Graduation date: 1995

Graduation date: 1995

Inaug.-dis.--Würzburg.

Not available

Changing the fast now society, enterprises must enable staff to study new knowledge , new technical ability fast through training , improve staff's ability , the change that should be tight day by day and severe , so, a part that enterprises handled education and training and already became enterprise's business activities. Training is a kind of method of changes and a kind of means of helping the staff to study , meet the environment fast fast, one of the advantage important methods that education and training is also organized to maintain the competition. In order to know that enterprises handle the course wholly of the education and training activity , this research adopts the law of case study (Case study ), probe into and regard a company as the research object. The collection of the materials is with file and statistical data correlating with education and training inside the case company, if education and training branch can organization the operation , education and training one system and promotion structure , the implementation way of doing thingses of education and training and can't train project of assessing etc. of, to probe into the course that the case company implement education and training. It is personal while carry out education and training actually to add a researcher, person , thing , thing observed, propose the relevant real example. Discover that the case company is training the demand , adopt subjective consciousness to draft the drill program, benefit smaller in improving staff's ability ; On not is it implement to training, course hours short, make course to be theme unable to deepen the discussion, the staff's results of learning is not good; On not is it assess to training , is it write and become a mere formality with gains to test , can't weigh the staff's study effect . Propose the way of doing things of the suggestion finally, offer enterprises to want to handle the reference of the education and training activity.

Various aspects of the energetic response to handling stress in juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were examined. Fish were subjected to four different handling stressors in a Blazka-style respirometer. Stressed fish had rates of oxygen consumption that were higher than controls. The magnitude of the increase ranged from 139 to 198% of the control value, and appeared roughly related to the severity of the stressor. The post-stress increase in oxygen consumption also appeared to vary seasonally, with less of a stress effect on respiration observed in the spring as compared to the fall. Elevation in oxygen consumption following stress was largely eliminated within 1 h post-stress, but metabolic rate may have remained slightly elevated for an additional 2 h. Plasma cortisol and lactate titers also increased significantly following handling stressors. Oxygen consumption was positively correlated with both plasma cortisol and lactate after a moderate stressor, but no correlation was found after more severe stressors. Whole body lactate concentration was significantly elevated following stress, reaching levels almost 500% higher than controls. By 5 h post-stress whole body lactate had returned to control levels. The mechanism of excess post-stress oxygen consumption remains unclear. Fish given exogenous cortisol did not experience an increase in oxygen consumption, so it is unlikely that cortisol alone has a major effect on metabolic rate. Similarities between the energetic responses to both stress and exercise suggest that the results of exercise physiology may provide a basis for understanding the energetic response to stress. / Graduation date: 1993

Graduation date: 1991

In this thesis five iron phthalocyanines (FePc’s), four of which having different electron withdrawing or electron donating substituents, were evaluated as 0₂ reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. The experimental approach simulated a PEM fuel cell environment using both ex-situ electrochemical techniques and in situ fuel cell testing. The kinetic ORR parameters for the FePc species each adsorbed on a pyrolytic graphite WE were evaluated at four temperatures (20, 40, 60, 80°C) in a novel half cell using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and rotating disk electrode (RDE) voltammetry. Kinetic ORR parameters included the overall ORR electron transfer number, reaction rate constants, cathodic Tafel slopes, electron transfer numbers in the rate determining step, and electron transfer co-efficients. An increase in temperature from 60°C to 80°C showed a decrease in the overall electron transfer number observed for all four substituted FePc species. A mechanism was also proposed based on the experimental results. The RDE results were confirmed using a rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE). From these RRDE results, the fraction of H₂0₂ produced (XH₂₀₂) at the disk during the ORR was calculated. These XH₂₀₂ values agreed with the overall ORR electron transfer numbers from the RDE results obtained under the same conditions. lron(Il) 1,2,3,4,8,9,10,11,15,16,17,18,22,23,24,25 — hexadecachioro 29H,31H-phthalocyanine (FePcCI₁₆)was down selected for further investigation as the most stable and active substituted FePc species for the ORR. Both FePcCl₁₆ and the unsubstituted FePc, were supported on carbon and made into catalyst inks for carbon fibre paper (CFP) electrode testing, and then evaluated using CV in the N₂ purged, followed by the air saturated, electrolytes, respectively. Finally, MEA’s for fuel cell testing were made using FePc species catalyst ink cathodes, and commercial Pt/C anodes. The MEA’s were tested using custom designed and built fuel cell hardware. Open circuit voltages, polarization curves, and power curves were recorded. Initial results indicated the FePcCI₁₆ MEA’s showed superior stability, higher open circuit voltages, as well as better polarization and power curves when compared to the unsubstituted FePc species. It was found that FePc species with strongly electron withdrawing substituents, such as FePcCl₁₆ showed the highest stability and greatest ORR activity. FePc species, including pyrolized FeNx/C analogues, show much promise as alternatives to Pt in PEMFC’s, as well as dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC’s).

Bankruptcy is a negative event that not only affects the company in question but all stakeholders of society. Our research will focus on one stakeholder group, business competitors. How are competitors affected by bankruptcy announcements? Past research has tried to answer this question in different ways. Some compared two industries with different characteristics while others worked with multiple industries. Past researchers suggested and tested three independent variables that they thought influence the returns of competitors in the face of bankruptcy: leverage, size and industry concentration. We adopt a different perspective when researching this topic in that we focus on competitors that are close to the bankrupt firm (business competitors) as opposed to using all competitors in an industry. The purpose of our research is to investigate if a chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement has an influence on business competitors within the same economic sector during the time horizon 2004-2012. In order to explore this topic, we incorporate three independent variables: economic sector concentration, firm leverage and firm size, to study if different characteristics of different economic sectors and firms would affect the bankruptcy announcement effect. Based on the quantitative method, our research utilized secondary data to study the relationships between the three independent variables and bankruptcy announcement effect on competitors. We found that the best way to carry out this research is by using a deductive approach and quantitative method. The results of our research showed weak correlations between the three variables and the bankruptcy announcement effect, among which the concentration was the most determinant variable and size has the weakest effect. For both concentration and firm size, we found inverse relationships between these two variables and abnormal returns of the business competitors. The abnormal returns earned by the high leveraged firms were less than the low leveraged ones. The conclusions of our research were that the chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement indeed influence the stock returns of business competitors. The firms in highly concentrated economic sectors had contagion effect while competitive effect happened to the firms in low concentrated ones. The same conclusion was drawn in terms of the firm size. For the leverage, there was no conclusion regarding the contagion or competitive effect as the results were inconclusive.

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