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This thesis examines the material linkages generated by electronics foreign direct investment (FDI) in Scotland and Singapore. The reason for undertaking the research owes to the general perception that FDI has not developed strong local supply linkages in Scotland. Given that linkages between multinationals and local suppliers constitute the most important long-term benefit from FDI -in terms of additional employment, technology and skills- this seems worrying for Scotland's long-term economic development. Although FDI has become the standard vehicle ameliorating the industrial restructuring process in less favoured regions, our understanding of linkages remains poor. Recent theoretical discourses within the spatial literature claim organisational change within multinationals is improving the prospects for localised linkages. Critics of this scenario point out that linkage formation in less favoured regions remains weak. In order to assess these diverging claims, empirical informa tion collected using intensive research techniques examines the extent, nature, and quality of linkages generated by a small sample of electronics multinationals in Scotland and Singapore. Findings from empirical material point towards quite low linkage formation in both regions. Although higher linkage levels were found in Singapore, this mainly owed to FDI in Singapore's higher value supply sectors. On the whole linkages tend to be concentrated in low value supply areas such as fabricated metal and plastic parts, particularly in Scotland. These rather limited linkages effects go against the claims made by the localisation school mentioned above. The key causal factors inhibiting local linkage development were examined by scrutinising various plant-level characteristics such as procurement autonomy and design. Inter-plant sourcing differentials reveal that truncated plant autonomy in key areas of decision making responsibility, particularly design, play a significant part in preventing linkage development. In this respect, Singapore's policies towards developing more autonomous design-intensive FDI seems to facilitate local linkage development. In order to to maximise its regional economic potential, the thesis concludes with the need for greater policy intervention towards FDI and ends with specific policy recommendations aimed at increasing linkages in Scotland.

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Le psoriasis est une maladie complexe inflammatoire et chronique de la peau, due à une forte composante génétique et des facteurs environnementaux. Seule l'implication d'un locus majeur de prédisposition au psoriasis au niveau du chromosome 6p21, nommé PSORS1, a été démontrée dans diverses populations lors d'études de liaison et d'association. Ce locus ne serait responsable que de 30 à 50% de la part génétique. L'objectif de ma thèse était donc d'identifier les autres facteurs génétiques, en particulier dans un échantillon d'une population d'origine française. Pour identifier les loci, une étude de liaison a été réalisée, découvrant des régions potentielles en 12q, 14q, 16p, 20p, en plus de celle en 6p. Deux loci en 6p et 20p ont surtout été étudiés, amenant à la caractérisation de deux gènes, HLA-C et ADAM33. En parallèle, une stratégie de "gènes candidats" a été appliquée, conduisant à suspecter un rôle probable pour les gènes FLG, TGM5, CARD15 et CYLD et à confirmer celui de SLC12A8 dans l'étiologie du psoriasis. / The psoriasis is a complex chronic inflammatory skin disease due to a strong genetic component as well as environmental factors. The only major locus for psoriasis susceptibility implicated to date, named PSORS1 on chromosome 6p21, has been demonstrated in various populations in linkage and association studies. It could nevertheless be responsible for up to 50% of the genetic contribution to the disease. The aim of my thesis was thus to identify the other genetic factors, in particular in the French population. To identify the loci, a linkage study was carried out, showing possible regions on 12q, 14q, 16p, 20p, in addition to that on 6p. Two loci on 6p and 20p were studied in more detail, revealing the contribution of the two genes, HLA-C and ADAM33. In parallel, a "candidate gene" strategy was undertaken, exposing a probable role of FLG, TGM5, CARD15 and CYLD genes and a confirmed role of SLC12A8 gene in the etiology of psoriasis.

The purpose of this study is to design an innovative mechanism for robot dog's legs, including analyzing the existing commercial robot dogs, modeling the characteristic of entity by Pro/Engineer, and simulating the mechanism by Visual Nastran. The leg designed in this study is a five-bar linkage with pantograph mechanism. This leg mechanism has two degrees of freedom. In order to control the motion of legs easily, a method which converts the locus of movement into the control parameters of motor is introduced by analyzing the mechanism of the robot dog's legs. The result of computer simulation shows that the designed mechanism can achieve slow movement smoothly. The gait of the designed legs is based on the motion pictures of a real dog. The movement of legs of the designed robot dog is then simulated by computer program involved Visual Nastran and then compare to that of a real dog.

Phosphofructokinase from Bacillus stearothermophilus (BsPFK) is a homotetrameric enzyme with an average of one active site and one allosteric site per subunit. BsPFK is inhibited by phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and how this inhibitory signal is propagated throughout the enzyme is the main question we address through this investigation. By possessing a total of eight binding sites, a potential for twenty-eight total pair-wise allosteric interactions result within BsPFK, ten of which are unique. Of these ten interactions, four are heterotropic interactions, or interactions between unlike binding sites, while the remaining six interactions are homotropic interactions, or interactions between like binding sites. Thus, to address the question of how BsPFK is inhibited by PEP, each of these ten interactions needs to be quantified and their roles in the inhibition process assessed. In order to quantify the roles of the 10 allosteric interactions, we created, purified and characterized several different hybrid enzymes by using site-directed mutagenesis to reduce the number of native active sites and native allosteric sites to permit the isolation of specific allosteric interaction(s). Through the creation and isolation of 1:3 hybrid enzymes, in which one native active site and one native allosteric site remain, each of the four heterotropic interactions were characterized. Moreover, through the creation and isolation of the 2:2 hybrid enzymes, in which two native active sites and two native allosteric sites remain, characterization of the remaining six homotropic interactions was performed. Utilizing a linked function approach to quantify the heterotropic and homotropic effects for each hybrid enzyme, we determined that 5 to 6 of the ten pair-wise allosteric interactions found in BsPFK are involved in the inhibition process depending upon pH. More importantly however, our data provides definitive results that the traditional two-state models used to describe an allosteric effect are not sufficient to describe the allosteric effect measured for BsPFK. Rather, our results show that the linked function approach is a more appropriate way to unambiguously measure the nature and magnitude of an allosteric effect. Moreover, this approach can also be used to explain the allosteric behavior of a dimeric enzyme.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Statistics, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-94).