The fluffy gene of Neurospora crassa is required for asexual sporulation. It encodes an 88 kDa polypeptide containing a typical fungal Zn2Cys6 DNA binding motif. To identify the target genes on which FL may act, I sought to identify target sequences to which the FL protein binds. Several strategies were attempted to obtain purified FL protein. Purification was achieved by expressing the DNA binding domain of FL in Escherichia coli as a fusion with glutathione S-transferase followed by affinity purification using glutathione sepharose chromatography. DNA binding sites were selected by in vitro binding assays. Comparison of the sequences of selected clones suggested that FL binds to the motif 5??-CGG(N)9CCG-3??. A potential binding site was found in the promoter region of the eas (ccg-2) gene, which encodes a fungal hydrophobin. In vitro competitive binding assays revealed a preferred binding site for FL in the eas promoter, 5??-CGGAAGTTTCCTCCG-3??, which is located 1498 bp upstream of the eas translation initiation codon. In vivo experiments using a foreign DNA sequence tag confirmed that this sequence is a target site for FL regulation. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an experimental system, I demonstrated that the C-terminal portion of FL functions in transcriptional activation. Microarray analysis was performed to study the role of fl in gene regulation on a large scale. mRNA levels in a fl mutant were compared to those in a strain overexpressing the fl gene. Experiments with cDNA microarray containing 13% of the total number of predicted N. crassa genes revealed 122 genes differentially expressed in response to overexpression of fl. Among these, eas displayed the greatest level of response. The cDNA microarray approach also revealed a number of genes that may be indirectly regulated by fl but may be involved in development. This information provides a foundation for further analysis of the role of fl in conidial development.

This dissertation consists of three essays. Chapter II uses the method of structural factor analysis to study the effects of monetary policy on key macroeconomic variables in a data rich environment. I propose two structural factor models. One is the structural factor augmented vector autoregressive (SFAVAR) model and the other is the structural factor vector autoregressive (SFVAR) model. Compared to the traditional vector autogression (VAR) model, both models incorporate far more information from hundreds of data series, series that can be and are monitored by the Central Bank. Moreover, the factors used are structurally meaningful, a feature that adds to the understanding of the “black box” of the monetary transmission mechanism. Both models generate qualitatively reasonable impulse response functions. Using the SFVAR model, both the “price puzzle” and the “liquidity puzzle” are eliminated. Chapter III employs the method of structural factor analysis to conduct a forecasting exercise in a data rich environment. I simulate out-of-sample real time forecasting using a structural dynamic factor forecasting model and its variations. I use several structural factors to summarize the information from a large set of candidate explanatory variables. Compared to Stock and Watson (2002)’s models, the models proposed in this chapter can further allow me to select the factors structurally for each variable to be forecasted. I find advantages to using the structural dynamic factor forecasting models compared to alternatives that include univariate autoregression (AR) model, the VAR model and Stock and Watson’s (2002) models, especially when forecasting real variables. In chapter IV, we measure U.S. technology shocks by implementing a dual approach, which is based on more reliable price data instead of aggregate quantity data. By doing so, we find the relative volatility of technology shocks and the correlation between output fluctuation and technology shocks to be much smaller than those revealed in most real-business-cycle (RBC) studies. Our results support the findings of Burnside, Eichenbaum and Rebelo (1996), who showed that the correlation between technology shocks and output is exaggerated in the RBC literature. This suggests that one should examine other sources of fluctuations for a better understanding of the business cycle phenomena.

