In the light of the nature of the construction industry and the fact that it is often burdened with disputes arising from the contract, appropriate and unique alternative dispute resolution procedures are indispensable for disputes to be resolved quickly, efficiently and effectively. Section 34 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 provides for the right to have disputes resolved by means of a public hearing before a court, alternatively, where appropriate, by means of an independent, impartial forum. Arbitration, mediation, conciliation and adjudication, to name but a few, are alternative methods used in resolving South African construction disputes. Some of these alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods are provided for in the Construction Industry Development Board recommended standard contracts. This study entails an analysis of the ADR methods in construction agreements with specific reference to the General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works 2010 (GCC 2010) and a comparison thereof with the English position. The application of the recommended ADR methods in the South African construction industry, especially adjudication, faces many challenges. There is no certainty as to the definition nor the procedure to be followed in the use thereof. The study concluded that there is a definite need for the contract to be reviewed, in particular the dispute resolution clause. The introduction of on- line dispute resolution was also recommended. This will contribute towards efficient, effective and expedient dispute resolution that is required due to the nature and role of the construction industry in a country‟s economy. There is also a definite need for legislation to be implemented which will assist in clarifying as well as regulating the adjudication procedure as used in the South African construction industry. / Thesis (LLM)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In the light of the nature of the construction industry and the fact that it is often burdened with disputes arising from the contract, appropriate and unique alternative dispute resolution procedures are indispensable for disputes to be resolved quickly, efficiently and effectively. Section 34 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 provides for the right to have disputes resolved by means of a public hearing before a court, alternatively, where appropriate, by means of an independent, impartial forum. Arbitration, mediation, conciliation and adjudication, to name but a few, are alternative methods used in resolving South African construction disputes. Some of these alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods are provided for in the Construction Industry Development Board recommended standard contracts. This study entails an analysis of the ADR methods in construction agreements with specific reference to the General Conditions of Contract for Construction Works 2010 (GCC 2010) and a comparison thereof with the English position. The application of the recommended ADR methods in the South African construction industry, especially adjudication, faces many challenges. There is no certainty as to the definition nor the procedure to be followed in the use thereof. The study concluded that there is a definite need for the contract to be reviewed, in particular the dispute resolution clause. The introduction of on- line dispute resolution was also recommended. This will contribute towards efficient, effective and expedient dispute resolution that is required due to the nature and role of the construction industry in a country‟s economy. There is also a definite need for legislation to be implemented which will assist in clarifying as well as regulating the adjudication procedure as used in the South African construction industry. / Thesis (LLM)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diplomarb., 2004.

Behavioural finance studies have documented that investors are subject to psychological factors (cognitive and emotional) and demographic factors (internal), and external factors that make their financial decisions less than fully rational. However, most of these studies have concentrated on developed countries and few on emerging countries. This study is aimed at investigating the internal and external factors that influence individual investors’ financial decision making in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. It contributes to the behavioural finance literature by filling the gaps existing in the GCC countries in particular and emerging countries in general. The study adopts a holistic approach in using perspective theories in the analysis of data collected using questionnaires from 620 individual investors in Saudi Arabia and 590 individual investors in Oman. The data collected is analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in order to understand the behavioural constructs developed. The study has revealed that religiosity factors have a significant influence on individual investors in both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. However, the impact was negative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but positive in Oman. Positive psychological capital and psychological (cognitive and emotions emotional) factors are found to have a positive influence on investors’ decision making. Among these internal factors, religiosity factors have the highest impact while positive psychological factors have the least effect. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, investors’ decision making is positively significantly affected by economic factors and ethical and social factors, while political factors, governance and environmental factors and cultural factors do not significantly influence investors. In the Sultanate of Oman, however, political factors and cultural factors have a positive influence, while corporate governance and environmental factors influence investors negatively. Economic factors do not influence investors’ decision making in the Sultanate of Oman, contrary to the observed effect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study indicates that there is a difference between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman’s individual investors in relation to the study variables, except for the cultural and psychological (cognitive and emotional) variables. These results have important implications on investors’ participation and future development of financial markets in the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Många datorprogram måste hantera potentiellt känslig information som exempelvis lösenord eller kryptonycklar. För sådana program kan det finnas ett behov av att radera denna information så att den blir otillgänglig så fort den inte längre behövs av programmet. Den här studien undersökte vilka möjligheter en mjukvaruutvecklare som använder programspråket C på Linuxsystem har för att kunna säkerställa att känslig information skrivs över av programmet. För att åstadkomma detta användes ett antal testprogram för att utvärdera eventuella negativa effekter av kompilatoroptimering. I de fall en överskrivning optimerats bort av kompilatorn utvärderades även åtgärder för att förhindra den aktuella optimeringsåtgärden vid omkompilering av programmet. En fallstudie av hur ett etablerat krypteringsbibliotek hanterar ovan nämnda problem genomfördes också. Slutsatsen av studien är att det i princip inte är möjligt att garantera att känslig information raderas om utvecklaren inte samtidigt har full kontroll över både operativsystem och övriga processer.

