本研究是少數專注於探討品牌傘策略的研究，本論文將品牌傘策略定義為「以企業名稱背書產品品牌」的做法，屬於兩層品牌要素間的上下影響效果；而過去文獻則將大量資源集中在品牌延伸策略的討論，品牌延伸策略意指將一個品牌沿用在不同品類的做法，屬於同一品牌要素間產品與產品的平行影響。由於品牌傘與品牌延伸兩種策略在應用及功能上有異曲同工之妙，因此本研究便以品牌延伸豐富的文獻做為探討品牌傘策略的基礎。 主要研究目的在探討品牌傘策略中運用企業背書的實質效益及其可能影響因素，分成前導研究(Pilot Study)與主研究(Main Study)兩部份。前導研究以次級資料方式進行，發現到國內市場之現實狀況仍以單一品牌策略(企業品牌策略或產品品牌策略)之產品為大宗，運用混合式的品牌傘策略之產品僅佔少數比例，但有大幅成長的趨勢。而少數品類(如：洗髮精、調味醬、果汁…等)中，運用品牌傘策略之產品品牌權益有高於單一品牌策略下之產品的現象，基於此，本研究更進一步探討可能影響品牌傘企業背書效果的因素。 主研究採實驗法進行，探討「企業強度」、「企業形象」、「企業旗下品牌數目」、及「企業與產品類別契合度」四個企業或產品特徵，對品牌傘企業背書效果造成的影響，屬於2X2X2X2的實驗設計，以食品飲料業及資訊通訊業各四家真實企業做為研究標的。主研究結果發現到，企業形象愈良好、或企業類別與產品類別具有高契合度時，對於產品品牌的背書效果愈大，有助於提昇產品品牌權益，而當企業與產品品牌已具有高契合度時，企業的良好形象更能成功地轉移成對產品品牌的正面評價。在企業旗下品牌數目方面，當企業旗下已擁有多個產品品牌時，能提高消費者對後續推出的新品牌之信心與喜愛度，能夠影響消費者對產品品牌的知覺態度。在企業強度上，兩個產業的研究發現不一，食品飲料業中弱勢企業的背書效果反而高於強勢企業，資訊通訊業中強勢企業則較能有效提高產品品牌權益，推測食品飲料業會出現與預期相反的結果，在於本研究以天下雜誌一千大排名判定企業強度高低，與消費者知覺的企業強度高低並不一致。 與品牌傘策略相關的學術研究相當缺乏，但實務界的應用日益普及，本研究先行開啟一個新的研究方向，以期更多學者與研究者投入，讓品牌傘策略之內容更形豐富。而品牌傘策略可以說是品牌延伸策略和產品個別品牌策略之折衷方案，不僅持續累積個別品牌之資產，同時也善加利用企業體豐富的品牌權益基礎協助個別品牌的推廣，但行銷人員在運用品牌傘策略前，必須仔細評估本身企業具備的特徵與新產品品牌的特徵，以確認品牌傘策略的適用性，避免不當的企業背書效果反而引發產品品牌的負面聯想。

Background: The brand embodied a set of values and attributes which were appropriate, which stimulated consumer interest, which distinguished brand from others and created a unique piece of property for its owners. From marketing point of view, brands are the means that consumers use to distinguish products and services based on essential and non-essential attributes and they are a source of business’s differential advantage. Furthermore, brands communicate tangible and intangible advantages and are attractive to a range of feeling. In order to make decisions for brand strategy, branding plays an important role. Kotler and Keller (2006) state that a brand is needed because it identifies the product, and the responsibility of the product hence lies in the hands of the makers or producers of the product. Brands are important in both consumer and business-to-business situations, where a decision of purchase is needed. A strong brand can create sufficient higher total returns to shareholders than a weak brand. Brands are at the heart of marketing and business strategy ( Doyle,1998, p.165) and building brand equity or strong brands, is considered to be one of the key drivers of a business success ( Prasad & Dev, 2000; p.22). Problem Statement: What are the promotional strategies company’s uses to create International brand in order to pursue the potential customer in B2C marketing environment?? Purpose:The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how firm employ effective promotional tools and techniques to create and sustain international brand in the customers mind. Research design: Both Qualitative and Quantitative method is applied in this thesis. Primary data is collected from interview (E-mail and telephone) and internet survey, while secondary data is gathered from books, journals, and internet source. Conclusion: The promotional tools capabilities can help businesses to spread the messages to the mass market. It is very powerful technique to be used to increase brand awareness of the organization. We found out those promotional tools such as sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, publicity, advertisement, and internet marketing play vital role to create international brand.

