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Feature Binding In Visuo-Spatial Working Memory, Jane Victoria Elsley Jan 2007

Feature Binding In Visuo-Spatial Working Memory, Jane Victoria Elsley

School of Psychology Theses

Four series of experiments using a paradigm adapted from Prabhakaran at al. (2000) are presented exploring the characteristics of bound visuo-spatial representations in memory. This thesis was guided by the following theoretical questions: (1) Can location binding be demonstrated in a recognition paradigm? (2) What are the temporal dynamics of location binding? (3) Is location binding automatic, or rather, does it require attentional resources? (4) What are the products of location binding: Whole new objects or links between features that contribute in an asymmetrical manner? Series 1 addressed the first question through the demonstration of binding effects across two experiments. …

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Competences, Skills, Learning Sources And The Support Needs Of Individuals Who Purchase Small Established Enterprises, Susan Jane Perry Jan 2007

Competences, Skills, Learning Sources And The Support Needs Of Individuals Who Purchase Small Established Enterprises, Susan Jane Perry

Plymouth Business School Theses

Although a significant number of small firms are purchased as going-concerns these businesses are rarely studied as a separate sub-group. The research conducted here therefore focuses on small businesses that were purchased as established enterprises, namely the skills and competences that are required to operate them successfully. The study also looks to identify the learning and knowledge sources that are the most beneficial to the Owner-Managers of these firms and determine how their needs might best be supported. The study concerns small firms that are located in the South West of England (Torbay and South Hams) and comprises quantitative and …

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Export Commitment And Characteristics Of Management Critical Factors For Success : An Empirical Study In The Portuguese And United Kingdom Smes In A Textile, Clothing And Knitwear Sector, Francisco Jose Dias Serra Jan 2007

Export Commitment And Characteristics Of Management Critical Factors For Success : An Empirical Study In The Portuguese And United Kingdom Smes In A Textile, Clothing And Knitwear Sector, Francisco Jose Dias Serra

Plymouth Business School Theses

The internalisation of small and medium sized firms (SMES) is emerging as an area of research interest as an increasing number of such firms become actively engaged in international activity, often from inception. All available literature reveals that conventional theories were mainly developed to describe the internationalisation of large multinationals companies MNC and not SME(s). This study provides an overview of the macro economics as well as the microeconomic theory that supports the process of internationalisation of firms. Furthermore, each theory was critically analysed in relation to their limitations, as well as their theoretical contribution to the process of the …

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Export Commitment And Characteristics Of Management, Critical Factors For Success : An Empirical Study In The Portuguese And United Kingdom Smes, In A Textile, Clothing And Knitwear Sector, Francisco Jose Dias Sierra Jan 2007

Export Commitment And Characteristics Of Management, Critical Factors For Success : An Empirical Study In The Portuguese And United Kingdom Smes, In A Textile, Clothing And Knitwear Sector, Francisco Jose Dias Sierra

Plymouth Business School Theses

The internalisation of small and medium sized firms (SMES) is emerging as an area of research interest as an increasing number of such firms become actively engaged in international activity, often from inception. All available literature reveals that conventional theories were mainly developed to describe the internationalisation of large multinationals companies MNC and not SME(s). This study provides an overview of the macro economics as well as the microeconomic theory that supports the process of intemationalisation of firms. Furthermore, each theory was critically analysed in relation to their limitations, as well as their theoretical contribution to the process of the …

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Port Competitiveness In North East Asia : An Integrated Fuzzy Approach To Expert Evaluations, Gi-Tae Yeo Jan 2007

Port Competitiveness In North East Asia : An Integrated Fuzzy Approach To Expert Evaluations, Gi-Tae Yeo

Plymouth Business School Theses

Despite the fact that the Northeast Asia (NEA) region, which had four of the top five and 20 of the top 30 container ports in the world in 2003, can be regarded as holding a central position in liner shipping and the handling of container cargo volumes, very little research has been done into the evaluation of its port competitiveness (EPC). For this reason, the EPC in NEA can be regarded as a problematic and urgent issue to be solved, and worthy of academic attention. From this aspect, this research set out to attempt to address the above issue by …

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The Characteristics Of Sino-Taiwanese Joint Ventures In The People's Republic Of China, Chen-Yu James Liu Jan 2007

The Characteristics Of Sino-Taiwanese Joint Ventures In The People's Republic Of China, Chen-Yu James Liu