Minor actinides represent the long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear wastes. As one of their potential incineration options, partitioning and transmutation in fission reactors are seriously considered worldwide. If implemented, these technologies could also be a source of nuclear fuel materials required for sustainability of nuclear energy. The objective of this research was to evaluate performance characteristics of Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs) and their variations due to configuration adjustments targeting achievability of spectral variations. The development of realistic whole-core 3D VHTR models and their benchmarking against experimental data was an inherent part of the research effort. Although the performance analysis was primarily focused on prismatic core configurations, 3D pebble-bed core models were also created and analyzed. The whole-core 3D models representing the prismatic block and pebble-bed cores were created for use with the SCALE 5.0 code system. Each of the models required the Dancoff correction factor to be externally calculated. The code system DANCOFF-MCThe whole-core/system 3D models with multi-heterogeneity treatments were validated by the benchmark problems. Obtained results are in agreement with the available High Temperature Test Reactor data. Preliminary analyses of actinide-fueled VHTR configurations have indicated promising performance characteristics. Utilization of minor actinides as a fuel component would facilitate development of new fuel cycles and support sustainability of a fuel source for nuclear energy assuring future operation of Generation IV nuclear energy systems. was utilized to perform the Dancoff factor calculations.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) and the Children’s Memory Scale (CMS; Cohen, 1997) are frequently used measures of children’s cognitive ability and memory, respectively. They are often used together to assess a child’s strengths and weaknesses to individualize recommendations for assisting them in the educational setting. However, research suggests that there may be some overlap in the abilities assessed by these instruments, making complete administration of both somewhat redundant. Furthermore, previous studies have been equivocal with regard to the assessment of children with Attention- Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on the WISC-III. Support for the applicability of the four-factor structure of the WISC-III has been questioned, particularly in terms of its utility in the diagnosis of ADHD based on the Freedom from Distractibility Index (FFD). A combined confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the WISC-III and CMS to determine whether a combination of their subtests could be used in lieu of complete administration of each test. The combined WISC-III/ CMS standardization sample was obtained from the Psychological Corporation for use in the confirmatory factor analyses. One-, six-, and seven-factor models were initially proposed for the analyses. Results of the combined confirmatory factor analyses indicated that all three models failed to fit the data as well as a new five-factor model that was created during modification of the six-factor model. Once the five-factor model was specified as the most appropriate model, a clinical sample from a research study was analyzed on the model to find out whether there were age and gender performance differences and also to determine how accurately the new factors differentiated between clinical and nonclinical subsamples. Results indicated that males and females performed significantly differently on the Processing Speed factor but there were no age differences. There were significant differences between the ADHD and no diagnosis groups on three factors: Verbal Comprehension, Working Memory, and Processing Speed; there were no differences on the factors between ADHD subtypes. Together, the five factors were able to correctly classify 66% of children with ADHD. Implications of these results are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

The trend in personal finance and retirement planning has changed, more and more investors have focused on the popular issue of wealth allocation across asset classes and specific investments. As a result, mutual fund investment companies have become an increasingly effective conduit for current income generation, capital appreciation, and the benefits derived through diversification. As time goes by, the amount of offshore funds introduced in Taiwan is increasing. We investors always want to ask which one could perform well and bring the investors a good return based on the past performance information. Thus the purpose of this paper is to give an overview and performance persistence of the largely unexploited Taiwan offshore and international American, European, Japanese, and Global equity mutual funds compared to Taiwan equity mutual funds and the Information Technology equity mutual funds. To do this, we evaluate fund performance applied for the Composite Index to cooperate the highly cooperate the colinearity problem of the performance indices which is introduced from Lee (2007) and Chou (2007). We focus on 6 biggest off-shore mutual fund market in Taiwan which are American, European, Global, Taiwan, Japan and Information Technology. All the performance information and fund characteristic are from Lipper. We restrict our sample to pure equity funds with at least 36 months of data. Performance details and specific fund characteristics are collected by the end of 2006. We develop the Composite Index component weights by factor analysis from January 2003 through December 2004 and rank the funds by the Composite Index score to exam the performance persistence through January 2005 through 2006. All returns are almost in local currency. We have the conclusion which all the difference in performance of the top 10% and the bottom 10% in each market is significant from zero except for the Information Technology industry. We find the effect of the Composite Index would depend on the maturity, variety, and the characteristic of the market. The more mature the market is, the less significant the performance between top deciles and bottom deciles, American mutual fund is the best supportive evidence. All the return-based indices are not adding value to select funds. Though the performance of the Composite Index is better than the other index, the raw annual return is not so high to be applied. As to the variety, the different categories and the range of the distribution of monthly return in the market have the effect to the significance of the difference in performance between the top 10% and the bottom 10%, markets of European, Global, Japan, and Taiwan are the best explanations. Finally, the higher the risk is the better the fund perform is the one special rule selecting fund in the market of Information Technology.

