O gênero Mikania (Asteraceae, tribo Eupatorieae) apresenta aproximadamente 450 espécies, muitas delas especialmente importantes por seu uso em medicina tradicional. Para a análise quimiotaxonômica, um banco de dados acerca da composição micromolecular de Mikania foi criado. Foram elaboradas análises de agrupamento e de componentes principais, bem como o cálculo de parâmetros evolutivos usados em quimiotaxonomia. O perfil químico e a análise estatística multivariada demonstraram que diterpenóides, lactonas sesquiterpenoídicas e cumarinas são os marcadores químicos mais importantes para este gênero. A presença de dicotomia entre a produção de lactonas sesquiterpenoídicas e diterpenóides não foi estritamente confirmada para o gênero, embora esteja claro que a produção de um interfere negativamente na do outro. As relações SH/(AC+IPP) e FV/FL foram compatíveis com o posicionamento de Mikania na família Asteraceae. As análises de componentes principais (PCA) e de agrupamento forneceram informações que correlacionam caracteres morfológicos e geográficos com dados químicos. As espécies distribuídas predominantemente no Brasil são consideradas muito mais ricas em diterpenos do tipo kaurano, assim como tendem a apresentar inflorescências tirsóides. Por outro lado, espécies não-brasileiras tendem a acumular lactonas sesquiterpenoídicas e apresentar preferencialmente inflorescências do tipo corimbosa. / The genus Mikania (Asteraceae, tribe Eupatorieae) encompasses around 450 species, many of which especially important due to their use in folk medicine. A database of the micromolecular composition of Mikania was generated for a chemotaxonomic analysis. Clustering and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) were performed, as well the calculation of evolutive parameters used in chemotaxonomy. The chemical profile and the statistical multivariate analysis demonstrated that diterpenes, sesquiterpene lactones and coumarins are the most important chemical markers in this genus. The presence of dicotomy between the production of sesquiterpene lactones and diterpenes was not strictly confirmed for the genus, although it is clear that the production of one interferes negatively with the other. The SH/(AC+IPP) and FV/FL ratios are compatible with the positioning of Mikania in the Asteraceae family. The PCA and clustering analysis provided information correlating morphological characters and geographical patterns with chemical data. The species distributed predominantly in Brazil are considered very rich in kaurane diterpenes quite prone to present thyrsoid inflorescences. In contrast, non-Brazilian species trend to accumulate mostly sesquiterpene lactones, preferentially presenting the corymbose inflorescence type.

A Engenharia de Software Baseada em Componentes (ESBC) envolve os processos de desenvolvimento de software a partir de partes embutidas prontas, a fim de se obter produtividade, reduzindo-se custos e tempo de lançamento no mercado, garantindo (e melhorando) a qualidade intrínseca de produtos de software, bem como flexibilidade de implementação, manutenção e integração de sistemas. O ciclo de vida de um componente de software, projetado para uma determinada arquitetura, para ser reutilizado e reciclado dentro de uma infra-estrutura de componentes, e para satisfazer atributos de qualidade, dependerá de um ambiente que permita que seu código evolua de maneira controlada; que suas interfaces sejam publicadas através de documentos; e que seus artefatos estejam sempre acessíveis por partes interessadas, como desenvolvedores, projetistas e arquitetos de software, gerentes de projeto, usuários etc. Isto sugere a organização de um processo que apóie a reutilização de componentes através de um repositório comum, justificando esforços de se projetar, implementar, testar e instalar estes componentes em diferentes soluções. Este trabalho tem a intenção de definir e descrever, através da linguagem e dos elementos de um meta-modelo, e através de uma proposta de implementação de um repositório de componentes, um modelo de processo alinhado a um subconjunto de requisitos estabelecidos pelos padrões ISO/IEC 12207 e ISO/IEC 9126, com o propósito de suporte de componentes a processos de desenvolvimento de software. / Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE)involves the software development from prepared built-in parts processes, in order to achieve productivity, reducing costs and time-tomarket, assuring (and improving) the intrinsic quality of software products, as well as implementation, maintenance and systems integration flexibility. The life cycle of a software component designed for a given architecture to be reused and recycled, within a component infrastructure, and to satisfy quality attributes, will depend on an environment to allow its code to evolve in a controlled manner; its interfaces to be published through documents; and its artifacts to be always accessible from interested parties, like developers, software designers and architects, project managers, users etc. This suggests the organization of a process that supports the reuse of components through a common repository, justifying efforts to design, implement, test and install them in different solutions. This work intends to define and describe, through a meta-model language and elements, and through a component repository implementation proposal, a process model aligned to a subset of requirements established by the ISO/IEC 12207 and the ISO/IEC 9126 standards, with the purpose of development software processes support of components.

