flows (TCP), due to the medium access protocol itself. In this thesis a new admission control mechanism is proposed. It uses the set of QoS mechanisms provided by the new EDCA standard. The use of the proposed admission control mechanism improves the overall WLAN performance, solving the different technology limitations. In order to be able to evaluate and optimize the admission control mechanism, several mathematical tools have been developed in order to capture the dynamics of both, the access protocol and of the different multimedia traffic flows that have been considered.

[Abstract]This thesis reports the development of new meshless schemes for solving timedependent partial differential equations (PDEs) and for the numerical simulation of some typical unsteady incompressible viscous flows.The new numerical schemes are based on the Idirect/Integrated Radial Basis Function Network (IRBFN) method which is fully meshless as no element-typemesh is required. The IRBFN method has been successfully applied to solve time-independent elliptic PDEs, some steady fluid flows and recently unsteady Navier-Stokes equations in streamfunction-vorticiy formulation using simple time integration methods (e.g. first-order backward Euler method). The main objective of the present research is to devise and implement meshless numerical schemes for unsteady problems in computational fluid dynamics where notonly the accuracy but also the efficiency and stability of the numerical schemes are of primary concerns. In addition, the effects of different parameters of theIRBFN method on the accuracy, stability and efficiency of the proposed numerical schemes are extensively studied in this research.As the first step in extending the IRBFN method to various types of timedependent PDEs, two numerical schemes combining the IRBFN method with high-order time stepping algorithms are developed for solving parabolic, hyperbolic,and advection-diffusion equations. Sensitivity analysis of the method to point density, time-step size and shape parameter are extensively performed to study the influence of these parameters to the overall accuracy of the method.A further extension of the IRBFN method for incompressible fluid flows with moving interfaces, especially for passive transport problems is accomplished in this research with a novel meshless approach in which the level set methodis coupled with the the IRBFN method for capturing moving interfaces in an ambient fluid flow without any explicit computation of the actual front location.Another contribution of this research is the development of two new meshless schemes based on the IRBFN method for the numerical simulation of unsteady incompressible viscous flows governed by the Navier-Stokes equations. In the new schemes, the splitting approach is used to deal with the momentum equation and the incompressibility constraint in a segregated manner. Numerical experiments on the new schemes in terms of accuracy and stability are performed for verification purposes.Finally, a novel meshless hybrid scheme is developed in this research to numerically simulate interfacial flows in which the motion and deformation of the interface between the two immiscible fluids are fully captured. Unlike the passive transport problems mentioned above where the influence of the moving interface on the surrounding fluid is ignored, the interfacial flows are studied here with the surface tension taken into account. As a result, a two-way interaction between the moving interface and the ambient flow is fully investigated.All numerical schemes developed in this research are verified through a wide range of transient problems including different kinds of time-dependent PDEs,typical passive transport problems and interfacial flows as well as unsteady incompressible viscous flows governed by Navier-Stokes equations.

This thesis assesses the extent to which jet precession can be used to control the mean and instantaneous particle distributions in particle-laden jet flows. Investigations were conducted, providing quantitative, planar measurements of instantaneous particle distributions in the first 10 nozzle diameters of a particle-laden co-annular nozzle with centrally located Precessing Jet (PJ). Equipment was specifically designed to conduct the investigations, a laser diagnostic technique developed and a methodology to quantify particle clusters was devised. The experimental facilities are scaled to simulate the near burner region of a typical rotary cement kiln. The laser diagnostic technique, called planar nephelometry, enables non-intrusive, quantitative, instantaneous, planar measurements of particle distributions without the need to identify individual particles. The methodology to quantify particle clusters is designed to enable statistical comparison of clusters without ambiguity. Measurements of the influence of particle mass loading and jet precession on the distribution of particles emerging from an particle-laden co-annular nozzle, with a centrally located PJ nozzle, are presented. These data include mean and standard deviation of the particle distributions and statistics on particle cluster characteristics. The results indicate that small amounts of momentum through the PJ nozzle causes an elongation of the jet, but larger amounts of momentum through the PJ nozzle will result in a wider mean particle distribution and greater mean centreline decay rate. An increase in jet precession also results in an increase in the fluctuations in the particle distributions. The transition is determined by the interplay of momentum of the particle-laden and precessing streams. The physical characteristics of identified particle clusters in the instantaneous planar flow field are also influenced by jet precession. An initial increase in the amount of jet precession results in an overall decrease in the average number of both small- and large-clusters. The size of small-clusters generally reduces with increasing jet precession, whereas large-clusters reach maximum sizes for an intermediate relative momentum of jet precession. Analogous to the influence of jet precession on the mean distribution of particles, increasing jet precession also results in a greater spread of small- and large-clusters. Results also indicate that increasing the mass flow rate of particles results in an elongation of the jet. However, these variations correspond to an increase in annular jet momentum, rather than an addition of secondary phase. The particle mass flow rate has a minor influence on the general characteristics of particle clusters. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1370427 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 2009

