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Synchronous dataow (SDF) graphs are a widely used formalism for modelling, analysing and realising streaming applications, both on a single processor and a multiprocessing context. Ecient schedules are necessary to obtain maximal throughput with the optimum energy consumption in such a way that the number of resources used to run these applications is kept as low a possible. This paper presents an approach of scheduling SDF graphs using a proven formalism for timed systems called timed automata (TA). TA holds a good balance between the expressiveness and tractability, and are supported by many verication tools e.g. Kronos and Uppaal. We describe an algorithm for the compositional translation of SDF graphs to TA and implementation of the translation to analyse and verify SDF graphs in state-of-the-art tool Uppaal. This approach does not require any transformation of SDF graphs to HSDF graphs and helps to nd the schedules with a best compromise between number of the processors required and the throughput. It also allows quantitative model checking and verication of the user-dened properties like absence of deadlocks, safety, liveness and throughput analysis. The translation also forms the basis for future work of extending SDF graphs with the new features, e.g. stochastics, energy consumption and costs. This work also strives for bridging and extending the modelling computational formalisms towards energy aspects of self supporting computation. * This research has been supported by the EU FP7 project named SENSATION.

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Bare metal stenting in AF patients delivered acceptably low TLR and MACE rates while having the benefit of a significantly shorter DAPT duration in a DES dominated clinical practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The importance of creativity in advertising as one of the primary factor for advertising effectiveness has been much advocated by advertising professionals and academicians particularly in a cluttered media. Industry experts argue that advertisements have to be more creative to break through the greater media clutter and develop an impression for the brand. This study examines the potential effectiveness of award winning television advertisements in Pakistan in both single and three advertising exposures. To ensure a real life advertising situation, both creative and control advertisements were embedded in a television program which were shown to two separate groups of research subjects with single and three advertising exposures respectively. Based on recall of the experimental advertisements in single and three exposures, subjects' tapped their responses about brand and advertisement attitude and lastly purchase intent. Contrary to expectations, the finding of this study in single exposure does not verify the superior performance of creative advertising in terms of recall, brand and advertisement attitude and purchase intent. However, in three exposures, creative advertisements developed significantly more favorable brand and advertisement attitude and greater unaided brand recall than control advertisements. Creative advertisements developed greater mean purchase intent for the advertised brands than control group of advertisements; however, it just slipped from attaining significance. Being an optimum and more mature response of research participants in three exposures as compared to single exposure, the results of this study in three exposures conclude that creative advertisements are really more effective than conventional advertisements and bestow value to the advertised brands.

Service-oriented industries now focus on capturing the encounter behaviours of both service providers and service recipients. It depends on the conditions of assessing the psychological needs of both parties in which the service provider provides services to the recipient and the recipient reciprocates service provider, in turn, to their services. Drawing from service encounter needs theory, this research has conducted two studies based on exploring the service provider–recipient dyadic encounter relationships between service quality and customer behaviours. By collecting data from 403 respondents from a broad range of service industries, study 1 found that service quality dimensions—reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy—were found to have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, but tangibility did not affect customer satisfaction. Interestingly, customer satisfaction is a psychological indicator of enhancing customer loyalty behaviours ( Zhang & Bloemer, 2008 ). So by surveying 361 respondents from different industries, study 2 was proposed to examine the notion that customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty behaviours—repurchase intention, word of mouth and willingness to pay more and to extend the literature of loyalty behaviours. Study 2 results show that there are significant mediating relationships between service quality and repurchase intention, words of mouth and willingness to pay more. Moreover, the research provides the guidelines, limitations and future directions.

This thesis investigates the determinants of cash holdings for companies operating in the travel and leisure sector of the United Kingdom (UK) between 2005 and 2016. Following the predictions of three prominent models, namely, the pecking order model, the trade-off model and the free cash flow model, the study tests the hypotheses for several firm-specific determinants of cash holdings. The study finds that size, growth opportunities and cash flow affect cash holdings positively, while leverage, capital expenditures, liquidity, cash flow volatility and dividend payments affect negatively. Consequently, it can be concluded that the pecking-order model receives strong empirical support followed by trade-off model to explain the variation in cash holdings among travel and leisure companies of UK. The free cash flow model receives only weak support. Moreover, at the sub-sector level, companies operating in the airlines sub-sector hold more cash than the reference sub-sector of travel and tourism.