Plymouth Business School Theses

The main objective of this thesis is to shed light on the characteristics and performance of Sino-Taiwanese joint ventures (JVs) in the People's Republic of China and in particular to investigate the role played by guanxi (interpersonal relationships) in their formation and in the way they function. The research shows that guanxi enhances the effectiveness of Taiwanese joint venture partners by overcoming unanticipated external environmental factors and enabling them to deal with the complex internal managerial issues associated with the Chinese market. The different political and economic relations between Taiwan and China make the joint venture entry strategy attractive to …

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Impact Of Culture On Stock Market Development And Corporate Governance, Walaa Wahid Eldin Elkelish Jan 2007

Impact Of Culture On Stock Market Development And Corporate Governance, Walaa Wahid Eldin Elkelish

Plymouth Business School Theses

This study takes a step forward to explore the dynamic relationship between cultural values and stock market development in the United Kingdom, during the period 1991- 2004. Cultural values are represented by the cultural model of Hofstede (1980) which consists of five dimensions, which are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and time horizon. Stock market developmenti s representedb y four indicators, which are: stock market activity, size, liquidity and concentration. Empirical results, using structural equation modelling (SEM), show that some cultural values have significant relationships with stock market development indicators. Power distance has a significant negative relationship with stock …

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The Adoption Of Internet Technologies By Independent Hotels In The Uk, Wai Mun Lim Jan 2007

The Adoption Of Internet Technologies By Independent Hotels In The Uk, Wai Mun Lim

Plymouth Business School Theses

The growth of the technology and its range of possible uses have made it a necessity for independent hoteliers to examine their use of the internet, specifically its effectiveness for marketing and distribution purposes. It is widely recognised that the independent hotel sector makes up the bulk of the hotel industry in the UK and often do not have the resources or desire to keep up with new technologies. This study scrutinizes, evaluates and establishes the factors that influence the decision to adopt a range of internet technologies for marketing and distribution within the UK Independent hotel sector. The conceptual …

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Socio-Economic Aspects Of Commercial Ports And Wharves In Southwest England: A Grounded Theory Approach To Regional Competitiveness, Sarah Tuck Jan 2007

Socio-Economic Aspects Of Commercial Ports And Wharves In Southwest England: A Grounded Theory Approach To Regional Competitiveness, Sarah Tuck

Plymouth Business School Theses

The Southwest Region, as defined by the SW Regional Development Agency, forms an extended peninsula with a coastline of 1,020 km, the longest of any region in England. All along this coastline are fishing ports, commercial ports, small wharves, closed ports, ferry ports and leisure ports. Amongst the smallest are a dozen tidal ports, tiny harbours and rocky wharfs that still maintain a commercial trade of local and environmental significance. According to most theories of port development these ports should close, being forced out of business by larger, more efficient ports. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen people who were …

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Skill Mix In Primary Care : Patient, Professional And Management Perpectives, Christine Branson Jan 2007

Skill Mix In Primary Care : Patient, Professional And Management Perpectives, Christine Branson

Plymouth Business School Theses

Aim: This research is a study into the organisation and management of health services in Torbay Care Trust. It takes an overview of skill mix in primary care, considering the topic from the perspective of service recipients (patients), providers (professionals) and shapers and resourcers (management). The topic focuses on delegation and service diversification involving general practitioners, their directly employed team and community nurses attached to practices. Between and within the groups there are areas of agreement but also divergence of opinions and the key issues to be explored emerge from the literature. Approach: The study takes a combined case study, …

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Competitive Advantage Of Small And Medium Size Enterprises In Palestine, Younis Hammad Jan 2007

Competitive Advantage Of Small And Medium Size Enterprises In Palestine, Younis Hammad

Plymouth Business School Theses

The main core of this study is to assess the current state of the Palestinian Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) sector and determine its potential and opportunities open to this sector for playing a central role in the development process, as well as to examine the reasons behind the limited presence of SMEs' in the Palestinian territory. This thesis explores and examines via qualitative and quantitative research methods, the competitive advantages and distinctive competencies that determine success in firms established in Palestine before and after the Oslo Agreement. The study embraces two case analyses, indepth interviews of successful and …

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Counterfactual Thinking And The False Belief Task: A Developmental Study, Frederique Arreckx Jan 2007

Counterfactual Thinking And The False Belief Task: A Developmental Study, Frederique Arreckx

School of Psychology Theses

The main aim of this thesis was to investigate children's reasoning abilities, especially their ability to solve counterfactual tasks. This thesis studied counterfactual thinking as an independent ability but also in relation to both types of the false belief tasks that measure theory of mind and contrary-to-fact syllogisms. Four experiments were conducted with typically developing children between the ages of 3 to 5. The first experiment studied the difference between affirmative and negative counterfactual questions and found that the former was easier than the latter. The second experiment replicated these results and investigated the link between counterfactual thinking and the …