傘型迴歸函數是類似傘的形狀的迴歸函數，只要符合先上升後下降的趨勢皆為傘型迴歸函數。無母數迴歸函數中最常見的方法之一是樣條(Splines)迴歸函數。樣條為充分平滑分段多項式函數，而節點(knots)為平滑多項式函數連接的地方。在本論文中，將節點以等距離擺放並以AIC(Akaike information criterion)值得到合理的節點數。用三種方法的樣條迴歸函數去估計傘型函數。第一種為RSPL(restrictted spline regression)，也就是有形狀限制時的樣條迴歸函數。第二種是CSPL(concave spline regression)，是參考Meyer寫的樣條迴歸函數，此樣條迴歸函數為凹函數(concave function)。最後一種則稱SPL(spline regression)，為沒有形狀限制也不是凹函數的樣條函數。以IMSE為評估標準，IMSE越小，則代表此方法估計的越好。由模擬結果，在估計先上升後下降的函數時，用RSPL的方法去估計會得到最小的IMSE；而在估計凹函數時，則是CSPL會得到最小的IMSE。利用RSPL和SPL兩個方法估計由中央氣象局蒐集最近13年(1998-2010)的月均溫資料並探討最近幾年的月均溫資料趨勢是否有改變。未來假如需要估計傘型函數時，則可利用本篇所述的方法去估計。 / In this thesis, we consider the problem of estimating a regression function assuming the regression function is unimodal. The proposed method is to model the regression function as linear combination of B-spline basis functions with equally spaced knots, and the number of knots is determined using AIC (Akaike information criterion). Specific constraints are placed on the coefficients of basis functions to ensure that estimated regression function is unimodal. The coefficients are estimated using least square method. The proposed method is refered as RSPL and is compared with two other methods: SPL and CSPL, where SPL is similar to RSPL except that the coefficients of basis functions are estimated without any constraints, and CSPL gives concave regression function estimates. Simulation results show that RSPL outperforms SPL and CSPL when the true regression function is unimodal but not concave, and CSPL outperforms RSPL and SPL when the true regression function is concave. Also, RSPL is applied to temperature data to estimate temperature trend within one year.

abstract: Conformational changes in biomolecules often take place on longer timescales than are easily accessible with unbiased molecular dynamics simulations, necessitating the use of enhanced sampling techniques, such as adaptive umbrella sampling. In this technique, the conformational free energy is calculated in terms of a designated set of reaction coordinates. At the same time, estimates of this free energy are subtracted from the potential energy in order to remove free energy barriers and cause conformational changes to take place more rapidly. This dissertation presents applications of adaptive umbrella sampling to a variety of biomolecular systems. The first study investigated the effects of glycosylation in GalNAc2-MM1, an analog of glycosylated macrophage activating factor. It was found that glycosylation destabilizes the protein by increasing the solvent exposure of hydrophobic residues. The second study examined the role of bound calcium ions in promoting the isomerization of a cis peptide bond in the collagen-binding domain of Clostridium histolyticum collagenase. This study determined that the bound calcium ions reduced the barrier to the isomerization of this peptide bond as well as stabilizing the cis conformation thermodynamically, and identified some of the reasons for this. The third study represents the application of GAMUS (Gaussian mixture adaptive umbrella sampling) to on the conformational dynamics of the fluorescent dye Cy3 attached to the 5' end of DNA, and made predictions concerning the affinity of Cy3 for different base pairs, which were subsequently verified experimentally. Finally, the adaptive umbrella sampling method is extended to make use of the roll angle between adjacent base pairs as a reaction coordinate in order to examine the bending both of free DNA and of DNA bound to the archaeal protein Sac7d. It is found that when DNA bends significantly, cations from the surrounding solution congregate on the concave side, which increases the flexibility of the DNA by screening the repulsion between phosphate backbones. The flexibility of DNA on short length scales is compared to the worm-like chain model, and the contribution of cooperativity in DNA bending to protein-DNA binding is assessed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Chemistry 2011