Postponement, which is a stategy in the area of supply chain management, has a long history of practical applications as well as academic literature. However, most existing studies are conceptual and the main method of empiprical study is case study, which leads to the empirical findings are not able to be generalized to other companies or industries. In addition, past empirical researches are almost entirely conducted in the Western countries. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the motivations, current situations, facilitators and and results of postponement in Greater China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). This study conducted two interviews and a questionnaire survey by e-mail across three industries. The result indicated that postponement application in Greater China was growing and the degree of postponement application was higher than the previous evidences in the West regions. Rather, environmental uncertainty, administrative factors, and IS maturity had positive effects on postponement application. In addition, industry characteristics would also affect the types of postponement strategy used. As to the results of applying postponement, postponement indeed raises company performances, but it is not necessary to facilitate companies outsource operations activities.

Over the past 50 years, the success of SME development in Taiwan has played an important role in the economic growth, and even today, many developing countries are interested in learning from Taiwan¡¦s experience. In fact, SME development in Taiwan has made remarkable contributions to the expanding of foreign trade, the strengthening of market competitiveness, the boosting of national income, the creation of jobs opportunities, the balancing of regional development, and the influence on social stability. In this study, we first studied the key success factors in Taiwan¡¦s SME development through the review of related literature. Then, we attempted to find that the majority of scholars and experts had a common view of Taiwan¡¦s SME key success factors, which are concluded as social culture and psychology factors, historical and economic factors, and government policy factor. Secondly, we intended to make questionnaires from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and SME owners. The main purpose is to research for the opinions of three different parties on SME development in Mongolia, such as government roles, present situation, future development strategies, and opportunities to learn from Taiwan¡¦s experience and successful development factors. Here were 120 responses received at the end of this survey. The data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA, Pearson¡¦s correlation, and factor analysis. The results showed that there were significant differences between the three organizations. In addition, this research tried to make an effort to suggest future SME development strategies in Mongolia on the basis of external and internal environment analyses using a SWOT model. Finally, on the basis of above results, we proposed several policy recommendations for relevant organizations that get lessons from Taiwan¡¦s experience and revealed some key success factors in SME development into the ground of Mongolia.

This thesis mainly presents a LED driver circuit based on single-stage Flyback converter with power factor correction. Power factor correction technique is applied for constant current driver. Accroding to different magnetize inductance current operating mode, two methods are used to improve the drawbacks of Flyback converter which is operated in open loop. Discontinuous conduction mode is controlled by single loop which is called voltage follower control. Continuous conduction mode is controlled by dual loop, that applied to nonlinear carrier control(NLC). Multiplier is usually used to traditional power factor correction, but it is expensive. To reduce the system cost, a multiplier is removed from NLC. The designed circuit is verified by SPICE software and experiments. From simulation and experimental results, it shows the proposed system achieves the goal with high power factor and constant output current.

In the thesis, a LED driver circuit that is applied in low power LED lighting with constant output current and Power Factor Correction (PFC) is presented. For power stage of LED driver, a non-insulated switching Buck power converter without transformer is used, and develop equivalent mathematical model and block diagram of Buck converter while its inductor current operating in Continuous Conduction Mode(CCM). Furthermore, the closed loop PFC control circuit is designed by time-domain and frequency-domain analysis. In addition, because of the classical PFC control configuration needs the expensive multiplier, a LED driver circuit with PFC without multiplier is presented in this thesis in order to reduce the system cost and space of the circuit. Then, we confirm the designed circuit by simulation and experiment. By the results, the proposed system achieves constant output current control and power factor can reach to 0.92.

In the thesis, an LED driver circuit with Power Factor Correction (PFC) and constant output current is presented. For open-loop LED driver, an insulated switching Flyback power converter is designed, and the Flyback converter will be operated in Continuous Conduction Mode(CCM). One develops equivalent mathematical model for the drivers system. The main part of this thesis is about the design and the study of a closed loop PFC control circuit using inductor voltage sensing technology. In addition, one introduces another traditional inductor current sensing control technique is included to compare with the designed control circuit. Then, one confirms the designed circuits by simulation and the experiment. From the results, the power factor can reach to 0.97, and the expected constant output current control has also been achieved.