A Engenharia de Software Baseada em Componentes (ESBC) envolve os processos de desenvolvimento de software a partir de partes embutidas prontas, a fim de se obter produtividade, reduzindo-se custos e tempo de lançamento no mercado, garantindo (e melhorando) a qualidade intrínseca de produtos de software, bem como flexibilidade de implementação, manutenção e integração de sistemas. O ciclo de vida de um componente de software, projetado para uma determinada arquitetura, para ser reutilizado e reciclado dentro de uma infra-estrutura de componentes, e para satisfazer atributos de qualidade, dependerá de um ambiente que permita que seu código evolua de maneira controlada; que suas interfaces sejam publicadas através de documentos; e que seus artefatos estejam sempre acessíveis por partes interessadas, como desenvolvedores, projetistas e arquitetos de software, gerentes de projeto, usuários etc. Isto sugere a organização de um processo que apóie a reutilização de componentes através de um repositório comum, justificando esforços de se projetar, implementar, testar e instalar estes componentes em diferentes soluções. Este trabalho tem a intenção de definir e descrever, através da linguagem e dos elementos de um meta-modelo, e através de uma proposta de implementação de um repositório de componentes, um modelo de processo alinhado a um subconjunto de requisitos estabelecidos pelos padrões ISO/IEC 12207 e ISO/IEC 9126, com o propósito de suporte de componentes a processos de desenvolvimento de software. / Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE)involves the software development from prepared built-in parts processes, in order to achieve productivity, reducing costs and time-tomarket, assuring (and improving) the intrinsic quality of software products, as well as implementation, maintenance and systems integration flexibility. The life cycle of a software component designed for a given architecture to be reused and recycled, within a component infrastructure, and to satisfy quality attributes, will depend on an environment to allow its code to evolve in a controlled manner; its interfaces to be published through documents; and its artifacts to be always accessible from interested parties, like developers, software designers and architects, project managers, users etc. This suggests the organization of a process that supports the reuse of components through a common repository, justifying efforts to design, implement, test and install them in different solutions. This work intends to define and describe, through a meta-model language and elements, and through a component repository implementation proposal, a process model aligned to a subset of requirements established by the ISO/IEC 12207 and the ISO/IEC 9126 standards, with the purpose of development software processes support of components.

Information Technology systems generate system log messages to allow for the monitoring of the system. In increasingly large and complex systems the volume of log data can overwhelm the analysts tasked with monitoring these systems. A system was developed that utilizes Principal Component Analysis to assist the analyst in the characterization of system health and events. Once trained, the system was able to accurately identify a state of heavy load on a device with a low false positive rate. The system was also able to accurately identify an error condition when trained on a single event. The method employed is able to assist in the real time monitoring of large complex systems, increasing the efficiency of trained analysts.

