Pendant la dernière décennie du 20ème siècle, l'économie globale a été témoin de changements importants. Les années 90 ont été témoin: (1) d'une transformation importante dans la structure et la taille des flux de capitaux internationaux. L'Investissement Direct Etranger (IDE) s'est développé de façon significative en comparaison à d'autres formes de flux financiers internationaux; (2) d'une explosion du nombre des Accords Internationaux d´Investissement (AII); (3) depuis la fin des années 1980, les quatre pays de l'Europe Centrale (CEC4) – République Tchèque, Slovaquie, Hongrie et Pologne - ont fait des efforts prodigieux pour s'intégrer dans l'économie globale. L'intégration financière du CEC4 se reflète dans la conclusion de nombreux traités bilatéraux d'investissement, dans l'adhésion à des institutions internationales tels que l'OCDE, FMI et OMC, et dans les flux impressionnants d'IDE que ces pays ont attirés. En dépit de la prolifération des AII et des IDE pendant les années 90, les effets des AII sur le IDE constituent un thème qui n'a pas encore été exploré. L'objet de cette thèse est d'examiner empiriquement l'impact des AII sur le IDE à travers les mouvements de capitaux du CEC4. Pour estimer l'impact des AII sur le IDE du CEC4, l'étude utilise un modèle de données de panel sur les IDE en provenance de 22 pays d'OCDE vers le CEC4 pour la période 1992-2003. Les résultats empiriques démontrent que TIB exercent un impact significatif et positif sur le IDE. Parmi les autres AII, l'adhésion à l'OMC a un effet significatif et positif sur le IDE, alors que l'adhésion à l'OCDE et au FMI n'a pas d'effet significatif.

Today. the pandemic of HIV/AIDS has become a serious challenge especially in developing and underdeveloped nations. For this reason, all nations, different health institutions and nongovernmental organizations are investing their wealth to increase public awareness on the seriousness of this pandemic disease. Media institutions also play an unparalleled role in controlling HIV/AIDS through educating the society. HIV/AIDS is a great threat both to South Africa and Eritrea as they are part of the Sahale Sahara of Africa. That area is highly affected and infected by the pandemic. It is certain that media have been used to disseminate information in the society about HIV/AIDS in both countries. This study attempts to identify the nature of communication strategies that are employed against HIV/AIDS by Radio Ukhozi FM in South Africa and Radio Dimitsi-Hafash Programme Tigringa in Eritrea. The study attempts to identify the communication formats that both radio stations utilize to increase public awareness about HIV/AIDS. It also examines whether both stations are using Entertainment-Educational communication strategies to disseminate HIV/AIDS messages. Furthermore, the study assesses target audience participation; both stations assessment of their programme and scheduling of HIV/AIDS awareness messages. Finally, it attempts to single out the challenges that both stations encounter in designing messages for combating HIV/AIDS in their respective communities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

This research is located within media studies and draws on the Cultural Studies approach. It is an audience study, which uses the mixed methods of focus group discussions and an online survey to examine the importance of the use of Nigerian Pidgin as a broadcast language in investigating the rising popularity of Pidgin English radio in a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Nigeria. The study focuses on Wazobia FM, a radio station in Lagos, and the first pidgin station in Nigeria. It seeks to determine whether the station’s audience engaged with the station’s programming based on its prioritisation of NigP and the linguistic identity it offers them. The study foregrounds the marginalised status of NigP within the politics of language in Nigeria. It traces the language’s evolution through popular and oppositional expressions in broadcasting and in music. It also seeks to establish the place of Pidgin English within the role that language plays in the formation of the Nigerian identity. This study thus adopts the ‘emic’ perspective, which underpins qualitative methodology, and views social life in terms of processes as opposed to static terms. The theoretical framework of this research revolves around culture, language and identity. Pertinent concepts in post-colonial studies, together with conceptual frameworks in Cultural Studies, such as popular culture, representation, hegemony and counter-culture have been used to make sense of the popularity of NigP radio stations.

