二十一世紀是講求通路效率及服務的年代，半導體材料及設備通路商在產業中所扮演的角色越趨重要，加上網際網路與資訊科技的蓬勃發展，對於企業而言，如何應用資訊科技技術以改善對顧客的服務並增加顧客的滿意度，已經成為每個成長中的企業所重視的課題，而介於半導體上游原物料及設備製造商與下游相關半導體製造商間的通路商，主要即在取得原廠的銷售代理權並整合銷售及售後服務等工作，將代理的產品透過服務達到加值，使得上游製造商可以專注於材料及設備的研發與製造，而通路商本身則透過對下游半導體製造業提供良好的服務品質，以創造下游顧客的滿意度，進而提高顧客的忠誠度。因此，如何透過資訊科技的應用及優越的服務品質，來提升顧客的滿意度，進而使顧客具有忠誠度，已經成為以強化整體銷售服務來創造競爭力的通路商所必須重視的課題。 本研究即在探討半導體材料及設備通路產業之資訊科技應用對於服務品質及顧客滿意度之影響，更進一步探討服務品質對顧客滿意度與顧客忠誠度的影響。因此，本研究以國內半導體材料及設備通路商為研究對象，對其資訊科技應用、服務品質、顧客滿意度及顧客忠誠度做一整合驗證性的研究，並利用線性結構相關模式(LISREL)來探討四個構面間的關係，在半導體材料及設備通路產業中，所得到的結論如下： 一、資訊科技應用對服務品質有顯著的正向關係。 二、資訊科技應用對顧客滿意度不具顯著的正向關係。 三、服務品質對顧客滿意度有顯著的正向關係。 四、服務品質對顧客忠誠度不具顯著的正向關係。 五、顧客滿意度對顧客忠誠度有顯著的正向關係。 / 21 Century is the time for the emphasis on the channel efficiency and services and the roles of the semiconductor distributors in semiconductor material and equipments industry have become more and more important as a result. Due to the flourish developments in the internet and information technology, how to make good use of the information technology in order to improve the service for the customers and further increase the customers’ satisfaction is the crucial issue to any growing enterprises. The semiconductor distributors mainly act as the sale agents of the semiconductor material and equipments industry and provide the function to integrate the sale and after-sale services. By doing so, it has increased the value of the products through these services. In addition, it makes the manufacturers of the upstream in the semiconductor material and equipments industry concentrate on the R&D and manufacture field. On the other hand, the semiconductor distributors themselves have focally developed the customers’ satisfaction and further enhanced the customers’ loyalty by providing great service quality. Therefore, how to elevate the customers’ satisfaction and own the customers’ loyalty through the application of information technology and excellent service has become a must for the semiconductor distributors that would like to reinforce their aggregate sale services in order to have competition advantages. This paper addresses the influences of the information technology application on the service quality and the customers’ satisfaction of the semiconductor distributors in the material and equipments industry. Moreover, it further investigates the influences of the service quality on the customers’ satisfaction and the customers’ loyalty. This paper uses the semiconductor distributors in Taiwan as the research targets and makes a completed discussion on the information technology application, service quality, customers’ satisfaction and customers’ loyalty. Besides, there are following conclusions by using the linear structural model to exam the correlations among four aspects. 1.There is a significant positive correlation between information technology application and service quality. 2.There is an insignificant positive correlation between information technology application and customers’ satisfaction. 3.There is a significant positive correlation between service quality and customers’ satisfaction. 4.There is an insignificant positive correlation between service quality and customers’ satisfaction. 5.There is a significant positive correlation between customers’ satisfaction and customers’ loyalty.

This thesis consists of four self-contained essays on the various topics in finance.  The first essay, The Information Content of The Systematic Risk Structure of Corporate Yields for Future Real Activity: An Exploratory Empirical Investigation, constructs a proxy for the systematic component of the risk structure of corporate yields (or systematic risk structure), and tests how well it predicts real economic activity in the United States. It finds that the systematic risk structure predicts the growth rate of industrial production 3 to 18 months into the future even when other leading indicators are controlled for, outperforming other models. A regime-switching estimation also shows that the systematic risk structure is very successful in identifying and capturing different growth regimes of industrial production.  The second essay, How Much Leverage is Too Much, or Does Corporate Risk Determine the Severity of a Recession? investigates whether financial conditions of the U.S. corporate sector  can explain the probability and severity of recessions. It proposes a measure of corporate vulnerability, the Corporate Vulnerability Index (CVI) constructed as the default probability for the entire corporate sector. It finds that the CVI is a significant predictor of the probability of a recession 4 to 6 quarters ahead, even controlling for other leading indicators, and that an increase in the CVI is also associated with a rise in the probability of a more severe and lengthy recession 3 to 6 quarters ahead.  The third essay, Asian Flu or Wall Street Virus? Tech and Non-Tech Spillovers in the United States and Asia (with Jorge A. Chan-Lau), using TGARCH models, finds that U.S. stock markets have been the major source of price and volatility spillovers to stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region during three different periods: the pre-LTCM crisis period, the “tech bubble” period, and the “stock market correction” period. Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and Singapore were sources of spillovers within the region and affected the United States during the latter period. There is also evidence of structural breaks in the stock price and volatility dynamics induced during the “tech bubble” period.  The fourth essay, Coping with Financial Spillovers from the United States: The Effect of U. S. Corporate Scandals on Canadian Stock Prices, investigates the effect of U.S. corporate scandals on stock prices of Canadian firms interlisted  in the United States. It finds that firms interlisted during the pre-Enron period enjoyed increases in post-listing equilibrium prices, while firms interlisted during the post-Enron period experienced declines in post-listing equilibrium prices, relative to a model-based benchmark. Analyzing the entire universe of Canadian firms, it finds that interlisted firms, regardless of their listing time, were perceived as increasingly risky by Canadian investors after the Enron’s bankruptcy. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2003

