A Balancing-Process Approach to Firm Internationalization

Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this paper develops a balancing-process approach to explain the motivations and location choices of foreign direct investment (FDI). In this approach, FDI is viewed as a means to balance a firm's portfolio of resources and capabilities through utilizing foreign strategic factor markets with the ultimate goal of achieving growth and sustainable competitive advantage. This approach joins exploitative and explorative FDI in a single framework and helps explain why a firm can conduct both types of FDI simultaneously.

A Novel Euler's Elastica based Segmentation Approach for Noisy Images via using the Progressive Hedging Algorithm

Euler's Elastica based unsupervised segmentation models have strong capability of completing the missing boundaries for existing objects in a clean image, but they are not working well for noisy images. This paper aims to establish a Euler's Elastica based approach that properly deals with random noises to improve the segmentation performance for noisy images. We solve the corresponding optimization problem via using the progressive hedging algorithm (PHA) with a step length suggested by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Technically, all the simplified convex versions of the subproblems derived from the major framework of PHA can be obtained by using the curvature weighted approach and the convex relaxation method. Then an alternating optimization strategy is applied with the merits of using some powerful accelerating techniques including the fast Fourier transform (FFT) and generalized soft threshold formulas. Extensive experiments have been conducted on both synthetic and real images, which validated some significant gains of the proposed segmentation models and demonstrated the advantages of the developed algorithm

ACCESS CONTROL USING WIRELESS FOR DATA COMMUNICATATION TO DATA TERMINAL

The main objective of this project is to develop wireless access control that can be accessed via HTML website using Microchip development board. TCP/IP protocol is used for its wireless technology, using ZeroG module that provides 802.11 standards. Application of wireless access control starts with initialization of hardware and computer through IP address assigned by access point

Multicomponent Diels-Alder Sequences of 1-Aminodendralenes

This thesis explores the use of in situ generated acyclic 1-aminodendralenes in multicomponent diene-transmissive Diels-Alder (DTDA) reaction sequences. Dendralenes have previously been shown to generate polycyclic frameworks in a step-economic manner. The 1-amino substituent is shown to promote very high levels of site selectivity in these processes. Chapter 1 reviews the Diels-Alder reactions of 1-amino-1,3-butadienes and is divided into three sections. The first two sections cover the Diels-Alder reactions of 1-amino-1,3-butadienes and 1-amino-3-siloxy-1,3-butadienes (Rawal’s dienes) generated with a stoichiometric amount of amine. The third section covers enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions involving 1-amino-1,3-butadienes generated in situ with a catalytic amount of a chiral amine. While there have been many reports of Diels-Alder reactions of 1-amino-1,3-butadienes and 1-amino-3-siloxy-1,3-butadienes, there has been only one involving a semi-cyclic 1-amino[3]dendralene. There have been few examples which combine these Diels-Alder reactions with other transformations in multicomponent reactions to generate polycyclic frameworks. Chapter 2 describes the use of acyclic 1-amino[3]dendralenes in multicomponent reactions to generate a diverse range of heterocyclic structures. The condensation/Diels- Alder reaction sequence was tolerant of a variety of amines as well as carbon and hereoatom-based dienophiles. The Diels-Alder reactions of 1-amino[3]dendralenes were highly site-selective, taking place exclusively at the amine substituted 1,3-butadiene unit. The sequence was extended to a one-pot four-component reaction by including an additional dienophile for a Diels-Alder reaction to take place at the newly generated semi-cyclic diene. These condensation/Diels-Alder/Diels-Alder cycloadducts were generated with high diastereoselectivity, the origins of which were investigated and explained with the use of density functional theory calculations (carried out by Prof Paddon-Row). By reversing the order of events, that is performing a Diels-Alder reaction on the skipped dienal precursor before the condensation/Diels-Alder reaction sequence, constitutional isomers were accessed. The second Diels-Alder reaction could be performed intramolecularly when an amine bearing an alkenyl substituent was used. This condensation/Diels-Alder/intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction sequence furnished a variety of tricyclic and tetracyclic heterocycles. Chapter 3 describes the use of acyclic 1-aminodendralenes bearing chiral amines in organocatalytic, enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions to deliver enantioenriched cycloadducts. The enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction between 1-amino[3]dendralenes, the condensation product of skipped dienals and chiral amines, and various dienophiles followed by elimination of the amine generated trienal cycloadducts in good yield and high enantioselectivity. The reaction tolerates substitution on the skipped dienal as well as dienophiles possessing an aldehyde substituent at the α position. Extension of this methodology by performing Wittig and Diels-Alder reactions on the trienal cycloadducts enabled access to enantioenriched polycyclic products. By using a diene-dialdehyde as the starting precursor, it is anticipated that the Horeau principle would operate in the twofold condensation/Diels-Alder/elimination reaction sequence would furnish the cycloadduct in high enantioselectivity. A preliminary attempt successfully generated the desired cycloadduct as the major product