Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:54:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo7168_1.pdf: 2138979 bytes, checksum: 19e8ea84018aa698112c01c9de47d857 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Os avanços na tecnologia de fabricação de circuitos integrados tem permitido a implementação de sistemas inteiros em um único chip, combinando alto poder de processamento e baixo consumo em uma pequena área. Os chamados Multiprocessor System-on-Chip (MPSoc) incluem multiplos processadores heterogeneos, estruturas complexas de interconexão e componentes de propriedade intelectual fornecidos por terceiros. Esta tecnologia permitiu o surgimento de dispositivos portateis como telefones celulares, PDAs, dispositivos multimídia que combinam a portabilidade com a capacidade de antigos computadores desktop. Contudo, a especificação e validação destes sistemas se tornou uma tarefa muito difícil. Existe um gap entre a especificação do sistema em alto nível e a implementação em uma plataforma multirprocessador. Este gap entre a especificação e a implementação não é tratado de forma adequada pelas metodologias e ferramentas existentes. Tendo como consequencia atrasos no ciclo de desenvolvimento e erros que podem comprometer o projeto. Nesta tese é atacado o problema de implementação da comunicação modelada a nível de sistema em plataformas multiprocessadores. As contribuições deste trabalho são: (1) uma nova abordagem para a modelagem de plataformas multiprocessador; (2) uma metodologia para o mapeamento de comunicação na plataforma; (3) suporte de análise para avaliação da implementação da comunicação. As metodologias e ferramentas propostas foram validadas utilizando-se dois estudos de caso. O primeiro uma aplicação com múltiplas comunicações e o segundo uma aplicação multimídia

Cliffs and shore platforms are, typical landforms of the rock coast of Britain, but due to their historical significance, discussion of these features is directed mainly towards elucidation of their place in the chronology of Pleistocene glaciation. Though the Isle of Man would seem by its position to offer advantages for a further chronological study, it is proposed that existing studies of a correlative nature suffer limitations due to certain assumptions concerning the form and process of formation of these features. This dissertation contributes a thorough examination of form, with the object of inferring process and sequence from this approach. Particular attention is paid to the present tidal and offshore zones, the relation of present tides and marine activity to the existing form being expressed by survey measurements with respect to a datum.

Yes / In a broader context where there are very real barriers to the development and implementation of service support that is father-inclusive, there is compelling evidence that the current support landscape in the UK engages ineffectively with young fathers (Maxwell et al., 2012; Bond, 2019). Young fathers have either been overlooked or excluded by professional support services (Bateson et al., 2017) or subject to a risk-based approach that stereotypically treats them with suspicion and surveillance (Neale and Davies, 2015; Tarrant and Neale, 2023). Established in 2017 as a regional charity in Gateshead, the North East Young Dads and Lads (NEYDL) project has sought to address discernible gaps in existing provision by prioritising and supporting the informational requirements of young men who are either currently fathers or soon to be fathers. This would prepare them to play an active and meaningful role in the lives of their child(ren). As part of an ambitious strategy and programme of support, NEYDL has pioneered DigiDAD, an e-learning parenting platform made by and for young fathers. First created during the COVID-19 pandemic, DigiDAD features pioneering, evidence-informed content designed to support the informational requirements of young fathers. The content comprises of bespoke advice and practical information for young fathers around parenting skills, relationships and support needs which they are likely to need as they navigate their parenting journeys. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess whether DigiDAD, a year from its launch, is meeting its primary objectives, namely that: 1. More young fathers will have the confidence, skills, and opportunities to be a positive presence in their children’s lives. 2. Statutory services recognise and value the role of young fathers. 3. The stigma of being a young father is reduced.

abstract: How to play the advantages of network loan platform to reduce the financing costs of net loan platform both in theory and practice has important significance. In this paper, we use the method of qualitative and quantitative combination. First of all, through the interview of the net loan platform practitioners, the financing cost of the net loan platform comes from the internal and external parts. Part of the network loan platform should be righteous, but counterproductive human and material costs, credit costs, information efficiency, transaction costs and matching costs; part of the emerging industry as a challenge, compliance costs, technical costs and safety costs and other cost. And put forward the top design credit system, promote the credit system; build a unified development of regulatory policies to reduce compliance risks; increase investment in technology, share the improvement of technological progress bonuses. Through the establishment of the regression model, the paper analyzes the influence of various indexes of network loan platform on the cost of network reception. It is found that the background of net loan platform with shareholder and executive team as the proxy variable has significant influence on the cost of network loan platform. The effect is not significant. Risk control indicators on the net loan platform cost has a significant negative effect. The impact of operating capacity on the cost of net loan platform differentiation, the acquisition of the cost of positive relations, the other is negative relations. Policy compliance indicators of financial security on the net loan platform cost significantly, the other did not significantly affect the role of liquidity indicators of differentiation, the average borrowing period will significantly affect the net loan platform costs, liquidity is a negative impact. And finally put forward the policy and recommendations and research limitations and future direction. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

