1,722,310 research outputs found
Essays on optimal portfolio decisions for long-term investors
No full textThis dissertation contains two essays on the optimal portfolio decision for long-term investors. The first essay studies the optimal asset allocation for long-horizon investors with non-tradable labor income when multiple risky asset returns are predictable. It finds that more risk-averse investors hold a higher bond/stock ratio in their risky portfolios when labor income is positively correlated with stock return or independent of risky asset returns, but the reverse is true when labor income is positively correlated with bond return. The allocation to stock inherits the inverted U-shaped pattern of labor income growth with respect to expected time until retirement. These results suggest that popular recommendations of investment advisors that more conservative investors should hold a higher bond/stock ratio and that the portfolio allocation to stock should equal 100 minus age may both lack theoretical justification. In the out-of-sample performance test, the dynamic portfolio shows the highest mean returns and Sharpe ratio than two benchmark portfolios, justifying the economic significance of incorporating the time-variation of investment opportunities and nontradable labor income into investors’ portfolio choice. The second essay studies employees’ optimal portfolio in their defined contribution pension plans. Assuming a discrete time model with predictable risky asset returns, the essay finds that the employees’ optimal portfolio decision can be greatly affected by the employees’ time to retirement, risk preference, contribution rate as well as the correlation between labor income and asset returns. Performance test shows that the gains from adopting the dynamic portfolio strategy relative to several benchmark strategies, including the 1/n rule, the optimal static strategy with and without the consideration of asset return predictability, all stock strategy, and all company stock strategy, are economically significant and the economic gain increases with employees' risk aversion. The empirical evidence that employees invest significantly in their company stock in pension plans is difficult to be justified, even after the consideration of short-sale constraints, higher expected company stock return, employees’ familiarity with their company, and employers’ exclusive match policy. Over allocation to company stock can be very costly, especially to conservative employees.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Hui-Ju Tsa
Natural ventilation design of UNHCR family tent / Karen Bong Hui Ju
Get PDFUNHCR Family Tent is one of the most common emergency shelter that being used in most of the refugee camps and during emergency cases. Most of people are living in the UNHCR Family Tent in a long period of time either in a few years or a decade. Most of the publications research nowadays that are related with refugee shelters, discussing more on the tensile strength and durability of the shelter instead of the natural ventilation. In this research, four case studies on different locations of openings like window openings, door openings and roof openings are studied in order to investigate and discuss the effectiveness of those openings in helping natural ventilation on the UNHCR Family Tent. As the temperature of the UNHCR Family Tent is related and correspond to the natural ventilation, this research study also discuss on the temperature of the UNHCR Family Tent in order to determine whether the UNHCR Family Tent is comfortable for living purposes This research is being done by using ANSYS Fluent, a Computational Fluid Dynamic software that simulate the similar situation of the UNCHR Family Tent. The simulation program is easy to be used and handle with precise details on the data. The data collected are mainly focus on the velocity pathlink, velocity magnitude and temperature. After simulating on the data, the case studies are being compared in order to find out the best situation and improvement that can be done by simply changing the openings. The results that are gained from the research shows that by adding in more openings at different locations will increase the velocity magnitude of the air that are entering into the UNHCR Family Tent and decrease the temperature of the tent
The Rise and Construction of Stray Cat Protection Movement in Taiwan
