In the absence of taxes and transactions costs, there can be no benefit to corporate reorganization from a financial standpoint, but ‘real world’ limitations and frictions do provide additional value that is gained through divestitures in terms of focus and financial flexibility. Herein, the corporate divestiture decision is analyzed to determine the motivation for a parent company either to cleave its offspring directly to the external capital market in an equity carve-out or to distribute the shares to the existing shareholders in a tax-free spin-off. Cash flow performance, asymmetric information, relative size of the divestiture, and relatedness of the parent’s and subsidiary’s operations are all found to contribute significantly to the divestiture decision. In Canada, an alternate form of security, known as the income trust unit, has become popular for corporate reorganizations, either through an initial public offering or as a conversion of shares. The flow-through structure of income trusts currently allows avoidance of corporate taxation to offer higher pre-tax returns to retail investors, in a market setting where yield is increasingly equated with value. To determine placement of these securities in the market, the risk of the income trust organizational form is analyzed and compared to the standard corporate form. Further, a number of publicly known characteristics of the income trusts can predict the relative risk of this type of investment. In recent ‘hot markets’ for these securities, proof is uncovered that unsuitable firms have been migrating to this sector, but valuation of the investments in this sector has remained fair and full. Although pending legislation will discontinue the tax-exempt status of income trusts in 2011, during their tenure these securities have improved the Canadian market. Based on the data analysis herein, all types of divestitures studied have been predicted to provide commensurate value with respect to risk depending on the nature of the subsidiary. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2007-08-15 11:20:20.465

The schedule of growth, reproduction and survivorship of an individual are the key components of life history, which reflect fitness performance of a genotype. Examining the variation in life history performance among genotypes provides an avenue for which genotypic fitness differences can be compared. The parthenogenetic freshwater zooplankton, Daphnia pulicaria, is a model organism to investigate and disentangle the genotypic from the phenotypic influences of life history variation. While Daphnia spp. life history has been extensively studied, few have examined the effect of low food concentrations on life history traits. Since Daphnia spp. are frequently subjected to periods food limitation caused by natural phytoplankton cycles, it is necessary to understand how individuals respond in low food environments in order to obtain an accurate representation of life history responses among genotypes. In this study, I conducted a set of highly controlled laboratory experiments using multiple genotypes of Daphnia pulicaria under a range of food-limited conditions in order to gain insight into the environmental and genotypic responses of life history traits. I measured a suite of life history traits, growth, reproduction and survivorship, as discrete elements for each individual and synthesized these traits into a representation of the life history schedule. This provided an accurate method to compare genotypes and allowed for identification of trade-offs between life history traits. My results indicate a significant effect of low food concentration on life history traits, causing a decrease in performance of all traits. Additionally, genotypic differences occurred in most traits, however these differences only manifested within the intermediate food levels. There were no genotypic differences in daily reproductive rate, indicating that genotypes only differ in the number of individuals reproducing within an environment. Allocation-based trade-offs among these life history traits were examined within a genotype, however the only trade-off identified was between reproduction and survivorship and this only manifested at low food levels. Even though these genotypes do not co-exist in the same lakes, similar patterns occurred in trade-offs among genotypes. This potentially indicates that trade-offs among genotypes occur due to the same physiological mechanisms witnessed at the individual level. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2011-08-14 11:32:27.808

Antipredator defenses are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems. In the widely studied Chaoborus-Daphnia predator-prey system, Daphnia elicit a variety of phenotypically plastic responses to Chaoborus including: morphological, life history, and behavioral responses. While these inducible defenses benefit the prey, metal contaminants have been shown to interfere with chemosensory functions, thereby inhibiting antipredator defenses and decreasing survivorship. However, in lakes with a history of metal contamination, such as Kelly Lake in Sudbury, Ontario, there is evidence to suggest that Daphnia may have adapted to high, ambient copper concentrations. Using seven distinct Daphnia clones that were hatched from resting eggs from Kelly Lake, we examined morphological and life history traits when clones were exposed to either a nominal concentration of copper, kairomone, or a combination of both. As expected, clones displayed a variety of inducible responses in both kairomone-control and kairomone-copper treatments, which was attributed to genetic variability. Expected trade-offs in life history traits were not always observed, suggesting that inducible traits may be coupled. Furthermore, in contradiction to life history theory, one clone exhibited both increased somatic growth and increased reproductive output, indicating that clones likely adopted adaptive strategies to stressors rather than elicitng trade-offs in traditional traits. Our results indicate that environmentally relevant copper concentrations do not inhibit the induction of antipredator defenses in Daphnia from Kelly Lake, and we conclude that Kelly Lake Daphnia have developed an adaptive tolerance to copper. Adaptation to copper contamination may have implications for resilience in natural Kelly Lake populations. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-03 19:33:59.137