abstract: This work examines two main areas in model-based time-varying signal processing with emphasis in speech processing applications. The first area concentrates on improving speech intelligibility and on increasing the proposed methodologies application for clinical practice in speech-language pathology. The second area concentrates on signal expansions matched to physical-based models but without requiring independent basis functions; the significance of this work is demonstrated with speech vowels. A fully automated Vowel Space Area (VSA) computation method is proposed that can be applied to any type of speech. It is shown that the VSA provides an efficient and reliable measure and is correlated to speech intelligibility. A clinical tool that incorporates the automated VSA was proposed for evaluation and treatment to be used by speech language pathologists. Two exploratory studies are performed using two databases by analyzing mean formant trajectories in healthy speech for a wide range of speakers, dialects, and coarticulation contexts. It is shown that phonemes crowded in formant space can often have distinct trajectories, possibly due to accurate perception. A theory for analyzing time-varying signals models with amplitude modulation and frequency modulation is developed. Examples are provided that demonstrate other possible signal model decompositions with independent basis functions and corresponding physical interpretations. The Hilbert transform (HT) and the use of the analytic form of a signal are motivated, and a proof is provided to show that a signal can still preserve desirable mathematical properties without the use of the HT. A visualization of the Hilbert spectrum is proposed to aid in the interpretation. A signal demodulation is proposed and used to develop a modified Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) algorithm. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

This study is a thesis for the Master of Science degree in Media Technology and Engineering at the Department of Science and Technology, Linkoping University. It was accomplished from November 2002 to May 2003. Objective image quality measures play an important role in various image processing applications. In this paper quality measures applied on halftoned images are aimed to be in focus. Digital halftoning is the process of generating a pattern of binary pixels that create the illusion of a continuous- tone image. Algorithms built on this technique produce results of very different quality and characteristics. To evaluate and improve their performance, it is important to have robust and reliable image quality measures. This literature survey is to give a general description in digital halftoning and halftone image quality methods.

With National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) auction of frequencies in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780MHz, and 2155- 2180MHz bands, users of the Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry (AMT) band from 1755- 1850MHz, known as Upper L-Band, could be greatly affected. This paper takes an initial look at how the 1755-1780MHz band will be used by the cellular carriers and presents some preliminary testing results of adjacent channel (band) interference that could be experienced by AMT users. This paper should be considered as the stepping off point for future interference discussions, required analysis, and further testing.

This work deals with evaluation of equipment used for non-contact measurement of distance between vehicles. First are discussed various principles of measuring and after the selection of the most appropriate solution is proposed a detailed block diagram of modulation, demodulation and evaluation of the whole system and its mathematical description. Another part is devoted to describing the activities of the microprocessor controller, with which is controlled evaluation part and to the control program. It also analyzes the maximal attainable accuracy of measurement and the errors that affect it. The last part includes a circuit design and simulation of selected functional block, which is a coincidence /quadrature/ detector and construction documents for evaluation and demodulation part of the measurement instrument.

This project deals with possibilities of using the software defined radio conception for radio amateur use in a short wave band and its subsequent implementation into properly designed hardware. The aim of this work is to design a transceiver that would be capable of working in AM, FM, SSB, and CW modes. Within a theoretical part of the project the architectures of software defined radios and their components are discussed. This part was focused mainly on analog parts of the chain, such as amplifiers, filters and converters. Signal processing algorithms for both receiver and transmitter working in desired modes are studied subsequently and their computer models are built. Designed algorithms are implemented into FPGA structure (Virtex -5).

