This dissertation presents different aspects of long-term contract for product service system (PSS); also different issues that companies are dealt for implementation of PSS. The study consists of literature review for understanding factors which can affect long-term PSS contracts. Different generic categories of green business models which are used in PSS contracts have been addressed and in addition, various models of contracts for PSS in industries have been identified too. The important factors which can influence these types of contracts are categorized in six major aspects organizational, social, economic, technological, legal and environmental. Each of these factors separately has been analyzed by reviewing related literature. Moreover a general evaluation about effect of each factor in other influential factors has been presented. In respect of long duration of contract, the rate of uncertainty is higher than traditional method of buying a product. Here, problems which are related to each of these factors have been addressed. Moreover, different approaches of companies for these problems have been discussed which these solutions can be useful for other providers in similar situation.

Bangladesh geographically comprised one of the largest delta landscapes of the world. Almost 6.7% of country’stotal area (147570 sqkm.) is covered byrivers and inland water bodies. These water bodies being rich in fishproduction meet the majority of the demand of protein. Bangladesh produces world's fourth largest quantity of fishand it is collected from the inland water bodies. Though shrimps were easily available in the inland water bodies forhundreds of years but shrimp culture as an export-oriented activity is a phenomenon of recent past. Bangladeshearned US$ 2.9 million by exporting shrimp in 1972-73 which was 1 % of the country's total exports. It increased to US$ 33 million in 1980 and to US$ 90.0 million in 1985. But until the mid-1980’s shrimp culture was principallydependent on open-water catches of shrimp it means that time shrimps were not cultivated in a proper planned way.But the culture of shrimp totally for export purpose started after the mid 1980’s. Since then the professional cultivation of shrimp had a very positive and effective impact on the economy of Bangladesh. Exports of shrimpfrom Bangladesh increased from US$ 91 million in FY (Fiscal Year) 1986 to US$ 280 million in FY1997. Duringthe corresponding period, the quantity of shrimp exports increased from 17.2 thousand tonnes to 25.2 thousandtonnes. As most of the shrimp farms have been developed without considering the sustainability of the environmentand some other factors like water pH & salinity, soil pH & salinity, soil texture etc. the farmers are getting lessreturn but affecting the environment most. Geographical Information System (GIS) can give an easier but effectivesolution here through selecting the best suitable sites for shrimp cultivation. Moreover GIS can solve thetransportation problem of this perishable product from the production area to the harbor or airport through transport route selection. This cansave a lot of money and time and consequently make the shrimp cultivation moreeconomic.

In order to develop a better understanding of the process of development and deployment of automated systems, this thesis examines aspects of project execution and knowledge transfer in the context of a large automation project. <br /><br /> Background issues of project execution are examined, including the challenges of knowledge sharing in project development, as well as a brief discussion of measures of project success. The lifecycle of a large automation project is presented, including aspects of development and the development team, as well as design challenges inherent in the development process of a successful automation project which consisted of approximately 11,000 hours of combined effort by vendor and customer development teams. <br /><br /> Human factors aspects of large automation projects are explored, including an investigation of the workings of a large project team, by examining the cognitive aspects of the project team, as well as ecological aspects of the automation development process. <br /><br /> Using an interview methodology that can be termed the "echo method", project team members were interviewed in order to elicit helpful and unhelpful behaviours exhibited by other team members throughout the project. The results of these interviews are categorized and examined in the context of both knowledge management and social networks. Common themes in interview comments are identified, and related to both the areas of knowledge management and social networks. <br /><br /> Results indicated that team member experience and availability affect overall team performance. However, overlapping capabilities within a team were found to allow the team to adapt to changing circumstances, as well as to overcome weaknesses in team member availability. Better understanding of team interactions and capabilities supports improvements in project performance, ultimately delivering higher quality automation and streamlining the development process.

