Existing cache organization suffers from the inability to distinguish different types of localities, and non-selectively cache all data rather than making any attempt to take special advantage of the locality type. This causes unnecessary movement of data among the levels of the memory hierarchy and increases in miss ratio. In this dissertation I propose a split data cache architecture that will group memory accesses as scalar or array references according to their inherent locality and will subsequently map each group to a dedicated cache partition. In this system, because scalar and array references will no longer negatively affect each other, cache-interference is diminished, delivering better performance. Further improvement is achieved by the introduction of victim cache, prefetching, data flattening and reconfigurability to tune the array and scalar caches for specific application. The most significant contribution of my work is the introduction of novel cache architecture for embedded microprocessor platforms. My proposed cache architecture uses reconfigurability coupled with split data caches to reduce area and power consumed by cache memories while retaining performance gains. My results show excellent reductions in both memory size and memory access times, translating into reduced power consumption. Since there was a huge reduction in miss rates at L-1 caches, further power reduction is achieved by partially or completely shutting down L-2 data or L-2 instruction caches. The saving in cache sizes resulting from these designs can be used for other processor activities including instruction and data prefetching, branch-prediction buffers. The potential benefits of such techniques for embedded applications have been evaluated in my work. I also explore how my cache organization performs for non-numeric data structures. I propose a novel idea called "Data flattening" which is a profile based memory allocation technique to compress sparsely scattered pointer data into regular contiguous memory locations and explore the potentials of my proposed Spit cache organization for data treated with data flattening method.

L’objectif principal de ce travail est de vérifier si le statut de la culture à la télévision nationale pourrait être un indicateur sur la mise en place d’un processus démocratique au Maroc. La réforme de l’audiovisuel constitue un prétexte pour observer la portée des discours réformistes, surtout quand ils sont annoncés par des régimes autoritaires. Comme nous voulons aborder un aspect spécifique d’une politique sectorielle, il serait utile de l’intégrer dans le climat global où elle évolue. En s’intéressant au passé colonial du pays, nous comprendrons les fondements du régime marocain ainsi que les relations qu’il entretient avec les différentes composantes du paysage politique.Les relations entre la monarchie et la religion, la politique et les médias, et le peuple marocain, contribueront à exposer la problématique du nouveau rôle que les réformes jouent dans la réaffirmation des régimes autoritaires. Les élections de 2011 ont permis l’accès des islamistes au gouvernement. L’élaboration des cahiers des charges de l’audiovisuel public par le ministère de tutelle provoquera un affrontement avec les vrais détenteurs de pouvoir sur ce domaine. Grâce aux conditions de la mise en application de ces textes, nous verrons comment les enjeux politiques influencent les décisions des différents acteurs, car nous souhaitons participer à poser un regard différent sur les démarches de modernisation d’un pays comme le Maroc. / This paper primarily seeks to verify whether the status of culture on Moroccan national television could be an indicator of the implementation of a democratic process in Morocco. Audiovisual reform is a pretext for observing the scope of reformist discourse, especially when such discourse is delivered by authoritarian regimes. As we intend to examine a specific aspect of policy in a given sector, it would be interesting to place it in the broader context in which it evolves. We shall take a close look at the country's colonial past to better understand the foundations of the Moroccan regime and the relations that it nurtures with the various stakeholders in the political landscape.We will use the relations between the monarchy and religion, politics and the media, and the Moroccan people to present the problematic of how authoritarian regimes now use reforms as a new way of reasserting their authority. The 2011 elections brought Islamists into the government. In the audiovisual sector, we can expect a confrontation between the true holders of power in this field and the ministry in charge of the sector when it comes to drafting the terms of reference for public radios and televisions. We shall examine how political stakes influence the decisions of the various professionals through the conditions for implementing these texts; for we wish to participate in viewing from a different angle, the modernization processes of a country such as Morocco.

As there is a rapid growth in the field of wireless communications, the demand for various multimedia services is also increasing. The data that is being transmitted suffers from distortions through source encoding and transmission over errorprone channels. Due to these errors, the quality of the content is degraded. There is a need for service providers to provide certain Quality of Experience (QoE) to the end user. Several methods are being developed by network providers for better QoE.The human tendency mainly focuses on distortions in the Region of Interest(ROI) which are perceived to be more annoying compared to the Background(BG). With this as a base, the main aim of this thesis is to get an accurate prediction quality metric to measure the quality of the image over ROI and the BG independently. Reduced Reference Image Quality Assessment (RRIQA), a reduced reference image quality assessment metric, is chosen for this purpose. In this method, only partial information about the reference image is available to assess the quality. The quality metric is measured independently over ROI and BG. Finally the metric estimated over ROI and BG are pooled together to get aROI aware metric to predict the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) of the image.In this thesis, an ROI aware quality metric is used to measure the quality of distorted images that are generated using a wireless channel. The MOS of distorted images are obtained. Finally, the obtained MOS are validated with the MOS obtained from a database [1].It is observed that the proposed image quality assessment method provides better results compared to the traditional approach. It also gives a better performance over a wide variety of distortions. The obtained results show that the impairments in ROI are perceived to be more annoying when compared to the BG.