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Dynamics And Divergences In Electromagnetic Backgrounds, Paul Jameson Jan 2007

Dynamics And Divergences In Electromagnetic Backgrounds, Paul Jameson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis investigates the behaviour of a charge which is subjected to either an electromagnetic background created by a laser or a background which is hidden behind the resolution limitations of accelerator experiments. When a charge interacts with an intense laser beam its dynamics changes. The resulting trajectory of a non-relativistic particle is solved in this thesis without having to employ the dipole approximation. Many fundamental features of this trajectory are analysed including the drift velocity and the appearance of higher harmonic oscillations. In contrast, the interaction between a charge and an unobserved electromagnetic background leads to the infrared catastrophe. …

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Risk Reduction Through Technological Control Of Personal Information, Shirley Atkinson Jan 2007

Risk Reduction Through Technological Control Of Personal Information, Shirley Atkinson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Abuse and harm to individuals, through harassment and bullying, coexist with Identity Theft as criminal behaviours supported by the ready availability of personal information. Incorporating privacy protection measures into software design requires a thorough understanding about how an individual's privacy is affected by Internet technologies. This research set out to incorporate such an understanding by examining privacy risks for two groups of individuals, for whom privacy was an important issue, domestic abuse survivors and teenagers. The purpose was to examine the reality of the privacy risks for these two groups. This research combined a number of approaches underpinned by a …

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A Study Of Linear Error Correcting Codes, Cen Jung Tjhai Jan 2007

A Study Of Linear Error Correcting Codes, Cen Jung Tjhai

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Since Shannon's ground-breaking work in 1948, there have been two main development streams of channel coding in approaching the limit of communication channels, namely classical coding theory which aims at designing codes with large minimum Hamming distance and probabilistic coding which places the emphasis on low complexity probabilistic decoding using long codes built from simple constituent codes. This work presents some further investigations in these two channel coding development streams. Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes form a class of capacity-approaching codes with sparse parity-check matrix and low-complexity decoder Two novel methods of constructing algebraic binary LDPC codes are presented. These methods …

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Improving The Prediction Of The Behaviour Of Masonry Wall Panels Using Model Updating And Artificial Intelligence Techniques, Chengfei Sui Jan 2007

Improving The Prediction Of The Behaviour Of Masonry Wall Panels Using Model Updating And Artificial Intelligence Techniques, Chengfei Sui

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Out-of-plane laterally loaded masonry wall panels are still much used in modem structures. However due to their anisotropic and highly composite nature, it is extremely difficult to understand their behaviour and to date there is no analytical method that is capable of accurately predicting the response of masonry panels to the applied loadings. This is one of the major obstacles in analysing and designing masonry structures. This research studied a new method that accurately predicts the response of laterally loaded masonry wall panels. In this dissertation, the method of using corrector factors developed by previous researchers was further studied using …

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Software Architecture For Data Storage Concepts Within Future Mobile Telecommunication Systems, Andreas Diehl Jan 2007

Software Architecture For Data Storage Concepts Within Future Mobile Telecommunication Systems, Andreas Diehl

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In current mobile telecommunication networks, databases and the subscriber data is distributed among multiple network domains and database systems. The heterogeneous data storage concept is based on the permanent evolution of the mobile networks and the support of different kinds of network technologies. Dependent on the particular network domain and the dedicated technology, distributed subscriber data has to be accessed via specialised protocols.This thesis proposes a novel software architecture for the next generation profile register (NGPR) - an approach to provide subscriber information using a logically centralised register for subscriber data from several mobile network domains. The NGPR subscriber data …

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Dynamic Adaptation Of Streamed Real-Time E-Learning Videos Over The Internet, Aruna Thakur Jan 2007

Dynamic Adaptation Of Streamed Real-Time E-Learning Videos Over The Internet, Aruna Thakur

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Even though the e-learning is becoming increasingly popular in the academic environment, the quality of synchronous e-learning video is still substandard and significant work needs to be done to improve it. The improvements have to be brought about taking into considerations both: the network requirements and the psycho- physical aspects of the human visual system. One of the problems of the synchronous e-learning video is that the head-and-shoulder video of the instructor is mostly transmitted. This video presentation can be made more interesting by transmitting shots from different angles and zooms. Unfortunately, the transmission of such multi-shot videos will increase …

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Security Policy Enforcement In Application Environments Using Distributed Script-Based Control Structures, Klaus-Peter Fischer-Hellmann Jan 2007

Security Policy Enforcement In Application Environments Using Distributed Script-Based Control Structures, Klaus-Peter Fischer-Hellmann