No full text本論文主要處理台灣流浪貓保護運動的興起與發展，嘗試從中梳理台灣人與動物關係轉變的進程，即：哪些行動者在何種社會歷史脈絡中如何出現？而這樣的運動又如何可能？在這樣的行動之後又造成了怎麼樣的轉變？首先以歷史文獻進行內容分析，探討在歷史過程中，台灣人與動物關係的文化結構的轉變，並佐以法制度分析去處理流浪動物問題的出現，可以發現異於西方人與動物關係發展的步調，在終戰初期仍與人類相互依存採取放養方式的貓狗，在都市化與工業化的社會結構轉變下被排除於人類生活之外，流浪犬在1950年代的全國狂犬病大撲殺之後，始終與有害公共衛生與社會安全的負面形象勾連，而流浪貓則在失去了使用價值之後被長期無視，直到動物保護法在1998年通過之後，國家力量依然系統性地排除流浪犬，其他動物福利問題也持續存在。流浪貓問題隨著流浪犬的減少而被人們「看見」，成為下一個需要被清除的目標，但卻也因為制度的空隙給流浪貓保留了一個可能的議價空間。
筆者訪談了主要的流浪貓保護運動行動者與公部門人員，由新社會運動理論的觀點出發，認為流浪貓保護運動社群透過正興起的網際網路進行了認同建構與組織動員，將流浪貓重行定義為對張於純種貓的米克斯貓、在空間意義上與人類共同生活在街區生存的街貓，在這樣的認識框架下同時進行組織動員與外在結盟，提出TNR（Trap, Neuter, Return，亦即：捕捉、絕育、回置）方案作為爭取街貓在地生存權的手段。在公私協力之下TNR方案正式在台北市試辦，進一步分析流浪貓保護社群的發展與TNR施行前後的行動策略，如何運用這些行動策略持續爭取街貓生存的空間，而與之互動的各行動者又各自懷揣著怎樣的動力與行動，從而共同構成台灣流浪貓保護運動的場景。This research paper discusses about the rise and development of a movement of stray cat protection in Taiwan, and tries to figure out a progress of human-animal relationship in Taiwanese history, which means who those agencies are, in what kind of social and historical backgrounds they show up, and what change they have made after they perform their actions are presented in this report. First, the author discuss how the relationship between human and animal changes culturally through the history of Taiwan based on historical texts and legal regulations those to solve problems of street animals.
Compared to the human-animal relationship and ideas of animal protection of westerners, Taiwanese have a different attitude and history in this subject. In the end of the war, Taiwanese raise their cats and dogs outdoors without caging and limiting these animals’ area of activities. However, because of urbanization and industrialization, these cats and dogs are expelled from Taiwanese’s life. In 1950’s, stray dogs are caught and killed extensively in the name of rabies, which has connected stray dogs to a image as a threat to public sanitation and social safety ever since. As to stray cats, they have been ignored for a long time because they have lost their use value in Taiwanese’s life.
In 1998, animal protection act is passed in Taiwan. The state still uses its power to expel stray dogs systematically, which does not solve problems about animal welfare at all. The problem of stray cats was “discovered” because the number of stray dogs decreases, and these cats become the next target of being cleaned. However, this regulation leaves a negotiable space to stray cats to survive.
The author interviews some major agencies and public officials of stray cat protection. From the point of view of new social movement theory, the author considers that stray cat protection community completes their construction of identity, organization and mobilization through the rising internet. They redefine stray cats as “mixed cats” ,which are in contrast with pure-bred cats and renamed as “street cats” which share and live together with humans in the same colony. The community forms stray cats as cute and intimate neighbors. Also, at the same time, they carry out alignment, organization and mobilization under this frame, and bring up Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy as a method to fight for local survival right for the stray cats.
At this moment, TNR policy is under a trial practice in Taipei City supported by public-private partnership. The author analyzes the development and policy of stray cat protection community before and after TNR is practiced, how the community uses their policies to fight for survival space of stray cats, and what motivations and actions people who interact with the community have. The author presents how these groups of people all together compose the stray cat protection movement in Taiwan
Hwang_Suppl_1_manager – Supplemental material for Barriers to Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement in the Medical Office
No full textSupplemental material, Hwang_Suppl_1_manager for Barriers to Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement in the Medical Office by Kevin O. Hwang, Aitebureme Aigbe, Hsiao-Hui Ju, Victoria C. Jackson and Emily W. Sedlock in Journal of Primary Care & Community Health</p
Hwang_Suppl_2_focus_grp_(1) – Supplemental material for Barriers to Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement in the Medical Office
No full textSupplemental material, Hwang_Suppl_2_focus_grp_(1) for Barriers to Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement in the Medical Office by Kevin O. Hwang, Aitebureme Aigbe, Hsiao-Hui Ju, Victoria C. Jackson and Emily W. Sedlock in Journal of Primary Care & Community Health</p
Effects of Male Rat Urine on Norepinephrine Levels in the Accessory Olfactory Bulb of Young Andd Aged Female Rats
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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