Cheuk Man Yuen, Kitty. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves x-xxiii). / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / List of Tables --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.viii / Preface --- p.ix / Chapter Chapter One --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Conceptual Framework and Methodologies / Chapter 2.1 --- Literature Review --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2 --- Conceptual Framework --- p.30 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Selection of Variables --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3 --- Method of Data Collection --- p.36 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Scope of Samples --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Design of Questionnaire --- p.39 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Pilot Survey --- p.41 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Actual Field Work --- p.41 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- The Limitaion of This Study --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Screening Process --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4 --- Method of Data Analysis --- p.44 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Market Regulation and Institutions / Chapter 3.1 --- Evidences of Passenger Mode-Choices Influenced by Regulatory Authorities --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Offical Attitude towards the Cross-Border Vehicular Traffic --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Means of Regulatory Control on the Cross-Border Traffic --- p.67 / Chapter 3.4 --- The Regulation of Cross-Border Traffic -A Conclusive Summary --- p.79 / Chapter Chapter Four --- The Nature and Characteristics of The Passengers and Their Trips / Chapter 4.1 --- Socio-economic Characteristics of Passengers --- p.85 / Chapter 4.2 --- "Passengers' Trip Purposes, Origins and Destinations" --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3 --- The Characteristics of Cross-Border Trips / Chapter 4.3.1 --- "Number of Transfer, Station Accessibility and Fare" --- p.102 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- "Convenience, Time and Comfort" --- p.119 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Departure Frequency and Return Trips --- p.127 / Chapter 4.4 --- Immigration Procedures and Check In-Out Time --- p.132 / Chapter Chapter Five --- Trip Direction and Weekday/Weekend Varaiations --- p.135 / Chapter Chapter Six --- Summaries and Discussions / Chapter 6.1 --- Summary --- p.151 / Chapter 6.2 --- Areas for Further Study --- p.154 / Appendices / Appendix I Questionnaire Form --- p.i / Appendix II List of Abbreviations --- p.v / Appendix III List of Interviews Conducted --- p.vi / Appendix IV Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Accuracy --- p.vii / Appendix V Definitation of Some Terms Concerning Discriminant Analysis --- p.viii / Bibliography --- p.x

Esta tese relata e discute conclusões, métodos e processos usados para mostrar que tendências identificadas ao estudar relações estatísticas entre o número de passageiros transportados, distâncias entre cidades e número de habitantes, variáveis que podem contribuir para explicar o comportamento do volume de deslocamentos de habitantes do Brasil quando o meio de transporte for o ônibus interestadual. Foi montado um banco de dados adotado específico com dados publicados por órgãos públicos de governo do Brasil e colaboração de empresas públicas, privadas e entidades de classe. Os dados foram manuseados para se obter um conjunto contínuo de informação sobre o movimento de passageiros ao longo de 20 anos, entre 1980 e 2000. Foram estudados tendências e comportamento do próprio número de passageiros, distância média por viagem, número médio de viagens e distância viajada por habitante do Brasil. Concluiu-se que estimativas obtidas por análise de regressão linear geram séries de tendência crescente. Mas, estimativas obtidas por uso de séries temporais identificaram tendências para a estabilidade ou a redução dos valores estimados para as variáveis estudadas. / This thesis reports and discusses conclusions, methods and processes used to show that identified tendencies when studying statistical relationships among the number of transported passengers, distances between cities and number of inhabitants can contribute to explain the behavior of the volume of inhabitants from Brazil displacements when the means of transportation is the interstate bus. A database was set up adopted specific with data published by government's from Brazil and collaboration of public companies, private and class entities. The data were handled to obtain a continuous group of information on the passengers' movement along 20 years, between 1980 and 2000. Tendencies and behavior of the own number of passengers, medium distance for trip, medium number of trips and distance travels for inhabitant from Brazil were studied. The estimates obtained from linear regression analysis of generate series of growing tendency for the number of transported passengers. But, estimates obtained using temporal series identified tendencies for the stability or the reduction of the estimated values for the studied variables.