Cette thèse porte sur l’utilisation de présoutènements pour réduire les tassements, c’est-à-dire la mise en place de boulons au front et d’une voute parapluie au-dessus du front. Elle cherche à fournir des outils pour évaluer l’impact des techniques de construction sur les tassements au moyen de calculs numériques par éléments finis. Une attention particulière est portée aux conséquences des choix de simulation sur les résultats obtenus.Le chapitre 1 présente une comparaison de différentes approches de simulation du creusement d’un tunnel peu profond en déformation plane. Les résultats ne justifient pas de privilégier les approches alternatives par rapport à l’approche classique qui utilise des forces de déconfinement. D’autre part, la disposition des présoutènements impose de réaliser des modélisations tridimensionnelles. Dans toute la suite du mémoire, on se place donc dans le cadre tridimensionnel. Dans un premier temps, le chapitre 2 présente une étude de l’influence de la géométrie du front de taille d’un tunnel sur sa stabilité : on compare le cas d’un front de taille vertical et d’un front de taille incliné ou courbe.Le chapitre 3 porte sur la prise en compte dans les simulations numériques du renforcement du front de taille par boulonnage. Nous avons comparé différentes approches, et montrer l’apport des modélisations qui prennent en compte de manière détaillée l’interaction sol-boulon, pour la simulation d’essais effectués en centrifugeuse.Dans le chapitre 4, on étudie l’influence des boulons au front sur les tassements. Nous avons cherché à discuter l’utilité de décrire en détail certains aspects du processus de construction, comme le cycle de renouvellement des boulons au front. Nous avons également discuté l’influence de la distance de pose du radier en arrière du front.Le chapitre 5 étudie l’influence de la voute parapluie sur les tassements. Nous avons établi une modélisation qui prend en compte la géométrie conique de la voute parapluie et du soutènement et le cycle de renouvellement des tubes de la voute. Enfin, on a proposé une modélisation originale du procédé de réduction des tassements au moyen d’injections réalisées à partir des tubes de la voute, appelé « présoutènement actif ».Les résultats fournissent des éléments pour le dimensionnement des procédés de présoutènements, en montrant, par exemple qu’il existe une valeur limite à partir de laquelle il n’est plus utile d’augmenter le nombre de boulons ou de tubes. Ils montrent également que certains choix de modélisation ont peu d’influence sur les tassements, ce qui justifie de prendre en compte des hypothèses qui simplifient la réalisation pratique des études numériques.La thèse a été financée par le projet FUI Newtun, piloté par Solétanche-Bachy / This thesis focuses on the use of pre-reinforcements to reduce the settlements, namely the reinforcement of the tunnel face by bolts, or the installation of a pipe-roof umbrella placed above the face. It seeks to provide tools to evaluate the influence of the construction techniques on the settlements by means of finite element simulations. A special attention is paid to the consequences of the choices of simulation on the numerical results obtained.Chapter 1 presents a comparison between different approaches of simulation for the excavation of a shallow tunnel in plane strain. The results show that the alternative approaches do not give better results, in terms of width of the predicted settlement trough, than the classical approach based on excavation forces. On the other hand, the implementation of the pre-reinforcements imposes to carry out three-dimensional simulations. In this context, ones discusses, in chapter 2, the influence of the geometry of the tunnel face of a tunnel on his stability: we compare the case of a vertical tunnel face and with an inclined or curved tunnel face.Chapter 3 focuses on the techniques that can be used to take into account in the numerical simulations the reinforcement of the tunnel face by bolting. We have compared different approaches, and showed that models that take into account in more detail the soil-bolt interaction give better results for the simulation of centrifuge tests.In Chapter 4, we discuss the influence of the bolts on the settlements. We have discussed the utility of taking into account in the simulation some aspect of the construction process, such as the renewal of the bolts. Also, we have discussed the influence of the distance between the tunnel face and the invert.Chapter 5 studies the influence of the pipe umbrella on the settlements. We have established a model that takes into account the conical geometry of the pipe umbrella and the lining, and the cycle of renewal of the pipes. In the last place, we have proposed an original modelling of the technique of aiming at reducing the settlements by means of injections carried out from the pipes, called “active pre-reinforcement”.The results provide some elements for the design of the pre-reinforcement elements, and show for example that there exists a threshold value above which it is not useful to increase the number of bolts or of pipes. On the other hand, they show that some choices of simulation have little influence on the computed settlements, which justifies some assumptions that can be useful to reduce the complexity of three dimensional numerical models.The thesis has been funded by the project FUI Newtun (under the coordination of Solétanche-Bachy)

