Study Supervisor: Dr Jan Kruger Year submitted: 2008 / Companies must be able to adapt and evolve if they wish to survive in the highly competitive marketplace today. Businesses operate with the knowledge that their competitors will inevitably come to the market with a product that changes the basis of competition. The ability to change and adapt therefore is essential to survival. Changes in the technological landscape enable a number of new opportunities to be opened up in the marketplace. There is no need to emphasize the role of Information Technology (IT) in such endeavors. However, great uncertainties surround the IT project landscape where unpredictability of costs as well as quantification of benefits remaining prominent. Although NPV is often used as the de facto standard for IT investment appraisal, calculating the confidence levels of the inputs thereto or the output thereof is not attempted as often as desired. The purpose of this study was to determine how to perform better Net Present Value (NPV) approximations by improving the accuracy of input values thereto, in order to make informed business decisions. The study focuses on finding a practical solution to the above problem than a purist approach towards developing a theory.

Study Supervisor: Dr Jan Kruger Year submitted: 2008 / Companies must be able to adapt and evolve if they wish to survive in the highly competitive marketplace today. Businesses operate with the knowledge that their competitors will inevitably come to the market with a product that changes the basis of competition. The ability to change and adapt therefore is essential to survival. Changes in the technological landscape enable a number of new opportunities to be opened up in the marketplace. There is no need to emphasize the role of Information Technology (IT) in such endeavors. However, great uncertainties surround the IT project landscape where unpredictability of costs as well as quantification of benefits remaining prominent. Although NPV is often used as the de facto standard for IT investment appraisal, calculating the confidence levels of the inputs thereto or the output thereof is not attempted as often as desired. The purpose of this study was to determine how to perform better Net Present Value (NPV) approximations by improving the accuracy of input values thereto, in order to make informed business decisions. The study focuses on finding a practical solution to the above problem than a purist approach towards developing a theory.

This graduate report is a description of my artistic exploration through the graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin. It records my development and growth as an artist in relationship to investigating the meaning of identity and its relationship to my artwork. My aim in this thesis is to summarize the progression of my understanding of what is an identity in relationship to my autobiography. This thesis will demonstrate how my investigation in identity brought choices I make for my current body of works. / text

No description available.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / "Fall 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-97).

In short, this thesis presents walking as absent thinking. It constructs one situation via deconstruction of scores of spectacles. To stage this thought as a dialogue: What do we do when we walk? We seem to be thinking. If I would be, in subsequent conversation, asked about the scientific merit of this thesis, I would reply - at once politely, providing pointers for orientation, and provocatively, raising a deliberate red flag to incite attention - that it successfully demonstrates the applicability of Benjamin's ideas of messianic communism and turning art into philosophy and, against Plato's intentions, the unity of Plato's philosophy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare skeletal maturation of female and male subjects from historic samples to present day subjects by assessing Fishman’s Skeletal Maturity Index (SMI). Present day eating habits and lifestyle have been suggested as factors in accelerating pubertal maturation seen within the last century. Consequently, Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as BMI percentile were evaluated to determine whether it is associated with significant differences in skeletal maturation patterns. METHODS: This pilot study included hand-wrist films from 92 subjects from the Burlington and Forsyth longitudinal growth studies (1959-1970) and 146 patients currently enrolled in the Orthodontic department of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (BUGSDM). The age of the subjects ranged between 7 and 16 years. SMI stage was determined and BMI and BMI percentile were calculated for each subject. RESULTS: The mean chronologic ages of all the SMI stages were not different in males or females when comparing the historic sample to the present sample except for the mean ages at SMI stage 7 and 11 for females and SMI stage 5 for males. Females in the present sample reached SMI stages 7 and 11 significantly earlier: 11.6 versus 13.3 years for SMI 7 (p<0.001) and 15.6 vs. 16.0 for SMI 11 (p<0.05). Males in the present sample also reached SMI 5 significantly earlier: 12.5 vs 13.8 years (p<0.05). It was also seen that present day females at SMI stage 11 not only matured earlier, but also had significantly higher mean BMI and mean BMI percentile than the females at the same stage in the historic sample. This suggests that BMI may be associated with acceleration of maturation among females at SMI stage 11 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In both male and female subjects, there are differences between past and present populations at certain SMI stages. This evidence suggests that patterns of skeletal maturation may have changed and BMI may be associated with such changes. The differences in skeletal maturation between the two groups may also be a result of the different distribution of race in each group. In the current study, the historic sample consists of only Caucasian subjects whereas the present sample consists of subjects from many different backgrounds. As a result, effects of racial variations could have additionally played a role in the changes seen in skeletal maturation patterns. Increasing our sample size and controlling for race may help further elucidate these changes and determine if this transition towards earlier maturation is in fact due to increasing BMIs.