The labour law includes the legal regulation between employees and employers. However, new forms of work have been developed the last decade, as perform work through a digital platform. Considerable of modern working life with new forms of labour organisations, do not fit in the labour law. Platform work is based in temporary assignments instead of determined working hours. This results in a flexible work form, but with less stability and regularity. This can engender a lack of rights and social security and an increased uncertainty regarding their work situation.   The purpose of this study is to illustrate the phenomenon platform work from a labour law perspective. To fulfil this purpose and answer the research questions it has been relevant to investigate legal material to interpret, systemise and determine applicable law. The study has placed great emphasises on practice and doctrine.   The result of this study shows that it is complex to applicate the labour law on platform workers and it is difficult to determine if they should be identified as workers in a legal sense. Platform work still brings several questions about how such a labour organisation stands in the labour market. In some respects the relation between the platform and the platform workers is equivalent to the relation between an employer and an employee, and in some respect’s relationships differ. More legal sources on the subject may be required to understand the relationship between platform work and the employer and employee concept.

The design and operation of a two-sided platform require a variety of decisions to facilitate a match between sellers (capacity) and buyers (demand). Many platforms deploy analytic capabilities to leverage rich information, on both demand and capacity, that is available in real-time. This dissertation research explores design decisions, such as price structure and quality controls, and allied analytic capabilities in order to document their impact on platform governance. These decisions are tested in the context of ride-sharing platform by positing three fundamental challenges that must be accounted for effective design: (1) spatial distribution of capacity and demand that allows for capacity spillovers, (2) buyer’s sentiment biases, and (3) seller’s relocation biases. These challenges are assessed in three separate but related essays. The first essay investigates how the policies for setting surge prices should be designed under capacity spillovers. Using a data set from Uber’s operations, we estimate a spatial panel model to reveal its surge pricing structure that accounts for spatial dependency. Allied counterfactual analysis illustrates the limitations of a spot pricing policy (i.e., a policy that does not account for spillovers). The second essay assesses the impact of buyer’s sentiment bias, ranging from optimism to pessimism, on the platform’s decision to control seller quality. Platforms face a trade-off between ensuring high-quality sellers and guaranteeing enough sellers such that wait-time is lowered. We formally characterize an optimal exclusion threshold on seller quality in the presence of sentiment bias. We also examine strategies that a platform can access to benefit from buyer’s behavioral biases. Results document the impact of seller quality on a platform’s profitability and social welfare. In the last essay, we focus on the seller’s relocation behavior. There is a debate in the literature on whether sellers’ willingness to relocate across demand zones in order to chase surging prices is rewarded in a ride-sharing platform setting. Using multiple machine learning algorithms, we classify rewarding behaviors with different pricing structures under a variety of circumstances. Results provide guidance on how to provide incentives while managing the dynamics of spatially distributed capacity.

Platforms are the critical players driving the digital economy. My thesis focuses on the platform economy, especially the competitive advantage of platforms. On the one hand, what factors affect the competitive advantage of platforms? How does the platform form the competitive advantage? These questions are related to platform strategy. On the other hand, does the competitive advantage of platforms harm social welfare? This question is related to regulatory issues. The first chapter of my dissertation studies how different aspects of user effects drive value in two-sided markets. We first develop a model of inter-temporal network effects and within-period network effects of users to estimate different aspects of user effects. We then propose a model to estimate the user lifetime value in two-sided markets and examine the effectiveness of the user growth strategy. Finally, we discuss platform heterogeneity and corresponding platform strategies. Using Groupon data, we empirically estimate different aspects of user effects and examine how they vary. We show that the strength of the inter-temporal same-side network effect affects user stickiness, further influencing the persistence of the within-period cross-side network effect. Strong within-period cross-side network effects alone cannot sustain value creation. Our findings remind managers not to overemphasize user growth when the inter-temporal network effects are weak and should instead focus on platform design that increases user stickiness. The second chapter of my dissertation examines the impact of a potential policy of opening a platform's big data to banks on FinTech lending. We show that the policy promotes competition in FinTech lending and the loan price decreases. However, its impact on financial inclusion is unclear. We discuss how the efficiency of the banking system and the value of big data affect the policy outcome. We also consider the equilibrium of a data market where the platform can sell big data to banks. We show that FinTech can best promote financial inclusion in this case, but the loan price is the same as when the platform monopolizes big data. Since financial inclusion is important for entrepreneurship and innovation, the regulator should carefully examine the context in their countries before making a policy choice. The third chapter of my dissertation studies the impact of cross-market acquisitions of giant platforms on start-ups' entry into emerging markets. Our model shows that the acquisition reduces the post-acquisition entry but may increase the pre-acquisition entry. The net effect of the acquisition on the entry is positive when the pre-acquisition gain is greater than the post-acquisition loss. We then discuss three cases in which a giant platform strategically increases its market position in the acquisition. The net effect of the acquisition on start-ups' entry varies in different cases. Our findings indicate that regulators should analyze the specific situation of each acquisition before making a decision to approve an acquisition.