Research on entrepreneurial motivation of university scientists is often determined by quantitative methods without taking into account context-related influences. According to different studies, entrepreneurial scientists found a spin-off company due to motives like independency, market opportunity, money or risk of unemployment (short-term contracts). To give a comprehensive explanation, it is important to use a qualitative research view that considers academic rank, norms and values of university scientists. The author spoke with 35 natural scientists and asked professors and research fellows for their entrepreneurial motivation. The results of this study are used to develop a typology of entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial scientists within German universities. This paper presents the key findings of the study (Sass 2011).

Few empirical studies examine the influence that the maternal parasite environment can have on offspring fitness (maternal effects) in invertebrates. Several recent studies have found that mothers can adjust offspring phenotype to counter the negative effects of parasite infection. In this thesis I subjected the parental generation of the host species, Tenebrio molitor (Insecta: Coleoptera), to a high parasite, high density, or control treatment. Offspring were subsequently subjected to either the same stress, the alternate stress, or to the control, and fitness-related life history traits were measured in both generations. The results from this thesis do not support the hypothesis that T. molitor mothers influence offspring fitness in a positive way. Instead, maternal effects led to a reduction in offspring fitness under both types of stress. At least under some environmental conditions, females invest in their fitness at the expense of their offspring.

Few empirical studies examine the influence that the maternal parasite environment can have on offspring fitness (maternal effects) in invertebrates. Several recent studies have found that mothers can adjust offspring phenotype to counter the negative effects of parasite infection. In this thesis I subjected the parental generation of the host species, Tenebrio molitor (Insecta: Coleoptera), to a high parasite, high density, or control treatment. Offspring were subsequently subjected to either the same stress, the alternate stress, or to the control, and fitness-related life history traits were measured in both generations. The results from this thesis do not support the hypothesis that T. molitor mothers influence offspring fitness in a positive way. Instead, maternal effects led to a reduction in offspring fitness under both types of stress. At least under some environmental conditions, females invest in their fitness at the expense of their offspring.

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have enjoyed increasing use due to their low non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs and their straightforward implementation process. However, it is recognized that they have higher per unit costs, poorer performance and increased power consumption compared to custom alternatives, such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). This thesis investigates the extent of this gap and it examines the trade-offs that can be made to narrow it. The gap between 90 nm FPGAs and ASICs was measured for many benchmark circuits. For circuits that only make use of general-purpose combinational logic and flipflops, the FPGA-based implementation requires 35 times more area on average than an equivalent ASIC. Modern FPGAs also contain "hard" specific-purpose circuits such as multipliers and memories and these blocks are found to narrow the average gap to 18 for our benchmarks or, potentially, as low as 4.7 when the hard blocks are heavily used. The FPGA was found to be on average between 3.4 and 4.6 times slower than an ASIC and this gap was not influenced significantly by hard memories and multipliers. The dynamic power consumption is approximately 14 times greater on average on the FPGA than on the ASIC but hard blocks showed promise for reducing this gap. This is one of the most comprehensive analyses of the gap performed to date. The thesis then focuses on exploring the area and delay trade-offs possible through architecture, circuit structure and transistor sizing. These trade-offs can be used to selectively narrow the FPGA to ASIC gap but past explorations have been limited in their scope as transistor sizing was typically performed manually. To address this issue, an automated transistor sizing tool for FPGAs was developed. For a range of FPGA architectures, this tool can produce designs optimized for various design objectives and the quality of these designs is comparable to past manual designs. With this tool, the trade-off possibilities of varying both architecture and transistor-sizing were explored and it was found that there is a wide range of useful trade-offs between area and delay. This range of 2.1 X in delay and 2.0 X in area is larger than was observed in past pure architecture studies. It was found that lookup table (LUT) size was the most useful architectural parameter for enabling these trade-offs.