Abstract Maintaining biodiversity in boreal forest landscapes in conjunction with forestry is a challenging task. This requires ecological understanding that is based on empirical research. In this thesis, I examined spatial and temporal occupancy patterns as well as predictability of the occurrence of the Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans L.) in Finland. I used thematic maps which matched habitat requirements of the flying squirrel in forested landscapes and data on species presence and absence, which were gathered in suitable forest habitats. The results of this thesis provide applications for landscape management. First, the preferred habitat characteristics of the flying squirrel were linked to available forest data. In addition, some predictive habitat models could be used to estimate the distribution of the flying squirrel within a region. Second, based on a five year study the forests were classified as continuously occupied, continuously unoccupied and variable-occupancy patches. The dynamic occupancy pattern emphasizes the need for repeated surveys to also locate the seldom-used suitable habitats in a landscape. Third, a comparison of simulated future scenarios in long-term forest planning suggested that flying squirrel habitat might be maintained without considerable loss of timber in a landscape. Thus, a combination of ecological and economic goals in forestry planning is an encouraging alternative. Fourth, there were more polypore species in forests occupied by the flying squirrel. This suggests that conservation of the flying squirrel habitats would protect other naturally co-occurring species, and thus the flying squirrel could be assigned as an umbrella species in mature spruce-dominated forests. Based on these findings, I suggest that the flying squirrel could be used as one of the target species for forest management in boreal forest landscapes. Further research challenges are related to the examination of habitat thresholds and to the projection of future scenarios where ecological, economic and social aspects are combined to assist in complex decision making processes.

This paper demonstrates how the Cantonese language can simultaneously serve as a threat to the Beijing government and a counter-hegemonic articulation of Hong Kong protesters against the Beijing government by applying the theory of hegemony and the method of critical discourse analysis to Hong Kong newspapers during the Umbrella Movement. Focusing on how the Cantonese language is used to communicate messages of protest leads to a more thorough understanding of the significance of the language in a Hong Kong identity context.Thus, while Cantonese plays a larger role in the Umbrella Movement protests than scholars give credit for,newspaper discourse also plays a large part in obscuring the connection between Cantonese and the protests. By addressing four research questions regarding Cantonese, I conclude that the three studied newspapers largely conceal the Cantonese discourse in relation to the Umbrella Movement protests. However, when Cantonese is discussed it is mainly along the lines of the political affiliation of the newspaper. Though some newspapers do hint at the counter-hegemonic abilities of Cantonese, this aspect is often undervalued and underappreciated. Likewise, when Cantonese issues are brought up they often converge with issues of national identity, but in a manner to downplay the Cantonese identity.As such, Wen Wei Po makes no effort to detail a Cantonese nation, but instead uses the concept of “Zhong hua min zu” (Chinese nation/Chinese race) to negate any differentiation. Meanwhile, Apple Daily and the South China Morning Post do insinuate the differences of Cantonese and Hong Kong, but keep the dialogue firmly within the “one country, two systems” setup to avoid angering Beijing. The analysis reveals that while newspapers sometimes use the voice of Hong Kong Cantonese,this generally takes place through a small amount of direct quotations and images of signs rather than a large-scale showcasing of the Cantonese identity and Cantonese vernacular.

The expert capacity of umbrella NGOs is not adequately addressed in the literature, although it is a key issue. This issue is pointing to the growing demands for accountable and transparent organizations with the expertise needed in the form of professionals who can actively promote the importance and interests of NGOs in a public policy process. Expert capacity is described in this case as the ability to perform analytical work in selected umbrella NGOs which focus on advocating interests and influencing the policy process. The aim of this work is to understand the expert capacity of the umbrella platforms of NGOs in advocating their interests and their influence on policy making and to outline the possibility of more effective cooperation with the state. For this purpose were chosen all-state national umbrella platforms, which defend the interests of organizations throughout the Czech Republic. In the theoretical part, the public policy theories: policy work, policy analytical capacity and evidence-based policy making are presented to facilitate the concept of expert capacities, complemented by the theory of interdependence, which presupposes mutual cooperation between civil society organizations and the state. Second part of the thesis analyzes the policy analytical capacity of two all-round...