Debris-flows pose serious hazards to communities in mountainous regions of the world and are often responsible for loss of life and damages to infrastructure. Characterised by high flow velocity, large impact forces and long runout, debris-flows have potential discharges several times greater than clear water flood discharges and possess much greater erosive and destructive potential. In combination with poor temporal predictability, they present a significant hazard to settlements, transport routes and other infrastructure located at the drainage points (fan-heads) of watersheds. Thus, it is important that areas vulnerable to debris-flows are identified in order to aid decisions on appropriate land-uses for alluvial fans. This research has developed and tested a new GIS-based procedure for identifying areas prone to debris-flow hazards in the Coromandel/Kaimai region, North Island, New Zealand. The procedure was developed using ESRI Arc View software, utilising the NZ 25 x 25 m DEM as the primary input. When run, it enabled watersheds and their associated morphometric parameters to be derived for selected streams in the study area. Two specific parameters, Melton ratio (R) and watershed length were then correlated against field evidence for debris-flows, debris-floods and fluvial processes at stream watershed locations in the study area. Overall, strong relationships were observed to exist between the evidence observed for these phenomena and the parameters, thus confirming the utility of the GIS procedure for the preliminary identification of hydrogeomorphic hazards such as debris-flow in the Coromandel/Kaimai region study area. In consideration of the results, the procedure could prove a useful tool for regional councils and CDEM groups in regional debris-flow hazard assessment for the identification of existing developments at risk of debris-flow disaster. Furthermore, the procedure could be used to provide justification for subsequent, more intensive local investigations to fully quantify the risk to people and property at stream fan and watershed locations in such areas.

Agricultural intensification on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand has lead to the degradation of natural streams and rivers through lowering of water quality and significant reduction of surface flows from the use of ground and surface water resources. However, this same agricultural expansion has led to the development of a network of permanently flowing open water races to supply stock water to farms across the Canterbury Plains. Stock water races form an extensive network, with approximately 6,500 km of races. Initially I surveyed 62 water races and compared habitat characteristics, water quality, benthic invertebrate and fish communities with nearby natural streams. Races are characterised physically by straight, narrow and shallow channels, and small, uniform substrate. Water races are more turbid than natural streams, and can have high summer temperatures. The benthic macroinvertebrate communities of water races contained a range of taxa, including some not found in natural streams, but communities were less diverse than communities in natural streams, and tended to be dominated by a limited set of generalist taxa. A longitudinal study of three water races showed gradients in physical characteristics of races, including a downstream decrease in channel width, water depth, current velocity and substrate size. However, few strong longitudinal changes to community structure were found, as the generalist taxa commonly occurring in water races were able to tolerate conditions throughout the race network. To test if macroinvertebrate communities were limited by the homogeneous habitat of water races, I conducted a substrate manipulation experiment, where large cobbles and small boulders were added to reaches in five water races. Despite an increase in substrate and current heterogeneity, there were few significant changes to the macroinvertebrate communities over the four months of the manipulation. This outcome does not eliminate low habitat heterogeneity as a limiting factor for water race communities. Rather, the benthic invertebrate community throughout the water race network is a product of the homogeneous habitat, which limits the availability of colonists of taxa that would benefit from increased habitat diversity. A survey of the fish assemblages of water races found races had a depauperate fish community. Only two species were commonly found in water races, and the average species richness of races was 1.5. By contrast natural streams had a higher diversity of fish species (mean 4 three species), and contained representatives of a greater number of species that are typical of streams and rivers on the Canterbury Plains. My research has shown that stock water races provide an important source of aquatic biodiversity on the plains, both in addition to natural streams and in their own right. However, the biodiversity value of stock water races could be improved with enhancement of in-stream habitat.