Magister Artium - MA / This research discusses the temporality of Al-Fi’l Al-Moḍāri’ (present tense) in Arabic in terms of structure and case endings. It also focuses on the time of the imperfect tense and how it is affected by the Adawāt (particles) and justification as well as the meaning, context and the purpose of the sentence. The study also investigates the controversial issues on finding a standardized definition of the actual imperfect tense in order to distinguish it from the outwardly one. It also investigates the changes which the imperfect tense undergoes when preceded by particles and how they change the case endings from Mabnī (Indicative) into Mu’rab apocopate (to be Jussive or Subjunctive). Another focus is investigating the reason why the tense of the verb that comes after particles of negation, prohibition, justification and denial is always imperfect not perfect or future, regardless of the context and the purpose of the text, and the reason as to why this rule applies to all Qur'ānic verses which contradict this rule when being parsed. In addition, it uses semiotics to explain the imperfect tense in the Qur'ānic verses and investigates the effectiveness of applying abstention and assembly to distinguish between the tense and it's meaning in the Qur'ānic text. This can help to determine the actual time of the tense in the Qur'ānic text which in turn helps to parse the imperfect tense correctly and to justify why there is a case ending which contradicts the grammar rules. The correct parsing of the imperfect tense, including indicative, subjunctive and jussive, will pave the way for more attempts to rectify the interpretation of the Qur'ānic verses which create controversy. This can be achieved by presenting the verses which contradict the rules of parsing, making hypotheses, analyzing them and then parsing them in a logical way utilizing an analytical approach.

This study is based on the viewpoint of the intertemporal substitution of the consumption smoothing. Under considering the interactive influences on the international economy, the writer employs the present value model to investigate an estimated model of the current accounts. The basis of the traditional current account model is to apply the traditional single-country VAR estimation, and not to consider the internationally interactive effects among countries. However, with the more and more frequent interactions among nations, the economic development in different countries, for the aspect of economic theory, may have interactive influences on each other. Respecting this viewpoint that the current account theory of the traditionally intertemporal model are actually unable to effectively support the inference of the model, the writer therefore adds the cross-country VAR estimation method analyze the transnational influences. I hope that the model can effectively modify the estimation index for the conventional model. In addition, a good model not only should contain in-sample goodness of fit, but also could reveal the variables of the future by using the out-of-sample. Therefore, according to the method of predictive capability assessment proposed by Diebold and Mariano (1995), I attempt to compare the out-of-sample prediction between the single and the cross-country VAR. From the aspect of the goodness of fit, the finding of this study has proven that the model considered the cross-country VAR indeed has a relatively better goodness-of-fit result in Japan, if compared to the traditional single-country. However, in the U.S., the traditional single-country model does not immensely improve the goodness-of-fit result. The finding shows that either the traditional single-country VAR or cross-country VAR, it possesses the perfect goodness of fit. The reason, perhaps, is that America itself has already been the center of the politics and economy. Also, it seems those Americans representative households have as well as the worldview. Therefore, people in the States might have considered the economic conditions of other countries when they are engaged in consumption behaviors. If this is the case, there are no many opportunities for those people to adjust their behaviors when considering the foreign economic situations. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the prediction capability, the final result conducted both in the U.S. and in Japan agreeably demonstrates that it is a better method of prediction using the cross-country VAR estimation than the traditional single-country one.

Abstract There is always good performance in business for the first generation of today¡¦s entrepreneurs. These first generation entrepreneurs have much to contribute to the economy of Taiwan nowadays. However, illicit activities were committed unceasingly in the last five (5) years by some of the owners, such as diverting funds, making illegal deals in stocks, gaining illegal profit, faking financial reports, lending and borrowing illegally, failing in investment etc. As a result, firms failed to operate during financial crisis, hurting the rights and interests of investors. Furthermore, employees were laid off. These illicit activities were not the result of operation but were motivated by greed and other ulterior motives. This research shows that there are four common major problems in the enterprises of the present age. 1. Shortsightedness. 2. Lack of principle & ethic of management. 3. Lack of innovation. 4. Benefiting the self at the expense of others. Buddhist doctrines explore and solve problems based on cause-effect using psychology and mentality. This research recommends four methods based on the Buddhist doctrines to rectify the four major problems. 1. The Bodhisattva is afraid of cause and the ordinary is afraid of effect to overcome shortsightedness. 2. To obey the precepts and ethics to overcome the lack of principle & ethic of management. 3. To cultivate oneself according to the self-reflection Buddhist doctrines to overcome the lack of innovation. 4. To operate with compassion and kindness to others to overcome benefiting the self at the expense of others. The aim is to apply Buddhist doctrines in this research, rectify the corruption of enterprises of the present age, and assist them to be successful businesses. Moreover, it could help them to be excellent and prosperous businesses. In addition, companies can learn how to avoid failure. Business failure is not shameful; it is only a process in any venture. It is encouraging when a firm rebuild again from failures. According to the findings of this research, it is correct to fulfill the Buddhist doctrines to rectify business corruption of the present age.