Thesis (M.Sc.)--Acadia University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-80). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-154).

Thesis (M. Sc.)(Computer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p.146-151) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2006. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

This thesis provides empirical evidence on the relation between concentrated ownership and the long term operating performance of acquiring firms. Large shareholders are generally viewed as beneficial monitors of corporate performance but high levels of concentration can lead to potential expropriation from minority shareholders via managerial entrenchment, tunneling, or sub-optimal investment decisions. This problem is potentially greater in firms with separation of voting and ownership rights. This thesis investigates the performance around takeovers in English origin countries other than the US by following the classification of La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny (1998). While generally considered similar to the US, these countries vary with respect to ownership concentration and investor protection. This thesis controls a broad set of corporate governance mechanisms including first generation governance measures like CEO positions, board characteristics, and other blockholders. Furthermore, this thesis also examines whether different degrees of second generation governance mechanisms such as anti-director rights, accounting standards, legal enforcement, and extra-legal institutions lead to different levels of M&A performance. In addition, this thesis includes the new legal indexes recently developed by Djankov, La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes and Shleifer (2006); these measures have yet to be examined through empirical research. By using an accounting based methodology, this thesis presents Healy, Palepu and Ruback (1992) abnormal post cash flow return regression-based results and results of a change model (Ghosh 2001). Moreover, this thesis refers to the sample matching techniques in Barber and Lyon (1996) and develops the industry, size, and pre performance benchmark. The principal finding of this thesis is that M&A transactions should improve the long-term financial and operating performance of merging firms to reflect that accounting performance can capture real economic creations. After controlling for well documented governance mechanisms and deal characteristics, the relationship between concentrated ownership and the level and change in operating cash flow returns after takeovers is non-linear. Value creating deals are associated with higher levels of concentration consistent with decreasing agency costs as the large shareholder’s wealth invested in the acquiring firm increases. Further, separation of ownership and voting rights leads to greater value destruction; acquiring firms with controlling CEO make significant improvements in post acquisition performance after controlling pre-performance; and the presence of CEO-Chairman duality and board size are both significantly negatively associated with acquisition operating performance. This thesis also finds, although all acquiring firms are from English origin countries, that the greater investor protection, as measured by the initial anti-director right index in La Porta et al. (1998) and revised anti-director rights index in Djankov et al. (2006) has a positive impact on operating cash flow returns from acquisitions. However, this thesis does not document any differential performance with respect to the extra- legal systems of Dyck and Zingales (2004) and the anti-self-dealing index of Djankov et al. (2006).

This thesis looks at file execution as an attack vector that leads to the execution of unauthorized code. File integrity checking is examined as a means of removing this attack vector, and the design, implementation, and evaluation of a best-of-breed file integrity checker for the Linux operating system is undertaken. We conclude that the resultant file integrity checker does succeed in removing file execution as an attack vector, does so at a computational cost that is negligible, and displays innovative and useful features that are not currently found in any other Linux file integrity checker.

Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar e propor o melhor método de Gestão Orçamentária na empresa Metalcorte Metalurgia Ltda., que atua no ramo metalúrgico e está localizada em Caxias do Sul. O estudo de caso é descritivo, pois o tema escolhido é favorável para este formato, com coleta de informações na empresa e por meio de entrevistas com os gestores da empresa selecionada para tal estudo. Os conceitos apresentados no terceiro capítulo são utilizados como referencial teórico no decorrer do estudo de caso, podendo-se perceber a aderência da teoria apresentada com a prática da empresa, que está procurando desenvolver instrumentos seguros de tomada de decisão visando manter sua competitividade. O orçamento empresarial é analisado como um elemento participante da dinâmica organizacional e inserido nos processos empresariais, fazendo com que as pessoas na organização se conscientizem dos objetivos a serem alcançados. / This study has the purpose of analyzing and proposing the best Orçamental Management method at the company Metalcorte Metalurgia Ltda., which operates in the metallurgic line and is located in Caxias do Sul. The case study is descriptive being the selected subject favorable to this format. The data were collected within the company as well as by performing interviews with managers of the company chosen for such study. The concepts shown in the third chapter are used as theoretical reference throughout the study, allowing knowledge acquisition about the adherence of the presented theory to the company performance, whose objective is to develop safe instruments for decision making, so as to maintain its competitivity. The company budget is analyzed as being a part of the organizational dynamics and as being inserted in company processes, allowing its personnel to be aware of the goals to be met.

Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um modelo simplificado dos membros inferiores de um robô bípede, composto basicamente por uma cintura, dois fêmures, duas tíbias e dois pés. A estrutura mecânica do modelo em questão, possui seis graus de liberdade e tem as dimensões aproximadas de um ser humano de estrutura mediana. Seu sistema de controle e de geração de trajetórias é desenvolvido utilizando funcionalidades disponíveis no Robot Operating System (ROS), porém ao contrário da maioria dos controladores existentes no ROS, este projeto propõe implementar um pacote contendo um controlador multivariável (multi-input, multi-output (MIMO)), utilizando a técnica de controle por torque calculado. Para a geração de trajetórias das pernas do robô, implementam-se três tipos diferentes de geração, a interpolação linear, cubica e de quinto grau. Para os testes de validação do sistema de controle e de geração de trajetórias utiliza-se o simulador Gazebo. / This work presents the development of a simplified model of a biped robot’s lower limbs, composed basically by the waist, two femurs, two tibia and two feet. The model’s mechanical structure has six degree of freedom and its dimensions are comparable to a human being’s body. Its control and trajectory generation systems are developed making use of some features available in the Robot Operation System (ROS) tool. However, contrary to most of the controllers offered by ROS, this project suggests the implementation of a new package, including a MIMO (multi-input multi-output) controller, making use of the calculated torque technique. As for the trajectory generation system, three different methodologies are applied of the interpolation: linear, cubic and polynomial quintic. To validate both control and trajectory generation systems, the Gazebo simulator is used.