In spite of technological advances in wireless systems, transmitted data suffers from impairments through both lossy source coding and transmission overerror prone channels. Due to these errors, the quality of multimedia content is degraded. The major challenge for service providers in this scenario is to measure the perceptual impact of distortions to provide certain Quality of Experience(QoE) to the end user. The general tendency of the Human Visual System (HVS) suggests that the artifacts in the Region-of-Interest (ROI) are perceived to be more annoying compared to the artifacts in Background (BG). With this assumption, the thesis aims to measure the quality of image over ROI and BG independently. Visual Information Fidelity (VIF), a full-reference image quality assessment is chosen for this purpose. Finally, the metric measured over ROI and BG are pooled to get a ROI aware metric. The ROI aware metric is used to predict the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) of an image. In this study, an ROI aware quality metric is used to measure the quality of a set of distorted images generated using a wireless channel. Eventually, MOS of the distorted images is estimated. Lastly, the predicted MOS is validated with the MOS obtained from subjective tests. Testing the proposed image quality assessment approach shows an improved prediction performance of ROI aware quality metric over traditional image quality metrics. It is also observed that the above approach provides a consistent improvement over a wide variety of distortions. After extensive research, the obtained results suggest that the impairments in the ROI are perceived to be more annoying than that of the BG.

In this thesis I examine Schelling’s construction of symbolic language in §73 of his Philosophie der Kunst. I approach this construction in three ways. First, I compare Schellingian symbolic language to other contemporary theories of the symbol and language (in particular, those of Goethe, Kant and A.W. Schlegel). While Schelling’s theory of symbolic language possesses properties similar to these other theories (the identity of being and meaning, organic wholeness, the co-existence of opposites), I show that it differs in how they are interpreted. Second, I excavate the metaphysical and epistemological principles from Schelling’s philosophy of the period which underlie this theory of language. Three tenets from the Identitätssystem (as it is called) are crucial: formation, quantitative differentiation and construction. They illuminate why Schelling interprets symbolic language very differently to his contemporaries. Third, I consider the theological significance of Schellingian symbolic language. This significance is twofold. First, his theory gives rise to a conception of discourse without reference, and so to the notion of a theology without reference. On this basis, Schelling criticises Christian theology for remaining too concerned with referring to God, when what is at stake is rather the degree of intensity to which it produces God. Theology therefore stands in need of reformation. Second, the way in which theology is utilised by Schelling in order to construct symbolic language in §73 of the Philosophie der Kunst itself provides a model for reformed theological practice. I argue that Schelling conceives of traditional theology as material for intensifying the production of God. In this way, an ‘absolute theology’ is engendered which has no concern for reference or for the integrity of the theological tradition.

The problem of this study was to examine the equivalency of two different types of criterion-referenced item-selection techniques on simulated data as item pools varied in degrees of item difficulty. A pretest-posttest design was employed in which pass-fail scores were randomly generated for item pools of twenty-five items. From the item pools, the two techniques determined which items were to be used to make up twelve-item criterion-referenced tests. The twenty-five items also were rank ordered according to the discrimination power of the two techniques.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The thesis deals with the question of interpretation of narrative works of fiction in regard to what the text refers to (what is usually termed reference). On the work of three differently focused authors (Frege, Ortega y Gasset, Shklovsky) it studies reference pushed aside as a thing unimportant or even impossible in art. Structuralism, developing mainly in France after 1960, supplants these questions with exploring the literalness of literary works and their inner relations, allowing narratology to arise. Subsequently, Paul Ricoeur aims for the synthesis of structuralism and hermeneutics. Approaching literary work as discourse, he distinguishes the "what" and "what about" of works, following Frege's distinction between sense and reference (meaning), while reference of a work is not descriptive. In Time and Narrative he uses the term refiguration instead of reference and emphasizes the temporal aspect of literary work and its reception. The thesis is closed with a brief interpretation of Budapest, a novel by Chico Buarque (2003).

The present work aims to answer questions regarding lung function among students of two types of grammar schools and describe selected indicators of differences between different groups of students within a reference population. The starting point for this work was speculation that the obligations defined by seconadary education in the ordinary type of school may significantly affect the students of the same age group and same Framework educational program for intensive regime of movement, breathing function. Is it possible that the secondary school educational program could affect the degree of respiratory function of students, for example by having less time and not having time for regular exercise? Are students of common type of grammar school physically less active than their peers from sports-oriented type of school? What are lung volumes of today's teens and how much do they differ from the current standards? The selection of respondents was elected from the students of sport-oriented grammar school and the common type of secondary school students. A total of 196 students participated in the study. Students were measured by spirometry lung capacity and function through painstaking cast in relation to strenuous breath. I have found that ordinary secondary school students have a positive...

v anglickém jazyce The purpose of this thesis is to analyse europeanisation of private law. The thesis is composed of six chapter, each of them dealing with different aspects of the creation of uniform private law. Chapter One is introductory. Deals with the term of europeanisation of private law and focuses on its basic methods. Attempts to distinguish centralist and non-centralist ways of convergence in the area of european private law. The first subchapter describes unification of private law by means of international conventions and through european regulations and directives. The second subpart examines spontaneous process of europeanisation of private law. Ilustrates the creation of a european private law by legal science and education, drafting principles of european private law and is concerned with competition of legal systems. Chapter two explores if the unification of private law is needed and possible. Discusses positive as well as negative arguments of the unification in the area of private law. Chapter three describes several of academic iniciatives concerned with the creation of uniform private law. Chapter Four concentrates on european contract law. This part discusses the term of contract law, describes international instruments of its unification, focuses on consumer protection in...