The chromosomal passenger complex (CPC: Aurora B-INCENP-Survivin-Borealin) is a key regulator of cell division whose localisation at centromeres is required for stable kinetochore-microtubule attachments and proper chromosomal segregation (Ruchaud et al. 2007; Carmena et al. 2012; van der Waal et al. 2012). Shugoshin1 (hSgo1) (via Borealin) and Histone H3 (via Survivin) have been implicated in centromeric targeting of CPC (Wang et al. 2010; Jeyaprakash et al. 2011; Tsukahara et al. 2010; Kawashima et al. 2010). Although the Survivin-Histone H3 pathway has been extensively studied, the intermolecular interactions dictating CPC-hSgo1 interactions remain unclear. My PhD work focused on characterising the molecular framework of the CPC-hSgo1 interaction using biochemical, biophysical and structural biology methods. I optimised and improved human CPC and hSgo1 recombinant protein production in an E. coli system. Post optimisation, I used Size-Exclusion Chromatography to successfully reconstitute the CPC-hSgo1 complex in vitro and further confirmed that hSgo1 possessing no modification or extra amino acids on its N-terminus can interact with Survivin and Borealin-Survivin-INCENP1-57. This suggested that the hSgo1 N-terminal tail interaction with Survivin is crucial for CPC-hSgo1 interaction. Furthermore, I conducted calorimetric binding studies to molecularly dissect the individual contributions of CPC components and their domains towards CPC-hSgo1 interaction. Towards this aim, I expressed and purified different versions of CPC and analysed their binding energetics with hSgo1. The results from these experiments clearly suggested the contribution of Borealin and INCENP towards CPC-hSgo1 interaction.

This thesis is the result of a preliminary investigation into a niche market segment of the maritime tourism economy. Travel by working class freighter or cargo ship is not a new activity; however, the concept of freighter-based tourism (wherein participants travel by container ship in their free time solely for leisure purposes) has emerged relatively recently on the tourism spectrum. A major cause of its recent popularity and allied growth is the positive word of mouth promotion which has been generated by people who try freighter cruising and like it. As the number of prospective travellers increases, merchant shipping lines are seeing dramatic changes in the makeup of their passenger lists. In former years, the typical freighter 'passenger' spanned all ages and walks of life, as thousands of European immigrants traversed the Atlantic in search of a new life in the Americas. Today�s freighter 'travellers' are almost always over 50 years of age (up to a maximum age of 79) and are, for the most part, affluent with time and money to spare. Freighter travel nowadays involves the movement of people solely for the purpose of a unique and atypical travel experience. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of 22 participants engaged in recreational travel aboard working container vessels/cargo ships. The research questions driving this study were: What expectations and factors are understood by passengers to influence their decision to choose this particular mode of transport? What is the nature of the freighter experience, as passengers themselves understand it? What meanings do passengers attach to their experiences? How do the temporal dimensions of the passenger freighter experience (before, during, and after) connect with each other? This study employed a qualitative methodology to capture and portray as vividly as possible the participants� experiences and their attempts to make sense of those experiences. A phenomenological case study research design, set within a symbolic interactionist analytical framework, guided the study. The data consisted of in-depth online interviews and document analysis in the form of unsolicited travelogues/journey diaries. Through a prolonged and iterative process of data analysis using the transcendental phenomenological model provided by Moustakas (1994) and the operational refinements suggested by Schutz (1970) and Kvale (1995), the researcher documented the 'lived experience' of travel by cargo ship from the individual travellers� perspectives. Further, as a tool for describing, analysing, and interpreting the data, this study utilised the 'generic social processes scheme', a sociological method for the purposes of organising, analysing and interpreting qualitative data (Prus 1996). Within this research the themes were presented collectively, although they were systematically identified separately. The shared themes, meanings and patterns that shaped the informants� travel narratives suggested that moving out to the unfamiliar can be frightening, or it can be liberating. Participants had assessed and realistically accepted the potential hazards of a freighter voyage, working on the assumption that a willingness to roll with uncertainty, unexpected delays, and mishaps is mandatory. Associated with these themes were issues of adaptation; dealing with