No description available.

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are integral membrane proteins which represent primary cellular targets for intracellular signalling. Many of these receptors are altered in disease states and hence are the target for over 50% of marketed drugs. Despite their physiological importance, high-throughput, cell-free assays which measure functional or signalling activity are only recently being investigated. The current approach by the pharmaceutical industry to initially screen compounds for functionality is to use heterologous cell-based assay formats. The aim of this work was to reconstitute a cell-free GPCR signalling system on an appropriate platform (surface) as a prototype for future rapid drug screening and other applications. The proof-of-concept approach involved using the �2A-adrenergic receptor (�2A-AR) containing cell membrane preparations as the model GPCR, reconstituted with a set of heterotrimeric G-proteins; G�i1 and �1�2 (the signal transducing complex being termed a �transductosome�). However, other receptors and G-proteins were also investigated. Receptors were initially obtained from natural (tissue) sources, however in the later stages they were expressed in a heterologous system (insect or mammalian expression system). G-proteins were expressed in Spodoptera frugiperida (Sf9) insect cells using the baculovirus expression system. Receptor expression was verified by radioligand binding assays and endogenous G-proteins were removed from membrane preparations using the chaotropic agent urea to allow for reconstitution with purified G-proteins. Signal transduction through the transductosome was measured using the [35S]GTP�S binding assay. Receptor activated [35S]GTP�S binding was used to determine functional reconstitution and to validate that the system was working in the normal physiological manner both on and off a surface (with surface attachment being via histidine attachment on the G�i1 (6xHIS) subunit). Using the captured (surface-attached) transductosomes, the IC50 values for Rauwolscine, Yohimbine (potent �2-AR antagonists), Prazosin (potent �1- AR antagonist) and Propranolol (�-AR antagonist) displayed the appropriate rank order for this class of receptor. This cell-free, surface-attached signalling complex prototype may have use in the future development of drug screening and discovery assay technologies as well as other applications as an alternative to cell-based assays which are not readily amendable to miniaturisation, long term storage and therefore stable robust microarray formats.

Bicycle dynamics and behaviors have been vastly studied through modeling and simulation. Due to the complexity, software models are often assumed subjecting to di erent nonholonomic constraints in order to simplify the models and control algorithms. A real life autonomous bicycle faces perturbances from the road, wind, tire deformation, slipping among other external forces. Limitations of simulations will not always allow these to apply. All these issues make the autonomous bicycle research very challenging. To study the bicycle control problems a few research results from the literature are reviewed. A nonlinear bicycle model was used to conduct control simulations. Model based nonlinear controllers were applied to simulate the balance and path tracking control. A PID controller is more practical to replace the non-linear controller for the balance control. Simulation results of the di erent controllers are compared in order to decide the proper control strategies on the hardware platform. The controller design of the platform complies with practicality based on the hardware con guration. Two control schemes are implemented on the test platform; both are developed with PID algorithms. The rst scheme is a single PID control loop in which the controller takes the roll angle feedback and balances the running platform by means of steering. If the desired roll angle is zero the controller will try to hold the platform at the upright position. If the desired roll angle is non-zero the platform will be balanced at an equilibrium roll angle. A xed roll angle will lead to a xed steering angle as the result of balance control. The second scheme is directional control with balance consisting of two cascaded PID loops. Steering is the only means to control balance and direction. To do so the desired roll angle must be controlled to achieve the desired steering angle. The platform tilts to the desired side and steering follows to the same side of the tilt; the platform can then be lifted up by the centrifugal force and eventually balanced at an equilibrium roll angle. The direction can be controlled using a controlled roll angle. Many implementation issues have to be dealt with in order for the control algorithm to be functional. Dynamic roll angle measurement is implemented with complementary internal sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope). Directional information is obtained through a yaw rate gyroscope which operates on the principle of resonance. To monitor the speed of the platform, a rotational sensor was formed by using a hard drive stepper motor attached to the axis of the vehicle's driving motor. The optoelectronic circuit plays the vital role to ensure the system functionality by isolating the electromagnetic noise from the motors. Finally, in order to collect runtime data, the wireless communication is implemented through Bluetooth/RS232 serial interface. The data is then plotted and analyzed with Matlab. Controller gains are tuned through numerous road tests. Field test results show that the research has successfully achieved the goal of testing the low level control of autonomous bicycle. The developed algorithms are able to balance the platform on semi-smooth surfaces. / UOIT