Ecological communities along gradients of environmental stress are thought to be structured by trade-offs between resisting biotic interactions in physically benign habitats and successfully exploiting physically stressful habitats. However, these trade-offs are likely to be affected by the predictability of abiotic stressors, and variation in the strength of biotic interactions. I investigated community assembly and food web interactions in ponds across an unpredictable gradient of water inundation (pond permanence) in Canterbury, New Zealand. Pond community composition and species richness were strongly influenced by pond permanence. However, species in temporary ponds were a nested subset of generalists that were also found in permanent ponds, rather than a unique assemblage of temporary pond specialists. Subsequent experiments indicated predator impact decreased with pond permanence, partially due to the foraging suppression of predatory invertebrates in permanent ponds by fish. Weak predation in permanent ponds combined with unpredictable drying regimes likely selected for generalist traits, and resulted in community assembly being driven by a gradient of drying stress rather than trade-offs between biotic interactions and drying. Furthermore, predator impact increased over time in temporary ponds. In predictable snow-melt ponds in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, seasonal windows of weak predation were exploited by vulnerable species, leading to increased diversity within habitats. However in unpredictable systems like Canterbury, temporal increases in predation risk that depend on drying history are likely to increase variability in the spatial arrangement of suitable habitats for particular species. This should further favour the evolution of generalist traits and reduce the importance of trade-offs between predation and drying in the assembly of communities. Considering the predictability of disturbance regimes and the spatial and temporal variation in biotic interactions will greatly enhance understanding and management of communities in heterogeneous landscapes.

As doenças cardiovasculares (DCV) são as principais causas de morte no mundo. Estas doenças se originam e se desenvolvem a partir de uma série de fatores de risco durante os anos da infância e adolescência. Dois componentes da aptidão física relacionada á saúde apresentam associação com estes fatores de risco; a aptidão cardiorrespiratória (ApC) e a composição corporal. Indivíduos jovens com baixos níveis de ApC e níveis elevados do componente de gordura da composição corporal (sobrepeso/obesidade) têm maiores probabilidades de portarem estes fatores de risco. É neste contexto que se insere este estudo, que tem como principais objetivos: 1) identificar a capacidade de triagem de crianças e adolescentes com maior probabilidade de portarem fatores de risco para DCV dos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para a ApC e para indicadores antropométricos de sobrepeso e obesidade (IASO), e; b) propor novos pontos de corte para a ApC e IASO de escolares brasileiros de 7 a 12 anos de idade. A amostra do tipo aleatória por conglomerados foi constituída por 1.413 escolares de 7 a 12 anos de idade. A ApC foi medida através do teste de corrida/caminhada de 9 minutos. Os IASO utilizados foram o índice de massa corporal (IMC), o somatório de dobras cutâneas triciptal e subescapular (TRI+SUB) e triciptal e da panturrilha (TRI+PAN), a circunferência da cintura (CC), e o índice de conicidade (IC). O colesterol total (monitor portátil Roche Diagnostics) e as pressões arterial sistólica e diastólica (método auscultatório) foram medidas e através delas foram criadas referências de fatores de risco para DCV. Através da curva Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) entre a ApC e os IASO, com as referências de fatores de risco para DCV foram identificados os valores dos pontos de corte que corresponderam ao melhor ajustamento entre sensibilidade e especificidade. A sensibilidade e a especificidade dos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura e os propostos por nosso estudo foram calculadas a partir de tabelas de contingência com as referências de fatores de risco para DCV. Adicionalmente foi utilizada a regressão logística binária para identificar o quanto os indivíduos que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos tinham a mais de probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV em relação àqueles que atenderam. Os resultados indicaram que os pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para a ApC não apresentam bom ajustamento entre sensibilidade e especificidade, não sendo adequados para a avaliação da ApC. Os pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para os IASO por outro lado, no geral, apresentaram aceitáveis ajustamentos entre sensibilidade e especificidade. Os pontos de corte propostos no presente estudo para ApC e para os IASO mostraram-se adequados para a identificação de escolares com maiores probabilidades de portarem fatores de risco para DCV, com ajustamentos entre sensibilidade e especificidade melhores que os apresentados