challenges, ambiguities and constraints, which, despite their potential to preclude further similar such involvements, shaped the overall freighter travel experience and did not affect participants� satisfaction with the experience. It was further shown that freighter travellers are highly individualised people characterised by their interest in unique 'life experiences' and defined by their search for the 'extraordinary'. Participants framed their behaviours as an extension of themselves; their self-designation as 'travellers' and not 'tourists' and their emphasis on independence and autonomy conferred a sense of individuality and personal determination. Like Cohen�s (1976) non-institutionalised, unstructured tourists, these 'travellers' valued risk, adventure and novelty. The idea of negotiation through ambiguity and occasional setbacks in their travels further challenges commonly held perceptions about constraints, which, too often is seems, have been construed as obstacles or barriers (Jackson 2000) to travel. With regard to the present study, constraints, while inherent to freighter travel, would not have represented a full or accurate picture of the travellers� experiences without a concomitant description of how they were negotiated; moreover, the process of their negotiation repositions these travellers as active participants (instead of inactive consumers) of the tourist experience. These travellers decided what they wanted to do, where they wanted to go, and ensured they could negotiate their constraints to do so. The conclusive findings of this study suggest that freighter travel was viewed largely as a positive, beneficial, and rewarding experience, offering opportunities for self-development, reflection, social interaction, and cross-cultural immersion and learning. While certain constraints and limitations were acknowledged and recognised, freighter travellers negotiated through them, and fully enjoyed participation in the travel experience.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Business. / This thesis examines the concept of differential advantage and its relevance to the formulation of marketing strategy. It compares the model of market share determination, based on the possession of differential advantages in marketing mix variables, with one based on the concept of marketing effort. The two models are examined using data on new passenger car registrations collected from Idaps and Paxus1 respectively, media spend from Bruce Tart and Associates, and later AIM Data2, car dealerships from the Telecom Yellow Pages, and car models and new passenger car prices from Wheels Magazine, for the period 1983 to 1993. The above data was corroborated, where possible, by means of authoritative sources in the motor car industry in Australia. The theory of market share determination, based on share of marketing effort is an attractive one. This thesis finds that the relationship between market share3 and share of marketing effort is positive, consistent and statistically significant. It confirms the place of marketing effort as a model of market share determination in the marketing literature. Differential advantage is an index of competitive activity that is calculated by subtracting concurrent market share from share of marketing effort. The proposition, advanced by Cook and Rothberg (1990), is that increasing amounts of differential advantage are positively related to increasing levels of market share. This thesis does not support this proposition. At an overall level of analysis, the relationship between market share and differential advantage is a negative one. Only when a subset analysis is done, for small car makers, is there a weak but statistically significant and positive relationship between market share and differential advantage. The overall negative relationship between market share and differential advantage may be explained in part by the economic uncertainty of a boom and economic recession during the period under consideration in this thesis. A further possible explanation is that the data may not have captured fully the relationship between market share and differential advantage. The data examined the relationship between market share and differential advantage with only four independent variables. A larger number of independent variables, or different ones, may have described the relationship more effectively. Such data was not available. A more fundamental conclusion that is supported by this thesis is that successful competitive strategy simply does not require share of marketing investments to be greater than concurrent market share. The place of differential advantage in the formulation of marketing strategy is questioned. This thesis supports the value of competitive marketing effort in the formulation of marketing strategy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Arwen P. Mohun, Dept. of History. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Buffalo, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-46). Also available online.