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Business processes involving several partners in different organisations impose demanding requirements on procedures for specification, execution and maintenance. A framework referred to as business process management (BPM) has evolved for this purpose over the last ten years. Other approaches, such as service-oriented architecture (SOA) or the concept of virtual organisations (VOs), assist in the definition of architectures and procedures for modelling and execution of so-called collaborative business processes (CBPs). Methods for the specification of business processes play a central role in this context, and, several standards have emerged for this purpose. Among these, Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL, …

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Optimized Fatigue And Fracture Performance Of Friction Stir Welded Aluminium Plate: A Study Of The Inter-Relationship Between Process Parameters, Tmaz, Microstructure, Defect Population And Performance, Hannalie Lombard Jan 2007

Optimized Fatigue And Fracture Performance Of Friction Stir Welded Aluminium Plate: A Study Of The Inter-Relationship Between Process Parameters, Tmaz, Microstructure, Defect Population And Performance, Hannalie Lombard

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an exciting new solid-state welding process with the potential to advantageously impact many fabrication industries. Current take-up of the process by industry is hindered by lack of knowledge of suitable welding parameters for any particular alloy and sheet thickness. The FSW process parameters are usually chosen empirically and their success is evaluated via simple mechanical property testing. There are severe drawbacks with such methods of determining manufacturing conditions. These include indirect relationships between tensile and fatigue properties, particularly for welds, and a high probability of totally missing real optimized conditions. This research is therefore undertaken …

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Statistical Contributions To Medical Research In The South West Peninsula, Hilary Patricia Sanders Jan 2007

Statistical Contributions To Medical Research In The South West Peninsula, Hilary Patricia Sanders

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The papers on which this thesis is based are the result of original research work undertaken in collaboration with healthcare researchers in the South West Peninsula. Modern healthcare research involves large scale multidisciplinary projects and the Statistician's role In these projects, from concept through design and execution to the production of published papers, is crucial. Funding bodies, and in particular the Medical Research Council (MRC), expect a Statistician to be part of the project team and the statistical input and expertise included plays a key role in determining whether or not projects are funded and are subsequently successful. The selection …

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Exploring The Fate Of No Longer Relevant Spatial Information Using A Modified Sternberg Task, Kirsten Burghardt Jan 2007

Exploring The Fate Of No Longer Relevant Spatial Information Using A Modified Sternberg Task, Kirsten Burghardt

School of Psychology Theses

Forgetting, the breakdown of memory, is often associated with inconveniences in everyday life when the car key has been left on the kitchen table or when a phone number will simply not come to mind. However, forgetting has its justified and valued place in cognition. Forgetting allows us to remember the place where we parked our car today, rather than two weeks ago, it enables us to update previously incorrect information in our memory, and It gives us the opportunity to move on from unpleasant past experiences.

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The Social And Psychological Effects Of Sms Text Messaging, Donna Reid Jan 2007

The Social And Psychological Effects Of Sms Text Messaging, Donna Reid

School of Psychology Theses

This thesis reports an exploration of the phenomenon of mobile phone SMS text messaging and examines the applicability of two key theories of computer-mediated communication that forecast contrasting outcomes of this medium for personal relationship development and maintenance. It explores how SMS texting is being used, the impact it can have on the formation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships, and its attraction to particular groups of users. The importance of individual differences in moderating the use and outcomes of text messaging is emphasised throughout the studies reported. The investigation was split into two phases. An exploratory phase analysed samples of …

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Evolution Of Prehension Ability In An Anthropomorphic Neurorobotic Arm, G Massera Jan 2007

Evolution Of Prehension Ability In An Anthropomorphic Neurorobotic Arm, G Massera

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this paper, we show how a simulated anthropomorphic robotic arm controlled by an artificial neural network can develop effective reaching and grasping behaviour through a trial and error process in which the free parameters encode the control rules which regulate the fine-grained interaction between the robot and the environment and variations of the free parameters are retained or discarded on the basis of their effects at the level of the global behaviour exhibited by the robot situated in the environment. The obtained results demonstrate how the proposed methodology allows the robot to produce effective behaviours thanks to its ability …

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Axon And Dendrite Geography Predict The Specificity Of Synaptic Connections In A Functioning Spinal Cord Network, Wc Li, T Cooke, B Sautois, Et Al Jan 2007

Axon And Dendrite Geography Predict The Specificity Of Synaptic Connections In A Functioning Spinal Cord Network, Wc Li, T Cooke, B Sautois, Et Al