pelos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura. Estes resultados ficam reforçados quando as análises da regressão logística binária indicam que a probabilidade de escolares que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos em nosso estudo é maior que a probabilidade de escolares que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos na literatura de portarem fatores de risco para DCV em relação aos escolares que atenderam aos pontos de corte. Dentre os IASO o IMC e o TRI+SUB foram os que apresentaram melhor capacidade de identificar escolares com maior probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV. Contudo, os demais IASO, com exceção do IC, também mostraram adequada capacidade. Frente aos resultados encontrados ficam evidências de que indivíduos com baixos valores de ApC e elevados de IASO possuem maior probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV em comparação com aqueles com valores mais apropriados. Além disto, os pontos de corte propostos pelo presente estudo mostraram-se mais adequados que àqueles disponíveis na literatura para a identificação de escolares com maior probabilidade de portarem fatores de risco para DCV. Desta forma, sugerimos as medidas de ApC pela corrida/caminhada de nove minutos e dos IASO estudados, com exceção do IC, e a avaliação pelos pontos de corte propostos no presente estudo para triagem de escolares com risco aumentado para apresentarem fatores de risco para DCV. / The cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the mainly death cause in the world. These diseases begin and development during childhood and adolescent years by a serial of risk factors. Two components of health related physical fitness show association with these risk factors; cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) end body composition. Young individuals with low level of CF and high level of fat component of body composition (overweight/obesity) have more probability to carry on these risk factors. The aims of this study are: 1) to identify the sort capacity of children and adolescents with more probability to carry on the CVD risk factors of the CF and overweight/obesity anthropometric indicators (OOAI) cut offs available at literature, end; b) to propose new cut offs to CF and OOAI of brazilian scholars of 7 to 12 years old. The sample was compound for 1.413 scholars of 07 to 12 years old, selected of aleatory by conglomerated way. The CF was measured by the 9 minutes run/walk test. The OOAI utilized were the body mass index (BMI), the sum of triciptal and subescapular skinfold (TRI+SUB) and triciptal and calf (TRI+CAL), waist circumference (WC), and conicity index (CI). The total cholesterol (portable monitor Roche Diagnostics) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (auscultation method) were measured and were created CVD risk factors references. By the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve between CF and the OOAI, with the CVD risk factors references were identified the cut offs values that correspond to the best balance between sensibility and specificity. The sensibility and specificity of the cut offs available at literature ant those proposed by our study were calculated by contingency tables with the CVD risk factors references. Supplementary was utilized the binary logistic regression to identify how the individual that did not attend the cut offs had more probability to show CVD risk factors than those individuals that did. The results indicated that the CF cut off's available at literature do not show good balance between sensibility and specificity. The OOAI literature available CUT off's by other side, in general, showed acceptable balance between sensibility and specificity. The cut offs proposed at present study for CF and OOAI showed appropriated values to identify scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors with best balance between sensibility and specificity than those showed by cut offs available at literature. These results get reinforced when the binary logistic regression results indicate that the probability of scholars that did not attend the cut offs proposed in the our study is greater than the probability of scholars that did not attend to literature available cut off's to carry on CVD risk factors in relation those scholars that attended the cut offs Among the OOAI the BMI and the TRI+SUB were those that showed the best capacity to identify scholars with greater probability to carry on CVD risk factors. However, the others OOAI, exception CI, show adequate capacity too. These results show that individuals with poor level of CF and great level of OOAI have more probability to carry on CVD risk factors than those individuals with appropriated levels. Besides, the cut offs proposed at our study showed to be more appropriated than those available in the literature to identify scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors. Thus, we suggest the CF by 9 minutes run/walk test and OOAI measured studied, exception CI, and the evaluation by the cut offs proposed at the present study to the sorting of the scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors.