The rhizobia-legume symbiosis is the most agriculturally significant source of naturally fixed nitrogen, accounting for almost 25% of all biologically available nitrogen. Rhizobia-legume compatibility restrictions impose limits on symbiotic nitrogen fixation. In many cases, the molecular basis for symbiotic compatibility is not fully understood. The signals required for establishing a symbiotic partnership between nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g. Sinorhizobium meliloti) and leguminous plants (e.g. Medicago truncatula) have been partially characterized at the molecular level. The first stage of successful root colonization is competitive occupation of the rhizosphere (which is poorly understood). Here, the bacteria introduce themselves as potential symbiotic partners through the secretion of glycolipid "Nod" factors. In response, the host facilitates a more exclusive mode of colonization by the formation of a root nodule – a new organ capable of hosting dense intracellular populations of symbiotic rhizobia for nitrogen fixation. This dissertation reports the exhaustive identification of S. meliloti genes that permit competitive colonization of the M. truncatula rhizosphere, and includes a mechanistic study of one particular bacterial signaling pathway that is crucial for both rhizosphere colonization and nodulation. I have made use of Tn-seq technology, which relies on deep sequencing of large transposon mutant libraries to monitor S. meliloti genotypes that increase or decrease in relative abundance after competition in the rhizosphere. This work included the collaborative development of a new computational pipeline for performing Tn-seq analysis. Our analysis implicates a large ensemble of bacterial genes and pathways promoting rhizosphere colonization, provides hints about how the host plant shapes this environment, and opens the door for mechanistic studies about how changes in the rhizosphere are sensed and interpreted by the microbial community. Notable among these sensory pathways is a three-protein signaling system, consisting of FeuQ, FeuP, and FeuN, which are important for both rhizosphere colonization and nodule invasion by S. meliloti. The membrane-bound sensor kinase FeuQ can either positively or negatively influence downstream transcription of target genes by modulating the phosphorylation state of the transcriptional activator FeuP. FeuN, a small periplasmic protein, inhibits the positive mode of FeuPQ signaling by its direct interaction with the extracellular region of FeuQ. FeuN is essential for S. meliloti viability, underscoring the vital importance of controlling the activity of downstream genes. In summary, I have employed several powerful genetic, genomic, computational, and biochemical approaches to uncover a network of genes and pathways that coordinate root colonization and nodulation functions.

The dissertation explores word order phenomena in a 'free' word order language, Russian. It has been proposed in the literature that in simple sentences like 'John sees Mary', six word orders are equally possible in Russian. The dissertation questions the equal acceptability of these word orders and shows that some of the "felicitous" word orders have a degraded status compared to others. The word order findings are based on experimental evidence from elicitation, perception and grammaticality judgment psycholinguistic studies with 237 adult native speakers of Russian. The results of the experiments demonstrate that Russian speakers have a strong preference for producing some word orders over others. For example, Russian native speakers produce transitive SVO, OVS and SOV felicitous word orders, but consistently do not produce VSO, VOS and OSV felicitous word orders, which they still recognize as acceptable, but as having a degraded grammaticality status. On the basis of the experimental evidence and analysis of the various constituent movements within the Minimalist Program approach, a model of grammar is proposed which adds a pragmatic component responsible for word order permutations. According to this model, the syntactic component of grammar generates only SVO sentences (the basic word order) in Russian. All discourse-dependent sentences result from realignment in the post-syntactic pragmatic component. In contrast to the hierarchical structure of syntax, the pragmatic component of grammar has a linear structure and operates with Optimality Theory-type constraints determining the optimal output word order in a particular discourse structure. The underlying assumption of this model is that this pragmatic component is present in all languages. However, the language specific ranking of the constraints in this component results in word order variations. In contrast to the previous structural approaches to word order permutations in Russian, the proposed model has obvious advantages. The model accounts not only for grammaticality and ungrammaticality, but also for the degraded grammaticality of different word order permutations in Russian. In addition, this approach accounts for the variation between 'fixed' word order languages like English and 'free' word order languages like Russian.