This project aims to develop a rear side airbag and to investigate how the passenger in the rear seat is in need of protection in a side impact. It was found from the literature study that the head of children and thorax of adults are the most exposed body regions in side impacts. The side collision test done with a barrier by LINCAP (Lateral Impact, New Car Assessment Program) was found to produce the highest force on the rear-seated dummy, in comparison to the same test by IIHS (Insurance Institute Highway Safety), and that a high combined pelvic force results in a lower rating of the vehicle. The objective of the airbag concepts is to offer protection area to the most exposed body regions. The airbags are designed with the presumption that the occupant uses a seat belt and a pretensioner to limit the forward motion of the body, with the rationale that this enables design of airbags with reasonable manufacturing costs. The three new concepts of airbags were: thorax; thorax/pelvis and thorax/pelvis extended. From sled tests with the three new airbag concepts, it was found that an airbag, compared to no airbag, reduces the risk of injury at thorax by 70 percentage units and the force on pelvis is considerably reduced in a side impact. The thorax bag showed a reduction of the rib deflection compared to no airbag, but a high force on the pelvis motivates a protection area of pelvis. The tests with the two larger bags thorax/pelvis and thorax/pelvis extended resulted in a better protection of thorax, abdomen and pelvis than without airbag. Problems with positioning the pelvis area of the bags was noticed but not solved and may be a task in further investigations.

To increase the efficiency of speedy customs clearance for the outboard and inboard passengers, the Nation Immigration Agency under the Ministry of Interior has adjusted the related administrative procedures, such kind of management policies. Take the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) constructed in the major ports of Taiwan as an example. It requires the ship lines submit the related information of the ships and the basic information of the crewmembers to the information-processing center of the target state for advanced inspection before entry or exit. The center can judge whether there are control subjects among them by the submitted information, and further take some prevention measures in advance. This system is one of the key policies of national security in Taiwan. It is found from the literature review that although the APIS built by the National Immigration Agency has put into practice, the system performance evaluation is so rare, furthermore, the use willingness and achievement of the related practitioners and carriers can¡¦t be known. Therefore, this study takes the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the main axis to develop a TAM for the APIS. Moreover, it takes the Kaohsiung Port Brigade of Nation Immigration Agency as study scope, and the freight forwarders as the study objects, to conduct investigative study and evaluation on the situation of importing the APIS technology and the factors affecting the use of that system. The purpose of this study is to realize the effectiveness of the system implementation and subsequent improvement directions, as well as provide suggestions on how to carry out the system in the future. The study shows that the APIS effectiveness can help to increase the users¡¦ positive attitude, but the attitude towards the system can¡¦t effectively improve the users¡¦ positive intention, the information security awareness needs to be strengthened, the behavior control can¡¦t effectively increase the users¡¦ positive intention, and the persons who are in charge of the related fields show low willingness of using the APIS. Besides, the practitioners that have been founded for a longer time and developed into a large scale show a higher recognition degree to that system, and the education level also affects the willingness of using the APIS. The follow-up studies suggest reviewing the APIS promotion plan and making some improvements for it. Moreover, the involved institutions should provide assistance in the improvement of the human resource structure, make some related incentive, and enhance the information security concept, as well as conduct policy study, so as to facilitate the improvement and smooth implementation of the system.