As doenças cardiovasculares (DCV) são as principais causas de morte no mundo. Estas doenças se originam e se desenvolvem a partir de uma série de fatores de risco durante os anos da infância e adolescência. Dois componentes da aptidão física relacionada á saúde apresentam associação com estes fatores de risco; a aptidão cardiorrespiratória (ApC) e a composição corporal. Indivíduos jovens com baixos níveis de ApC e níveis elevados do componente de gordura da composição corporal (sobrepeso/obesidade) têm maiores probabilidades de portarem estes fatores de risco. É neste contexto que se insere este estudo, que tem como principais objetivos: 1) identificar a capacidade de triagem de crianças e adolescentes com maior probabilidade de portarem fatores de risco para DCV dos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para a ApC e para indicadores antropométricos de sobrepeso e obesidade (IASO), e; b) propor novos pontos de corte para a ApC e IASO de escolares brasileiros de 7 a 12 anos de idade. A amostra do tipo aleatória por conglomerados foi constituída por 1.413 escolares de 7 a 12 anos de idade. A ApC foi medida através do teste de corrida/caminhada de 9 minutos. Os IASO utilizados foram o índice de massa corporal (IMC), o somatório de dobras cutâneas triciptal e subescapular (TRI+SUB) e triciptal e da panturrilha (TRI+PAN), a circunferência da cintura (CC), e o índice de conicidade (IC). O colesterol total (monitor portátil Roche Diagnostics) e as pressões arterial sistólica e diastólica (método auscultatório) foram medidas e através delas foram criadas referências de fatores de risco para DCV. Através da curva Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) entre a ApC e os IASO, com as referências de fatores de risco para DCV foram identificados os valores dos pontos de corte que corresponderam ao melhor ajustamento entre sensibilidade e especificidade. A sensibilidade e a especificidade dos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura e os propostos por nosso estudo foram calculadas a partir de tabelas de contingência com as referências de fatores de risco para DCV. Adicionalmente foi utilizada a regressão logística binária para identificar o quanto os indivíduos que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos tinham a mais de probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV em relação àqueles que atenderam. Os resultados indicaram que os pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para a ApC não apresentam bom ajustamento entre sensibilidade e especificidade, não sendo adequados para a avaliação da ApC. Os pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura para os IASO por outro lado, no geral, apresentaram aceitáveis ajustamentos entre sensibilidade e especificidade. Os pontos de corte propostos no presente estudo para ApC e para os IASO mostraram-se adequados para a identificação de escolares com maiores probabilidades de portarem fatores de risco para DCV, com ajustamentos entre sensibilidade e especificidade melhores que os apresentados pelos pontos de corte disponíveis na literatura. Estes resultados ficam reforçados quando as análises da regressão logística binária indicam que a probabilidade de escolares que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos em nosso estudo é maior que a probabilidade de escolares que não atenderam aos pontos de corte propostos na literatura de portarem fatores de risco para DCV em relação aos escolares que atenderam aos pontos de corte. Dentre os IASO o IMC e o TRI+SUB foram os que apresentaram melhor capacidade de identificar escolares com maior probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV. Contudo, os demais IASO, com exceção do IC, também mostraram adequada capacidade. Frente aos resultados encontrados ficam evidências de que indivíduos com baixos valores de ApC e elevados de IASO possuem maior probabilidade de apresentar fatores de risco para DCV em comparação com aqueles com valores mais apropriados. Além disto, os pontos de corte propostos pelo presente estudo mostraram-se mais adequados que àqueles disponíveis na literatura para a identificação de escolares com maior probabilidade de portarem fatores de risco para DCV. Desta forma, sugerimos as medidas de ApC pela corrida/caminhada de nove minutos e dos IASO estudados, com exceção do IC, e a avaliação pelos pontos de corte propostos no presente estudo para triagem de escolares com risco aumentado para apresentarem fatores de risco para DCV. / The cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the mainly death cause in the world. These diseases begin and development during childhood and adolescent years by a serial of risk factors. Two components of health related physical fitness show association with these risk factors; cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) end body composition. Young individuals with low level of CF and high level of fat component of body composition (overweight/obesity) have more probability to carry on these risk factors. The aims of this study are: 1) to identify the sort capacity of children and adolescents with more probability to carry on the CVD risk factors of the CF and overweight/obesity anthropometric indicators (OOAI) cut offs available at literature, end; b) to propose new cut offs to CF and OOAI of brazilian scholars of 7 to 12 years old. The sample was compound for 1.413 scholars of 07 to 12 years old, selected of aleatory by conglomerated way. The CF was measured by the 9 minutes run/walk test. The OOAI utilized were the body mass index (BMI), the sum of triciptal and subescapular skinfold (TRI+SUB) and triciptal and calf (TRI+CAL), waist circumference (WC), and conicity index (CI). The total cholesterol (portable monitor Roche Diagnostics) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (auscultation method) were measured and were created CVD risk factors references. By the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve between CF and the OOAI, with the CVD risk factors references were identified the cut offs values that correspond to the best balance between sensibility and specificity. The sensibility and specificity of the cut offs available at literature ant those proposed by our study were calculated by contingency tables with the CVD risk factors references. Supplementary was utilized the binary logistic regression to identify how the individual that did not attend the cut offs had more probability to show CVD risk factors than those individuals that did. The results indicated that the CF cut off's available at literature do not show good balance between sensibility and specificity. The OOAI literature available CUT off's by other side, in general, showed acceptable balance between sensibility and specificity. The cut offs proposed at present study for CF and OOAI showed appropriated values to identify scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors with best balance between sensibility and specificity than those showed by cut offs available at literature. These results get reinforced when the binary logistic regression results indicate that the probability of scholars that did not attend the cut offs proposed in the our study is greater than the probability of scholars that did not attend to literature available cut off's to carry on CVD risk factors in relation those scholars that attended the cut offs Among the OOAI the BMI and the TRI+SUB were those that showed the best capacity to identify scholars with greater probability to carry on CVD risk factors. However, the others OOAI, exception CI, show adequate capacity too. These results show that individuals with poor level of CF and great level of OOAI have more probability to carry on CVD risk factors than those individuals with appropriated levels. Besides, the cut offs proposed at our study showed to be more appropriated than those available in the literature to identify scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors. Thus, we suggest the CF by 9 minutes run/walk test and OOAI measured studied, exception CI, and the evaluation by the cut offs proposed at the present study to the sorting of the scholars with more probability to carry on CVD risk factors.