Individuals with functional blindness must often utilise assistive aids to enable them to complete tasks of daily living. One of these tasks, locomotion, poses considerable risk. The long white cane is often used to perform haptic exploration, but cannot detect obstacles that are not ground-based. Although devices have been developed to provide information above waist height, these do not provide auditory interfaces that are easy to learn. Development of such devices should adapt to the user, not require adaptation by the user. Can obstacle avoidance be achieved through direct perception? This research presents an auditory interface that has been designed with the user as the primary focus. An analysis of the tasks required has been taken into account resulting in an interface that audifies ultrasound. Audification provides intuitive information to the user to enable perceptive response to environmental obstacles. A device was developed that provides Doppler shift signals that are audible as a result of intentional aliasing. This system provides acoustic flow that is evident upon initiation of travel and has been shown to be effective in perceiving apertures and avoiding environmental obstacles. The orientation of receivers on this device was also examined, resulting in better distance perception and centreline accuracy when oriented outward as compared to forward. The design of this novel user interface for visually impaired individuals has also provided a tool that can be used to evaluate direct perception and acoustic flow in a manner that has never been studied before.

Individuals with functional blindness must often utilise assistive aids to enable them to complete tasks of daily living. One of these tasks, locomotion, poses considerable risk. The long white cane is often used to perform haptic exploration, but cannot detect obstacles that are not ground-based. Although devices have been developed to provide information above waist height, these do not provide auditory interfaces that are easy to learn. Development of such devices should adapt to the user, not require adaptation by the user. Can obstacle avoidance be achieved through direct perception? This research presents an auditory interface that has been designed with the user as the primary focus. An analysis of the tasks required has been taken into account resulting in an interface that audifies ultrasound. Audification provides intuitive information to the user to enable perceptive response to environmental obstacles. A device was developed that provides Doppler shift signals that are audible as a result of intentional aliasing. This system provides acoustic flow that is evident upon initiation of travel and has been shown to be effective in perceiving apertures and avoiding environmental obstacles. The orientation of receivers on this device was also examined, resulting in better distance perception and centreline accuracy when oriented outward as compared to forward. The design of this novel user interface for visually impaired individuals has also provided a tool that can be used to evaluate direct perception and acoustic flow in a manner that has never been studied before.

The Arabidopsis TGA family of basic leucine zipper transcription factors regulate the expression of pathogenesis-related genes and are required for resistance to disease. Members of the family possess diverse properties in respect to their ability to transactivate and interact with NPR1, the central regulator of systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis. Two TGA factors, TGA1 and TGA2, have 83 % amino acid similarity but possess differing properties. TGA1 does not interact with NPR1 but is able to transactivate, while TGA2 interacts with NPR1 but is unable to transactivate. This study uses these two TGA factors to identify amino acids that are responsible for their function. <p>Four cysteines residues within TGA1 were targeted for study by site-directed mutagenesis and the resulting mutants were tested for interaction with NPR1 in yeast. The construct containing a mutation of cysteine 260 (Cys-260) interacted well with NPR1, while those with mutations at Cys-172 or Cys-266 interacted poorly. The Cys-260 mutant also displayed the greatest decrease in transactivation potential in yeast, while mutation of Cys-172 or Cys-266 resulted in smaller decreases. Mutation of Cys-287 had no effect on NPR1 interaction or transactivation. Combining various point mutations in a single protein did not increase NPR1 interaction or transactivation levels, indicating that Cys-260 is crucial for regulating TGA1 properties. Cysteines possess the unique ability of forming reversible disulfide bonds which have been shown to regulate several mammalian cellular processes. The observation that mutation of a single TGA1 cysteine (Cys-260) greatly alters the proteins properties provides a convincing argument that oxidoreduction of this residue is important for its regulation, possibly through the formation of a disulfide bond with either Cys-172 or Cys-266. <p>To test whether other members of the TGA family could be regulated by oxidoreduction, several TGA2 constructs were created that introduced Cys at positions corresponding to those found in TGA1. When tested in yeast none were able to transactivate but continued to interact with NPR1.