A well-structured and coordinated information management practice is central to promoting efficiency in construction. Building information management encompasses authoring, interpretation, communication, coordination and storage of building information. The benefits envisioned by utilizing IT developments such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the facility management and operations (FM&amp;O) sector are estimated to be far greater than in other sectors. There is, however, a gap between the knowledge available in the field of building information management and the actual demands of the architectural, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) industry, especially the FM&amp;O sector. The overall aim of this qualitative research is to develop knowledge that conceptualizes the lifecycle supporting implementation of BIM in the AECO industry with a focus on its implications for a BIM-enabled FM&amp;O practice. This applied research comprises a number of summative and formative components: paper 1 investigates the existing and emerging information management systems for the FM&amp;O sector and their characteristics. The focus of paper 2 is narrowed down to the technical requirements on building information management systems; while its temporal scope spans the entire lifecycle of buildings. Paper 3 is a further elaboration on the findings of paper 1 and covers the technical requirements of BIM-implementation in the FM&amp;O sector. Paper 4 investigates workflows – another category of the issues identified in paper 1. Paper 1 aims to provide a general understanding of the importance and implications of implementing BIM-enabled systems in the FM&amp;O sector and also identifies the main categories of the issues associated with this approach. This literary paper reports on a basic research with a descriptive approach and builds upon the information from a non-exhaustive set of literature. In this paper, workflows, contracts and information technology have been identified as three categories of the issues associated with implementing BIM-enabled systems in the FM&amp;O sector. Paper 2 is also a literary research which draws on the notion of BIM repositories and aims to clarify the technical requirements for a more collaborative building industry as well as depicting the current status of building knowledge management technologies, recent trends and future prospects. Open format BIM repositories have been suggested as the cornerstones of an integrated information management system for AECO firms. The aim of paper 3 is twofold: firstly, to summarize the current status of the building information management technologies applied in the facility operation activities and identifying prevailing issues; secondly, to devise some technical solutions for those issues based on a case project. In the first part of this study, a summarized description of information management configurations in eleven projects were extracted from literature and the technical issues within those systems were identified. Moreover, five major categories of contemporary technical solutions for enhancing information transfer from BIM to FM&amp;O software were designated. Then, a narrative and illustrative representation and reconstruction of an IT-implementation project was developed. Paper 4 is another literary study which aims to provide the theoretical basis for more focused studies on existing and desired processes in the FM&amp;O sector and their associated information transactions. In this paper, firstly, the more common definitions of the key concepts have been revisited and discussed. Then, the generic types of the processes, activities and organizational roles common to FM&amp;O firms, the types of information required by each actor and how such information are acquired have been presented. / <p>QC 20150423</p>

Text had abstracts in English and Tshivenda. No keywords / Very few scholars have ventured into language use in media discourse, especially in African Languages. The purpose of this study was to determine the language use in media discourse in the Nḓevhetsini Programme on Phalaphala FM, to investigate linguistic elements that create challenges amongst presenters, reporters, listeners and guest speakers and also the manner in which the message is received by listeners. This study employed a qualitative approach to obtain data from Nḓevhetsini episodes. The episodes were divided into themes identified in order to compare common cases and those that differ in language use amongst presenters, reporters, compilers, listeners and guest speakers engaged on the Nḓevhetsini episodes. The study found that borrowing, code-mixing, dialectal variants use, and not interpreting the English message to listeners bring challenges in language use in media discourse. Language programmes that promote language should be implemented. Rules that guide language use are important in language preservation. / A hu athu tou vha na vhaḓivhi vha maṅwalwa vhe vha sedzulusa kushumisele kwa luambo kha nyanḓadzamafhungo nga maanḓa kha ngudo ya Nyambo dza Vharema. Ndivho ya ngudo yo vha u ṱoḓa u wanulusa kushumisele kwa luambo kha nyanḓadzamafhungo kha mbekanyamushumo ya Nḓevhetsini, ho sedzwa zwiteṅwa zwa luambo zwine zwa vha fha khaedu khathihi na u sedza uri mulaedza u swika nga nḓilaḓe kha vhathetshelesi. Ngudo iyi yo shumisa ngona ya Khwaḽithethivi kha u kuvhanganya mafhungo u bva kha episode ṱhanu. Episode dzo saukanywa u ya nga thero dzo wanalaho hu u itela u ita mbambedzo dza kushumisele kwa luambo dzi fanaho na dzi sa faniho. Ngudo iyi yo wanulusa uri u hadzima, u ṱanganyiswa ha maipfi kana mafurase a nyambo dzo fhambanaho, na u sa pindulelwa ha milaedza ya English ndi khaedu. Milaedza i hashiwaho nga English i ṋea vhathetshelesi khaedu kha kushumisele kwa luambo kha khasho. Mbekanyamushumo na milayo i ṱuṱuwedzaho tshumiso ya Tshivenḓa zwi tea u sikiwa. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)