L’analyse sémiotique de l’architecture domestique a pour but de voir comment se manifestent, à travers le langage architectural, les comportements codés qui remplacent la communication linguistique, en postulant qu'il y a un déterminisme de l'architecture par les valeurs macro-sociales, et que le signe architectural doit être considéré comme un marqueur anthropologique. L’approche pluridisciplinaire qui allie des champs aussi divers que l’architecture, la sémiologie et l’anthropologie, a pour ambition de contribuer d’une part, à la sémiotique de l’architecture en proposant une méthodologie pour l’analyse et le découpage d’un corpus architectural, et d’une autre, d’élargir le champ de la géographie urbaine à de nouvelles disciplines, et enfin, de proposer une lecture inédite du paysage urbain à Beyrouth à travers l’étude comparative de deux typologies architecturales. L’approche sémiotique proposée peut être appliquée en tant qu’outil de la géographie urbaine à des corpus architecturaux ou des pans du tissu urbain afin d’appréhender les mécanismes de production et d’obsolescence des formes, et par extension de la ville. / The purpose of a semiotic analysis of architecture is to see how non verbal codes manifest themselves through the architectural language, based upon the idea that such a language is conditioned by macro-social values, and therefore the architectural sign should be considered as an anthropological marker. This multi-disciplinary approach combining different fields such as architecture, semiotics and anthropology, is aimed on one hand at contributing to semiotics by proposing a methodology for the analysis of an architectural corpus, and on the other hand, to broadening the field of urban geography to new disciplines, and finally, to providing a new analysis of Beirut’s urban fabric through the comparative case study of two architectural typologies. The proposed semiotic approach can be applied as a tool of urban geography to architectural corpuses and urban fabrics in order to understand the mechanisms of production and obsolescence of form.

Submitted by Simone Jager (si_jager@hotmail.com) on 2014-02-10T15:30:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Jager 2014.pdf: 764649 bytes, checksum: 100e29a7572ff1d6c57a770ace28e1bf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vitor Souza (vitor.souza@fgv.br) on 2014-02-24T21:08:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Jager 2014.pdf: 764649 bytes, checksum: 100e29a7572ff1d6c57a770ace28e1bf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T13:15:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Jager 2014.pdf: 764649 bytes, checksum: 100e29a7572ff1d6c57a770ace28e1bf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-23 / This paper compares time series models to forecast short-term Brazilian inflation measured by Consumer Price Index (IPCA). Were considered SARIMA Box-Jenkins models and structural models in state space, as estimated by the Kalman filter. For estimation of the models, the series of IPCA monthly basis from March 2003 to March 2012 was used. The SARIMA models were estimated in EVIEWS and structural models in STAMP. For the validation of the models out of sample forecasts were considered one step ahead for the period April 2012 to March 2013, based on the main criteria for assessing predictive ability proposed in the literature. The conclusion of the study is that, although the structural model allows, to decompose the series into components with direct interpretation and study them separately, while incorporating explanatory variables in a simple way, the performance of the SARIMA model to predict Brazilian inflation was higher in the period and horizon considered. Another important positive aspect is that the implementation of a SARIMA model is ready, and predictions from it are obtained in a simple and direct way. / Este trabalho compara modelos de séries temporais para a projeção de curto prazo da inflação brasileira, medida pelo Índice de Preços ao Consumidor Amplo (IPCA). Foram considerados modelos SARIMA de Box e Jenkins e modelos estruturais em espaço de estados, estimados pelo filtro de Kalman. Para a estimação dos modelos, foi utilizada a série do IPCA na base mensal, de março de 2003 a março de 2012. Os modelos SARIMA foram estimados no EVIEWS e os modelos estruturais no STAMP. Para a validação dos modelos para fora da amostra, foram consideradas as previsões 1 passo à frente para o período de abril de 2012 a março de 2013, tomando como base os principais critérios de avaliação de capacidade preditiva propostos na literatura. A conclusão do trabalho é que, embora o modelo estrutural permita, decompor a série em componentes com interpretação direta e estudá-las separadamente, além de incorporar variáveis explicativas de forma simples, o desempenho do modelo SARIMA para prever a inflação brasileira foi superior, no período e horizonte considerados. Outro importante aspecto positivo é que a implementação de um modelo SARIMA é imediata, e previsões a partir dele são obtidas de forma simples e direta.