Statistics Canada data indicates that between 2002 and 2006, the late stillbirth incidence (at or beyond 28 weeks gestation) was 3.0/1000 and 4.0/1000 among Canadian and Saskatchewan births respectively. This difference questions the characteristics and associations of late losses in our province; this work aims to assess late Saskatchewan stillbirths in regard to incidence, causes, characteristics, and area-level factors.<p> Accessing Vital Statistics cases (1987 to 2007, n=1119), descriptive statistics and incidence were examined utilizing Chi-square testing and Poisson regression. Associations between variables were evaluated by log-linear models. Area-level factors relating to incidence within census divisions were explored using Poisson regression.<p> Although some variation existed by time and region, women were most often less than 35 years, of moderate parity, non-Aboriginal, had no previous stillbirths, and were not carrying multiple fetuses. Approximately half of the losses were preterm and half were inadequately grown. Incidence per 1000 births differed significantly for Saskatchewan (3.86) and Canada (3.43) with only Canada declining. Several division values were also higher than Saskatoons Division 11. Associations were seen between characteristics; most notably the combination of Aboriginality, increased maternal age, and large-for-gestational-age appeared over-represented compared to live births. Regions with higher proportions of Aboriginal preschoolers or land area with herbicide application had higher incidence (RR = 1.53 and 1.55, p-value less than 0.001). Further work is required to understand Saskatchewans lack of decline, what can be done about areas where incidence is increased, the significance of the associated characteristics as actual risk factors, and how Aboriginality and herbicide influence risk at the individual level.

Over the last two decades, the Born Global phenomenon has grown into a fascinating field of internationalization studies. Several perspectives have been studied to enrich this rather new area of business research, however little has been studied in context of the types of economies from where these firms emerge. More especially, insufficient amounts of literature cover the Born Global phenomenon from the emerging market context.   Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon from the emerging market context by investigating the factors that influence these born global firms to succeed in their international markets.   We conducted a case study of two companies one from Mexico and another from Ghana. We adopted a qualitative approach for the literature review, data collection and analysis during the course of the study. We also utilized theoretical concepts to build a conceptualized framework to guide our study. Both primary and secondary data sources were used in this research.   Our study revealed five main factors that influence born global firms from emerging economies to succeed in the international scene. These factors are both internal and external and are as follows; strategic management of the firm, networks, product differentiation, technology and markets. We found that the significance of each of the factors’ influence on the companies was specific to type of industry and product/service offering.

Customer satisfaction, are not just two words simply to be used in any businesscontext. Actually, these are the words that encapsulate the theme of what sort ofbusiness practices are being done by the companies in terms of making theircustomers satisfied or delight. Customer satisfaction plays a pivotal role intoday’s business scenario and there are some basic factors which may impact oncustomer satisfaction either positively or negatively. For instance; responsiveness,efficiency &amp; performance, service quality, price and technology etc may havestrong influence on company’s products (goods or services). Few researchersdiscussed only some factors regarding services which impact on customersatisfaction and none of them discussed particularly some basic, common andmajor factors regarding services/e-services for companies which are small, newand growing enterprises. Therefore, authors made an attempt to highlight somebasic factors and examined how they effect on customer satisfaction. Our findingsshowed that the factors such as responsiveness, professionalism, complaintmanagement system, customer care, technology, efficiency &amp; performance, price,service quality and experience are examined with negative impact on customersatisfaction as almost half of company’s customers were observed dissatisfied.One factor that is found with positive impact on customer satisfaction iscompany’s attitude towards its customers. It is quite notice worthy for a companyto take serious considerations to remove the negative impact of above mentionedfactors in terms of making customers satisfied. Therefore, in the last chapter ofthis study we put some recommendations which might help for a company in thisregard. Furthermore, future suggested research areas are also discussed forcreating further research grounds.

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