Inia 66 and Siete Cerros wheat varieties, and Steveland and Woodvale barley varieties were grown in mixtures and in pure stands for two years in irrigated nurseries at Logan. These four varieties were also grown the first year in a dryland nursery at Blue Creek. Another set of four varieties was used the second year in the dryland nursery. These four varieties as well as the first set, were tested in seven combinations, with the following percentages of one barley and one wheat variety : 100:0, 90:10, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 10:90, and 0:100. Grain yield of mixtures was higher than that of the mid-component value in most cases and was higher than that of the best component in a few cases. Only a few of the observed differences were statistically significant. All mixtures had significantly lower test weight than that of the best component. Ninety percent of the mixtures were significantly lower in test weight than the mid-component value. Tillering of both wheat varieties consistently decreased as the percentage of wheat in the seeded mixture decreased. Conversely, tillering in barley increased as the percentage of barley in the seeded mixture decreased. Most of the mixtures showed an excess of barley in the harvested crop, compared to that in the seeded mixture. These excesses were usually greatest around the 50:50 mixture level. A consistent pattern of slight increase in kernel weight of barley was observed as the amount of barley decreased in the seeded mixture. Wheat showed the reverse situation. None of these differences were statistically significant. Inter-relationships among yield components were evaluated by simple correlation coefficients. The correlations were subdivided into direct and indirect effects by the use of path coefficient analyses. Correlation coefficients and path coefficients showed consistent changes as the percentage of crop mixtures changed. Coefficients of determination for both wheat and barley decreased as the percentage of that crop in the seeded mixture was decreased.

Building software systems from previously existing components can save time and effort while increasing productivity. The key to a successful Component-Based Development (CBD) is to get the required components. However, components obtained from other developers often show different behaviours than what are required. Thus adapting the components into the system being developed becomes an extra development and maintenance cost. This cost often offsets the benefits of CBD. Our research goal is to maximise the possibility of finding components that have the required behaviours, so that the component adaptation cost can be minimised. Imprecise component specifications and user requirements are the main reasons that cause the difficulty of finding the required components. Furthermore, there is little support for component users and developers to collaborate and clear the misunderstanding when selecting components, as CBD has two separate development processes for them. In this thesis, we aim at building a framework in which component users and developers can collaborate to select components with tools support, by exchanging component and requirement specifications. These specifications should be precise enough so that behavioural mismatches can be detected. We have defined Simple Component Interface Language (SCIL) as the communication and specification language to capture component behaviours. A combined SCIL specification of component and requirement can be translated to various existing modelling languages. Thus various properties that are supported by those languages can be checked by the related model checking tools. If all the user-required properties are satisfied, then the component is compatible to the user requirement at the behavioural level. Thus the component can be selected. Based on SCIL, we have developed a prototype component selection system and used it in two case studies: finding a spell checker component and searching for the components for a generic e-commerce application. The results of the case studies indicate that our approach can indeed find components that have the required behaviours. Compared to the traditional way of searching by keywords, our approach is able to get more relevant results, so the cost of component adaptation can be reduced. Furthermore, with a collaborative selection process this cost can be minimised. However, our approach has not achieved complete automation due to the modelling inconsistency from different people. Some manual work to adjust user requirements is needed when using our system. The future work will focus on solving this remaining problem of inconsistent modelling, providing an automatic trigger to select proper tools, etc.

This thesis is devoted to a component model for Web application and the corresponding tools for its development. The model is described after the review of various existing Web application development methods and models. A case study is also provided to support the analysis. / thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2003.

We present the BIP component framework for component-based construction of real-time systems from heterogeneous components. BIP stands for Behavior, Interaction and Priority, the three main elements for building components. It considers that systems can be obtained by composition of 3-layered components, where the lowest layer represents behavior as a set of transitions with triggers and actions; the intermediate level is the set of the interactions between the transitions of the behavior level, and the upper level is a set of dynamic priority rules. BIP has a rigorous formal semantics, and supports a system construction methodology based on a parameterized composition operator on components. The use of a layered composition operator allows incremental construction. The system construction process can be viewed as a sequence of transformations in a three-dimensional space of Behavior X Interaction X Priority, and provides a basis for the study of property preserving transformations between subclasses of systems such as untimed/timed, asynchronous/synchronous. We also provide a distributed semantics for systems in BIP, using a partial state model, and show the use of an auxiliary predicate called Oracle to preserve observational equivalence with respect to the centralized semantics. We present an implementation of BIP as a tool chain that allows modeling, static analysis and execution of BIP descriptions on a dedicated engine. Three different implementations for the engine have been provided, a centralized enumerative engine, a centralized symbolic engine and a distributed engine. We illustrate the use of the tool chain for two major application domains, Software Componentization, and Modeling mixed hw/sw systems.