Les maladies métaboliques, comme le diabète, la dyslipidémie ou l’obésité, constituent un problème majeur de santé publique dans les pays développés. Ces maladies très répandues restent encore difficiles à traiter malgré une recherche active. Les stratégies thérapeutiques contre ces maladies incluent le développement de nouvelles molécules ciblant les récepteurs aux acides gras, étant donné leur rôle essentiel dans l’homéostasie du métabolisme. C’est dans ce contexte que s’inscrit ce travail portant sur deux récepteurs couplés aux protéines G, les récepteurs aux acides gras à courte chaîne 2 et 3 ou free fatty acid receptors 2 (FFA2) et 3 (FFA3). Nous avons tout d'abord cherché à déterminer le profil d'expression des deux récepteurs. Ensuite, nous avons établi des lignées cellulaires stable exprimant FFA2 ou FFA3 afin d’étudier la pharmacologie d’agonistes synthétiques et endogènes de ces récepteurs. Après avoir identifié les voies de signalisation engendrées par l’activation des récepteurs, nous avons démontré que les agonistes synthétiques étaient des activateurs allostériques, c’est-à-dire qu’ils se liaient aux récepteurs sur un site distinct de celui des ligands endogènes. Pour identifier les résidus d’acides aminés nécessaires à la reconnaissance des ligands, nous avons généré une gamme de mutants ponctuels de ces récepteurs par mutagénèse dirigée. En analysant l’effet des mutations dans des tests fonctionnels, nous avons pu déterminer avec précision où se liaient les ligands et ainsi pu dessiner par informatique des modèles structuraux des récepteurs qui pourront être utilisés pour le drug design de futures molécules agonistes de ces récepteurs. / Metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, dyslipidemia or obesity, are more and more weighing on public health expenses in developed countries. Despite active research, these widespread diseases remain difficult to handle. Promising new therapeutic strategies against metabolic diseases include the development of drugs targeting the free fatty acid receptors, as key players in metabolism homeostasis. In this context, the current PhD thesis focuses on the study of two G protein-coupled receptors, namely the short-chain free fatty acid receptors 2 (FFA2) and 3 (FFA3). First, we investigated the expression of the two receptors of interest in a variety of cell types. Then, in order to study the pharmacology and the binding mode of endogenous and synthetic agonists on FFA2 and FFA3, we established stable cell lines expressing each receptor. Once we identified the signaling pathways engendered in response to receptor activation, we showed that synthetic agonists were allosteric activators of the receptors, in the sense that they bind to the receptors at a distinct site from short-chain fatty acids, i.e. the endogenous agonists. To identify the aminoacid residues that were involved in ligand binding, we generated a variety of point mutated receptors by site-directed mutagenesis. By analyzing the effects of the mutations in functional tests, we determined precisely the aminoacid residues that were essential for ligand binding. From these results, we designed in silico structural models which may aid future drug design efforts for the discovery of new FFA2 and FFA3 agonists.