Stepped chutes have been used as hydraulic structures for more than 3.5 millennia for different purposes: For example, to dissipate energy, to enhance aeration rate in the flow and to comply with aesthetical functions. They can be found acting as spillways in dams and weirs, as energy dissipators in artificial channels, gutters and rivers, and as aeration enhancers in water treatment plants and fountains. Spillways are used to prevent dam overtopping caused by floodwaters. Their design has changed through the centuries. In ancient times, some civilizations used steps to dissipate energy in open channels and dam over-falls in a similar fashion as natural cascades. However, in the first half of the twentieth century, the use of concrete became popular and the hydraulic jump was introduced as an efficient energy dissipator. In turn, the use of a stepped geometry became obsolete and was replaced with smooth chutes followed by hydraulic jump stilling basins. In recent years, new construction techniques and materials (Roller Compacted Concrete RCC, rip-rap gabions, wire-meshed gabions, etc.) together with the development of new applications (e.g. re-aeration cascades, fish ladders and embankment overtopping protection or secondary spillways) have allowed cheaper construction of stepped chutes, increasing the interest in stepped chute design. During the last three decades, research in the hydraulics of stepped spillways has been very active. However, studies prior to 1993 neglected the effect of free-surface aeration. A number of studies since this time have focused on air-water flows in steep chutes (θ ≈ 50o). But experimental data is still scarce, and the hydraulic performance of stepped cascades with moderate slope is not yet understood. This study details an experimental investigation of physical air-water flow characteristics down a stepped spillway conducted in two laboratory models with moderate slopes: the first model was a 3.15 m long stepped chute with a 15.9o slope comprising two interchangeable-height steps (h = 0.1 m and h = 0.05 m); the second model was a 2.5 m long, stepped channel with a 21.8o slope comprising 10 steps (h = 0.1 m). Different arrangements of turbulence manipulators (vanes) were also placed throughout the chute in the second model. A broad range of discharges within transition and skimming flow regimes was investigated to obtain a reliable representation of the air-water flow properties. Measurements were conducted using single and double tip conductivity probes at multiple span wise locations and at streamwise distances along the cavity between step edges to obtain a complete three-dimensional representation of the flow. Although the present study was conducted for two moderate slope chutes (θ = 15.9º & 21.8o), it is believed that the outcomes are valid for a wider range of chute geometry and flow conditions. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of turbulent air-water flows cascading down moderate slope stepped chutes, and gain new understandings of the interactions between aeration rate, flow turbulence and energy dissipation; scale effects are also investigated. The study provides new, original insights into air-water turbulent flows cascading down moderate slope stepped spillways not foreseen in prior studies, thus contributing to improve criterion designs. It also presents an extensive experimental database (available in a CD-ROM attached at the end of this thesis) and a new design criterion that can be used by designers and researchers to improve the operation of stepped chutes with moderate slopes. The present thesis work included a twofold approach. Firstly, the study provided a detailed investigation of the energy dissipative properties of a stepped channel, based upon detailed airwater flow characteristics measurements conducted with sub-millimetric conductivity probes. Secondly, the study focused on the microscopic scale properties of the airwater flow, using the experimental data to quantify the microscopic scale physical processes (e.g. momentum transfer, shear layer development, vertical mixing, airbubbles/ water-droplets break-up and coalescence etc.) that are believed to increase the flow resistance in stepped canals. The study highlighted the tridimensionality of skimming flows and hinted new means of enhancing flow resistance by manipulating turbulence in the stepped chute. Basic dimensional analysis results emphasized that physical modelling of stepped chutes is more sensitive to scale effects than classical smooth-invert chute studies and thus suggested that the extrapolation of results obtained from heavily scaled experimental models should be avoided. The present study also demonstrated that alterations of flow recirculation and fluid exchanges between free-stream and cavity flow affects drastically form losses and in turn the rate of energy dissipation. The introduction of vanes demonstrated simple turbulence manipulation and form drag modification that could lead to more efficient designs in terms of energy rate dissipation without significant structural load on the stepped chute.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [137]-147).

Mémoire (M.ScA.)- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1982. / 6 cartes dans une pochette. "Mémoire présenté en vue de l'obtention de la maîtrise es sciences appliquées" CaQCU CaQCU Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005. / "May, 2005." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-243). Also issued on the Internet.