Transportation infrastructure has long been recognized as the sine qua non of rapid economic development. As a predominantly agrarian economy with a vast and growing population spread over an extensive mass of land, India presents a veritable case of this truism, sadly by the lack of it. Notwithstanding the vagaries of development in other sectors, the transport sector in India, ironically, has received scant attention over five decades of the planning era, which has lent itself to lop-sided development in favour of the railways. Though deregulation and attendant economic reforms have augmented transport services by air and road in the last decade, the inadequacy of transport infrastructure and the acute paucity of resources to fulfil the provision of the same have been the bane of problems confronting the government. Privatization as a solution to circumvent resource constraints has raised new issues of social and environmental equity, which transcends the immediate concerns of infrastructure development. As is evident, though the solutions to the problems of the transport sector are multifarious, they emphasize the imperative need for rational and integrated transport planning and policy. A cursory look at the problems plaguing this sector also reveals that the issues and concerns cannot be dealt with in its entirety. Against this background, we confine ourselves to the study of the passenger transport sector and attempt to address an interesting and increasingly apparent phenomenon of travel behaviour, namely intermodal choice and modal substitution. The genesis of this study was an earlier work done by a research team at the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation (C-MMACS), NAL, where in, a general methodology to describe the growth of the transport sector in India was developed in terms of appropriate mathematical models. Significantly most of the variables describing demand, supply and performance were found to trend exponentially. However, the models failed to reflect the trends in intermodal substitution and its significance in evaluating future transport demand. For example, the development or availability of alternative means like rail or personalized vehicles may influence the demand for bus transport. Similarly demand for air transport may be a function of comparative advantages presented by alternatives like upper class rail travel. This phenomenon is observed to be pronounced on short-haul routes characterizing inter-city travel, where such modes are extremely competitive. We consider a regional network of high-density routes in southern India, as a representation of several such transport networks across the country, to study this phenomenon and its implications for future policy. The primary objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a set of econometric models that would adequately measure the extent of intermodal substitution in passenger transport on short-haul routes (inter-city travel) and, critically evaluate the factors that affect travel choice in a multimodal environment. Toward this, the study is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on understanding broad trends in air, rail and road travel, for the routes in consideration. Suitable regressions are estimated to measure the effect of critical transport variables on route-wise travel demand. The coefficients are estimated separately for two categories of travel - First Class and Second Class. Part two of the study is based on data collected from individual travel surveys on the route network. A simplified questionnaire was used for this purpose. We use the traditional logit framework to estimate choice probabilities based on user perceptions about factors affecting their choices. As in the previous case, we estimate the logits for both classes of travel, viz. First Class and Second Class, under the equal substitutability assumption. We also estimate the logits for the general case for the sake of comparison, though not practicable. Part three involves a case-study of an alternative high-speed rail link for one of the routes in the network having the highest traffic density, to illustrate its effect on travel choice in a multimodal transport network. We also demonstrate the feasibility of the project using a benefit-cost approach. From the results, it is observed that substitution is predominantly from air to rail for "first-class" travel, and from rail to road for "second-class" travel. Besides, it is also observed that travel choice is largely influenced by non-price (fare) considerations. The value of travel time is estimated for both categories of travel, using the trade-off method and is found to be significantly different. All regressions show a high and the coefficients are significant at the 5% level. The logit analysis validates the earlier conclusion that non-price (fare) factors influence the demand for different modes. It is found that users attach considerable importance to comfort and convenience, including time of travel, while making travel choices. It is also observed that the logits vary significantly when factors are grouped, and further, between categories of travel In the case of the high-speed link, we estimate that there will be a significant shift in travel demand from air to rail and also from road to rail, given substantial travel time savings. The estimates of passenger revenue and decongestion benefits also provide a strong rationale for the implementation of the project. Sources of data include published and unpublished records of Indian Airlines, Indian Railways and State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) on air, rail and road travel respectively. Data on population and other macroeconomic variables were obtained from census records and similar statistical publications. An important feature of this study is its attempt to bridge the macro and micro policy environments. It is one of the first attempts to study the dynamics of travel demand and choice behaviour in a multimodal regional transport network in India. Unlike previous studies, it transcends the realm of urban transport economics and extends its scope to the study of regional transport characteristics, where inter-city passenger travel has undergone significant changes both in environment and behaviour in the last decade. The entire study has been conceptualized in a system dynamics framework to describe its relevance to overall transport planning. It is believed that such an exercise would be a precursor for the development of a full-fledged macroeconomic model of the transport sector in India.