Aufgrund des gesellschaftlichen Wandels, globaler klimatischer und marktlicher Veränderungen sowie zunehmender Ressourcenknappheit sind landwirtschaftliche Betriebe immer mehr gefordert, ihre Produktionsverfahren anzupassen. Doch sind solche Innovationen häufig komplex und weisen einen systemischen Charakter auf. KMU sind häufig nicht in der Lage, diese oft mit höherem Risiko behafteten Innovationen voranzutreiben oder zu übernehmen. Zur Förderung ihrer Diffusion ist es notwendig, die äußeren und inneren Rahmenbedingungen der Innovationsumgebung zu kennen. Am Fallbeispiel der Innovationsprozesse zur Überwindung der Nachbauproblematik im Apfelanbau werden potenzielle Einflussfaktoren auf die Adoption neuer Maßnahmen mithilfe des sektoralen Innovationssystemansatzes nach Malerba und einem erweiterten Technology Acceptance Model erfasst. Hierbei wurde deutlich, dass trotz der günstigen natürlichen Rahmenbedingungen in der Untersuchungsregion, Faktoren wie sinkende Erzeugerpreise, Lohnsteigerungen, Wettbewerbsdruck, Klimawandel, die abnehmende Verfügbarkeit jungfräulicher Flächen sowie steigende Anforderungen des LEH und der Gesellschaft einen wirtschaftlichen Anbau zunehmend erschweren. Vor allem aber für Baumschulen sind die Folgen der Bodenmüdigkeit aufgrund des hohen Produktionswertes pro Hektar Kulturfläche besonders schwerwiegend. Maßnahmen, die bisher gegen Bodenermüdung ergriffen wurden, sind wenig effektiv, oder unwirtschaftlich. Die Analyse der Akzeptanzbefragung potenzieller Adopter zum Einsatz von Mikroorganismen gegen Bodenmüdigkeit ergab, dass die Nützlichkeit des Verfahrens positiv wahrgenommen wird und sich dies in einer hohen Übernahmeabsicht widerspiegelt. Eine Strukturgleichungsanalyse des in dieser Studie entwickelten Akzeptanzmodells mittels SmartPLS mit einem Bestimmtheitsmaß von 68% verdeutlichen, dass nicht vorrangig ökonomische Faktoren, sondern in erster Linie die Kompatibilität der Maßnahme, Einfluss auf eine potenzielle Übernahme ausüben würde. / Due to social change, global climatic and market changes as well as increasing scarcity of resources, agricultural enterprises are increasingly required to adapt their production processes. However, innovations often have a systemic character. SMEs are often not in a position to promote or adopt these innovations, which are often associated with higher risks. In order to promote their diffusion, it is, therefore, advantageous to know the external and internal framework conditions of the environment for innovation. Using the case study of innovation processes to overcome the problem of apple replant disease, potential influencing factors on the adoption of new measures are identified on the basis of the Sectoral Innovation System Approach according to Malerba and an extended Technology Acceptance Model. It became clear that, despite the favourable natural conditions in the study region, factors such as falling producer prices, wage increases, competitive pressure, climate change, the decreasing availability of virgin land and the increasing demands of food retailers and society are making commercial cultivation increasingly challenging. However, the consequences of soil fatigue are particularly severe for tree nurseries due to the high production value per hectare of cultivated land. Measures that have so far been taken to combat soil fatigue are ineffective or uneconomical. The analysis of the acceptance survey of potential adopters of microorganisms against soil fatigue showed that the usefulness of the method is perceived positively and that this is reflected in a high intention to adopt it. A structural equation analysis of the acceptance model developed in this study using SmartPLS and a coefficient of determination of 68% make it clear that not primarily economic factors, but primarily the compatibility of the measure, would influence a potential adoption.

Fault diagnosis can be used to early detect faults in a technical system, which means that workshop service can be planned before a component is fully degraded. Fault diagnosis helps with avoiding downtime, accidents and can be used to reduce emissions for certain applications. Traditionally, however, diagnosis systems have been designed using ad hoc methods and a lot of system knowledge. Model-based diagnosis is a systematic way of designing diagnosis systems that is modular and offers high performance. A model-based diagnosis system can be designed by making use of mathematical models that are otherwise used for simulation and control applications. A downside of model-based diagnosis is the modeling effort needed when no accurate models are available, which can take a large amount of time. This has motivated the use of data-driven diagnosis. Data-driven methods do not require as much system knowledge and modeling effort though they require large amounts of data and data from faults that can be hard to gather. Hybrid fault diagnosis methods combining models and training data can take advantage of both approaches decreasing the amount of time needed for modeling and does not require data from faults. In this thesis work a combined data-driven and model-based fault diagnosis system has been developed and evaluated for the exhaust treatment system in a heavy-duty diesel engine truck. The diagnosis system combines physical insights and neural networks to detect and isolate faults for the exhaust treatment system. This diagnosis system is compared with another system developed during this thesis using only model-based methods. Experiments have been done by using data from a heavy-duty truck from Scania. The results show the effectiveness of both methods in an industrial setting. It is shown how model-based approaches can be used to improve diagnostic performance. The hybrid method is showed to be an efficient way of developing a diagnosis system. Some downsides are highlighted such as the performance of the system developed using data-driven and model-based methods depending on the quality of the training data. Future work regarding the modularity and transferability of the hybrid method can be done for further evaluation.

This thesis is focused on IBM Rational Unified Process methodology, which represents complex and robust aproach to software development and software lifecycle. This methodology is well described and every step of software lifecycle is predictible. Thats the reason why is becoming used in many software development organizations. The main goal of this thesis is deep description of this methodology and creation common outputs of inception and elaboration phase of e-learning information system. IBM Rational Unified Process is called use-case driven aproach, thats the reason why is emphasized descripton of all use-cases.

No description available.