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Background: How specific are the synaptic connections formed as neuronal networks develop and can simple rules account for the formation of functioning circuits? These questions are assessed in the spinal circuits controlling swimming in hatchling frog tadpoles. This is possible because detailed information is now available on the identity and synaptic connections of the main types of neuron. Results: The probabilities of synapses between 7 types of identified spinal neuron were measured directly by making electrical recordings from 500 pairs of neurons. For the same neuron types, the dorso-ventral distributions of axons and dendrites were measured and then used to …

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On Computing Shannon’S Sphere Packing Bound And Applications, Mz Ahmed, Ma Ambroze, M Tomlinson Jan 2007

On Computing Shannon’S Sphere Packing Bound And Applications, Mz Ahmed, Ma Ambroze, M Tomlinson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

A new method to numerically evalu- ate Shannon’s lower bound is presented in this pa- per. This new method is based on the Incomplete Beta function and permits the exact evaluation of the Sphere Packing Bound for a large range of code sizes, rates and probability of error. Comparisons with cur- rent standards (DVB–RCS, DVB–S2 and 3GPP) are also presented and discussed. It is shown that cur- rent standard coding schemes are about 0.6dB from the Shannon Limit corrected for Binary Signalling.

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The Ecology And Genetics Of Cirsium Dissectum (L.) Hill In The British Isles And Implications For Its Conservation, Natasha De Vere Jan 2007

The Ecology And Genetics Of Cirsium Dissectum (L.) Hill In The British Isles And Implications For Its Conservation, Natasha De Vere

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The aim of this study was to research the ecology and genetics of Cirsium dissectum and to discuss the implications of the results for its conservation. The ecology of C. dissectum was described through a review of the literature. Site characteristics, plant communities and reproductive biology were investigated by examining 22 populations throughout the British Isles. Microsatellite genetic markers were used to investigate levels of genetic diversity within and between these populations. Within populations, relationships between genetic diversity, population size, fitness and habitat quality (concentrating on soil nutrients and vegetation structure) were explored using multiple regression and structural equation modelling. …

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Epidemiology Of Human And Bovine Tuberculosis In The Federal Capital Territory And Kaduna State Of Nigeria, Aishatu Abubakar Jan 2007

Epidemiology Of Human And Bovine Tuberculosis In The Federal Capital Territory And Kaduna State Of Nigeria, Aishatu Abubakar

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The epidemiology of bovine and human tuberculosis (TB) was studied in the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna state of Nigeria using four diagnostic methods; tuberculin test, culture and acid-fast stain of milk, animal (cattle) tissue and human sputum. Two PCR-based molecular techniques (Spoligotyping and Variable Number Tandem Repeat) were used to identify the species and strains of the isolates, while IS61 10-RFLP molecular method was optimised and applied on few samples to deten-nine the efficacy of the method. Of the 967 lactating cows from 57 herds tested for TB, 14.6%, 4% and 81.4% were positive, inconclusive and negative reactors respectively. …

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Nutritional Evaluation Of Animal By-Products For The Partial Replacement Of Fishmeal In Diets For Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus Aurata L.), Jerome Laporte Jan 2007

Nutritional Evaluation Of Animal By-Products For The Partial Replacement Of Fishmeal In Diets For Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus Aurata L.), Jerome Laporte

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

As well as reducing the level of protein in feeds, the strategy of replacing fishmeal with alternative protein sources may be an effective approach towards reducing costs and offering more sustainable feeds for aquaculture. Within the framework of this study, four trials were conducted to evaluate the nutritional potential of selected animal by-products, namely: Poultry Meat Meal (PMM), steam Hydrolysed Feather Meal (HFM), Enzyme treated Feather Meal (EFM) and Spray Dried Haemoglobin (SDH), as pat1ial substitutes for fishmeal in the diet of gilthead sea bream. The research strategy employed followed a two phase scheme which consisted of determining ingredient restrictions …

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The Distribution Of Phylogenetic Diversity Of Mammals In Mexico And Its Implications For Conservation, Ena Edith Mata Zayas Jan 2007

The Distribution Of Phylogenetic Diversity Of Mammals In Mexico And Its Implications For Conservation, Ena Edith Mata Zayas

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The current rate of biodiversity loss has stimulated studies aimed at identifying areas of concentration of biodiversity where conservation efforts can be targeted. Phylogeny has become an important element in conservation either to preserve areas of high phylogenetic diversity (and therefore evolutionary history) or to identify species attributes that make them prone to become endangered or at risk of extinction. This dissertation dealt with the quantification of phylogenetic diversity of Mexican mammals, its geographic distribution, and its correlation with both the life history attributes of the species and selected characteristics of the environment. In order to do this, I had …

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