The current study aims to contribute to Corporate Governance CG and Risk Management RM literature by providing empirical evidence of the relationship between the three construct: CG, RM and Bank Performance BP within the GCC banking sector. Furthermore, the Islamic data and conventional data have been separated to investigate the association between CG, RM and BP. To do so, 90 active banks (30 Islamic – 60 conventional) banks have been selected as a sample for ten years period from (2003 – 2012), and subsequently used the regression analysis (Ordinary Least Square OLS) for the four selected models as follows; Regarding the empirical results of Model (1) which investigate the relationship between CG’s variables and BP measured by ROE and ROA for all banks’ data; Islamic data and conventional data, the result indicate that the board size, gender diversity, role duality and audit committee are insignificantly associated with bank performance measured by ROE in all types of banks. In addition, in Islamic banks the Non-Executive Board Member NEBM and credit and investment committee are negatively and significantly associated with ROE, however, this association is insignificant in conventional banks. The capital ratio is positively and significantly associated with ROA in all types of banks. Furthermore, the gender diversity is insignificantly associated with bank performance measured by ROA in both Islamic and conventional banks. Interestingly, bank size is significant and positive with bank performance measured by both of ROE and ROA in all types of banks. Model (2) investigates the relationship between RM’s variables and BP measured by ROE and ROA for all banks’ data; Islamic data and conventional data. The results indicate that capital risk and liquidity risk are insignificant with BP measured by ROE in all types of banks. The association between non-performing loan and credit risk with ROE are insignificant in Islamic banks, however, this association is significant and negative in conventional banks. Interestingly, the capital adequacy ratio is positively and significantly associated with ROE and ROA in all types of banks. Furthermore, as per Model (3) which investigate the relationship between both of CG and RM’s variables and BP measured by ROE and ROA for all banks’ data; Islamic data and conventional data, it can be concluded that the NEBM is significantly and negatively associated with BP measured by ROE and ROA in all types of banks. In this model, it was noted that some variables are insignificantly associated with bank performance in both Islamic and conventional banks, those variables are gender diversity, role duality, Loan to Deposit Ratio LDR, NPL, credit risk, capital risk and liquidity risk. In Model (4) which investigate the relationship between CG and RM measured by NPL for all banks’ data; Islamic data and conventional data. It can be concluded that NEBM and CEO-turnover are insignificant with NPL in all types of banks. Furthermore, board size, Role duality, LDR and Risk committee are negatively and significantly associated with NPL in conventional banks, however, they are insignificant in Islamic banks. The gender diversity in all types of banks is negative and significantly associated with NPL. In addition to the above, the current study provides evidence that the determinants of bank performance in the GCC banking sector vary among the different independent variables. No single variable could explain the bank performance, this conclusion highlights that there is a need for additional analysis of the three constructs in different periods.

Exchange rate risk, interest rate risk and oil price fluctuations are the most demonstrated risks in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries (Arouri and Nguyen, 2010). Research, however, in this area is still underdeveloped. The importance of this study is to contribute to this research gap. This research aims to show how these three risks affect firms' market values by examining 473 listed firms in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for the period January 2007 to June 2012. The research further examines the determinants of these risks. The study uses the AR (1) EGARCH-M model. The results indicate that stock returns in GCC countries are influenced by the exchange rate risk, interest rate risk and oil price risk. However, the exposure was highest for exchange rate risk and lowest for interest rate risk. While the effects of these risks were mixed, overall, exchange rate risk and oil price risk showed more positive significance as compared to the interest rate risk that showed more negatively significant effect on firm values. The level of the effect of these risk also differed from country to country. However, firms in United Arab Emirates revealed the highest exposure to all the three risks while those in Saudi Arabia showed the least exposed to the three risks. Oman firms also showed high exposure to exchange rate and interest rate risks. The segregated results overall showed lower exposure of financial firms as compared to non-financial firms. However, the non-financial firms in Bahrain were more exposed to the risks than the financial firms. In Saudi Arabia, the financial firms revealed the least exposure to the risk suggesting effective risk management practices. In addition, foreign operations and firm size had a significant influence on the extent of the firms’ exposure to all the three risks. Leverage also influenced the level of exposure to interest rate risk. Profitability, growth and liquidity did not reveal a significant influence on the level of exposure. Further, increasing the risk does not lead to increased returns in most of the GCC countries. The risk-return parameters were largely negative. However, positive news increases return volatility more than negative news in most countries. Also, the current volatility of most GCC firms’ returns are time varying, are a function or past innovation and past volatility. The volatility of stock returns, which is affected by changes in the risk factors, could demonstrate the non-prioritisation of risk management by firms.

The diploma thesis includes the ZigBee networks and compares them with other PAN IEEE 802.15.4 networks. It describes the formation of ZigBee networks. It describes physical, MAC, network and application layer in the form of Bitcloud. Thesis includes practical implementation in the form of ZigBee application BeeCon which allows set network parameters on Iris modules.

The subject of this thesis is to study the existing development toolchain for the microprocessor LPC23xx in course MPOA. Main goal is to explore the feasibility of new development toolchain, based on the GCC. The outcomes of this thesis are demo applications with the microprocessor LPC2378 and the GCC. Parts of the outputs are also tutorials for the students, how to implement these demo applications. The demos include basic applications, RTOS and Ethernet

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.