本研究探討常用的兩個無母數迴歸方法，核迴歸與樣條迴歸，在具有傘型限制式下，對於傘型函數的估計與不具限制式下的傘型函數估計比較，同時也探討不同誤差變異對估計結果的影響，並進一步探討受限制下兩方法的估計比較。本研究採用「估計頂點位置與實際頂點位置差」及「誤差平方和」作為衡量估計結果的指標。在帶寬及節點的選取上，本研究採用逐一剔除交互驗證法來篩選。模擬結果顯示，受限制的核函數在誤差變異較大的頂點位置估計較佳，誤差變異縮小時反而頂點位置估計較差，受限制的B-樣條函數也有類似的狀況。而在兩方法的比較上，對於較小的誤差變異，核函數的頂點位置估計能力不如樣條函數，但在整體的誤差平方和上卻沒有太大劣勢，當誤差變異較大時，核函數的頂點位置估計能力有所提升，整體誤差平方和仍舊維持還不錯的結果。 / In this study, we give an umbrella order constraint on kernel and spline regression model. We compare their estimation in two measurements, one is the difference of estimate peak and true peak, the other one is the sum of square difference on predict and the true value. We use leave-one-out cross validation to select bandwidth for kernel function and also to decide the number of knots for spline function. The effect of different error size is also considered. Some of R packages are used when doing simulation. The result shows that when the error size is bigger, the prediction of peak location is better in both constrained kernel and spline estimation. The constrained spline regression tends to provide better peak location estimation compared to constrained kernel regression.

La flexibilité est une caractéristique intrinsèque des protéines qui doivent, dès le mo- ment de leur synthèse, passer d’un état de chaîne linéaire à un état de structure tridimen- sionnelle repliée et enzymatiquement active. Certaines protéines restent flexibles une fois repliées et subissent des changements de conformation de grande amplitude lors de leur cycle enzymatique. D’autres contiennent des segments si flexibles que leur structure ne peut être résolue par des méthodes expérimentales. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons notre application de méthodes in silico d’analyse de la flexibilité des protéines : • À l’aide des méthodes de dynamique moléculaire dirigée et d’échantillonnage pa- rapluie, nous avons caractérisé les trajectoires de liaison de l’inhibiteur Z-pro- prolinal à la protéine Prolyl oligopeptidase et identifié la trajectoire la plus pro- bable. Nos simulations ont aussi identifié un mode probable de recrutement des ligands utilisant une boucle flexible de 19 acides aminés à l’interface des deux domaines de la protéine. • En utilisant les méthodes de dynamique moléculaire traditionnelle et dirigée, nous avons examiné la stabilité de la protéine SAV1866 dans sa forme fermée insérée dans une membrane lipidique et étudié un des modes d’ouverture possibles par la séparation de ses domaines liant le nucléotide. • Nous avons adapté auproblème de la prédiction de la structure des longues boucles flexibles la méthode d’activation et de relaxation ART-nouveau précédemment uti- lisée dans l’étude du repliement et de l’agrégation de protéines. Appliqué au replie- ment de boucles de 8 à 20 acides aminés, la méthode démontre une dépendance quadratique du temps d’exécution sur la longueur des boucles, rendant possible l’étude de boucles encore plus longues. / Flexibility is an intrinsic characteristic of proteins who from the moment of synthesis into a linear chain of amino acids, have to adopt an enzymatically active tridimensionnel structure. Some proteins stay flexible once folded and display large amplitude confor- mational changes during their enzymatic cycles. Others contain parts that are so flexible that their structure can’t be resolved using experimental methods. In this thesis, we present our application of in silico methods to the study of protein flexibility. • Using steered molecular dynamics and umbrella sampling, we characterized the binding trajectories of the Z-pro-prolinal inhibiter to the Prolyl oligopeptidase pro- tein and we identified the most probable trajectory. Our simulations also found a possible ligand recrutement mechanism that involves a 19 amino acids flexible loop at the interface of the two domains of the protein. • Using traditional and steered molecular dynamics, we examined the stability of the SAV1866 protein in its closed conformation in a lipid membrane and we studied one of its proposed opening modes by separating its nucleotide binding domains. • We also adapted the activation-relaxation technique ART-nouveau which was pre- viously used to study protein folding and aggregation to the problem of structure prediction of large flexible loops. When tested on loops of 8 to 20 amino acids, the method demonstrate a quadratic execution time dependance on the loop length, which makes it possible to use the method on even larger loops.