In this thesis, we study periodic solutions and stability of differential equations with piecewise constant argument of generalized type. These equations can be divided into three main classes: differential equations with retarded, alternately advanced-retarded, and state-dependent piecewise constant argument of generalized type. First, using the method of small parameter due to Poincar&eacute / , the existence and stability of periodic solutions of quasilinear differential equations with retarded piecewise constant argument of generalized type in noncritical case, that is, the unperturbed linear ordinary differential equation has not any nontrivial periodic solution, are investigated. The continuous and differential dependence of the solutions on an initial value and a parameter is considered. A new Gronwall-Bellmann type lemma is proved. Next, quasilinear differential equations with alternately advanced-retarded piecewise constant argument of generalized type is addressed. The critical case, when associated linear homogeneous system admits nontrivial periodic solutions, is considered. Using the technique of Poincar&eacute / -Malkin, criteria of existence of periodic solutions of such equations are obtained. One of the main auxiliary results is an analogue of Gronwall-Bellmann Lemma for functions with alternately advanced-retarded piecewise constant argument. Dependence of solutions on an initial value and a parameter is investigated. Finally, a new class of differential equations with state-dependent piecewise constant argument is introduced. It is an extension of systems with piecewise constant argument. Fundamental theoretical results for the equations: existence and uniqueness of solutions, the existence of the periodic solutions, the stability of the zero solution are obtained. Appropriate examples are constructed.

L’adverbe est l’une des catégories invariables du discours. Le définir clairement n’est pas toujours chose aisée, tant cette catégorie grammaticale regorge de mots d’une grande hétérogénéité, non seulement du point de vue de leur nature, mais également du point de vue de leur rôle. L’adverbe peut ainsi signifier la comparaison, le lieu, la manière ou la qualité, l’ordre et le rang, la quantité, le temps, etc. Il peut encore servir de connecteur logique, de négation, etc. Lorsque l’adverbe permet de répondre à la question « où ? » posé autour du verbe, on parle d’adverbe locatif, traditionnellement appelé adverbe de lieu. C’est à cette catégorie d’adverbes que nous avons consacré notre étude. Les adverbes locatifs ont rarement fait l’objet d’une étude exhaustive, ce qui nous a amené à nous intéresser à leur classification dans le cadre théorique du lexique-grammaire. Pour parvenir à nos fins, nous nous sommes proposé pour objectif principal de mettre en évidence les différentes propriétés syntactico-sémantiques de ces adverbes locatifs. Mais avant d’en arriver-là, il était nécessaire de clarifier la notion très ambivalente de lieu, ce vocable permettant en effet de regrouper des réalités diverses telles que les lieux ayant un sens purement locatif (ex. ici, là-haut) et les lieux impliquant l’idée d’activités qui leur sont associées (ex. au cinéma, à l’école), pour ne citer que ces deux exemples. Il s’agissait donc de mettre en évidence cette classification interne au sein même de cette dernière notion de lieu. Ainsi, nous parlons d’adverbes locatifs non prédicatifs pour désigner les adverbes ayant un sens de lieu impliquant également un sens d’activité associée à ce lieu. De même, les adverbes locatifs prédicatifs pour parler des adverbes désignant explicitement une activité liée à un lieu tout en possédant une référence de lieu rendant possible une telle activité. Compte tenu de la rareté des études qui examinent de manière systématique le lien entre la notion de lieu et les adverbes de lieu, tout l’intérêt de notre démarche aura été d’élaborer une approche analytique qui rende compte des phénomènes sémantico-syntaxiques propres aux adverbes locatifs. Cette étude est d’autant plus nécessaire que l’absence d’une méthode d’analyse a souvent fait obstacle à l’établissement d’une classification des adverbes locatifs. / The adverb is an invariable part of discourse. Defining it with clarity is not a simple assignment, as this category in grammar is filled with words of great heterogeneity, not only from the point of view of their nature, but also from the point of view of their role. The adverb can thus mean comparison, place, manner, quality, order, rank, quantity, and time, etc. It can also be used as a logical connector, negation, etc. When the adverb allows the question "where?" to be raised around the verb, one speaks of locative adverb, traditionally known as adverb of place. It is to this category of adverbs that we have devoted our study. Locative adverbs have rarely been studied exhaustively, which has led us to consider their classification in the theoretical framework of the lexicon-grammar. In order to achieve our goals, we propose to highlight the different syntactico-semantic properties of these adverbs. But before we came to that point, it was necessary to clarify the very ambivalent notion of place, since this term allows us to gather diverse realities such as places with a purely locative sense (e.g. here, up there) and places involving the idea of activities associated within them (e.g. at the cinema, at the school), to only mention these two examples. It was therefore necessary to bring to light this internal classification within the very notion of place. Thus, we speak of non-predicative locative adverbs to denote adverbs with a sense of place that also implies a sense of activity associated with those places. Similarly, predicative locative adverbs to speak of adverbs explicitly designating an activity linked to a place while referring to a location allowing such activity to be performed Given the scarcity of studies that systematically examine the link between the notion of place and adverbs of place, all the interest of our approach will have been to develop an analytical approach that accounts for the semantico-syntactic phenomena specific to locative adverbs. This study is all the more necessary due to the absence of a method of analysis often hindered the establishment of a classification of adverbs of place.

Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l’étude d’équations d’évolution et d’équations différentielles à argument constant par morceaux. L’étude des équations différentielles à argument constant par morceaux est un domaine important car ces équations ont la structure de système dynanmique de longueur constante. La continuité des solutions conduit à une relation de récurrence entre les valeurs de cette dernière entre les points n et n+1, où n est un entier relatif quelconque. Par conséquent les équations différentielles à argument constant par morceaux combinent à la fois les propriétés des équations différentielles et des équations aux différences. Nous étudierons l’existence de solutions presque automorphes et S-asymptotiquement omega-périodiques d’équations d’évolutions et d’équations à argument constant par morceaux. L’étude de solutions presque automorphes et S’asymptotiquement omega periodiques est motivé par le fait que ces fonctions généralisent celle des fonctions périodiques. Nous obtiendrons donc des résultats concernant l’existence et l’unicité de solutions presque automorphes et S asymptotiquement omega périodiques de plusieurs équations d’évolutions. Cette problématique sera notamment étudiée dans le cadre des équations d’évolutions appartenant à la classe des équations différentielles à argument constant par morceaux. / This thesis deals with the study of evolution equations and differential equations with piecewise constant argument. Studies of such equations were motivated by the fact that they represent a hybrid of discrete and continuous dynamical systems and combine the properties of both differential and differential-difference equations. We study the existence of almost automorphic solutions and S asymptotically omega periodic solution of evolution equations and differential equations with piecewise constant argument. The study of almost automorphic and S asymptotically omega periodic functions is motivated by the fact that these functions generalize the concept of periodic functions. Therefore, we obtain results about existence and unicity of almost automorphic and S asymptotic omega periodic solution of evolution equations. We will study this problem considering evolution equations who belong to a class of differential equation with piecewise constant argument.

La transparence des personnes morales en droit administratif se présente comme un argument visant à faire prévaloir la réalité de la situation d’une personne morale sur sa forme. L’argument de transparence entraîne une modification du rapport d’altérité entre deux personnes morales dont l’une est entièrement contrôlée par l’autre : alors qu’elles sont distinctes l’une de l’autre, le juge assimile l’organisme dépourvu d’autonomie à un service de la personne publique. La transparence n’est toutefois pas dotée d’un régime juridique stable et cohérent. L’opération de qualification est accessoire à sa mise en oeuvre, de sorte que les rapports juridiques entre les personnes morales varient. La personne morale n’est regardée comme « transparente » qu’à l’occasion d’un litige pour la résolution d’un problème juridique précis ; elle peut à nouveau être regardée comme distincte de la personne publique lors d’un nouveau procès. Avec cette technique, le juge administratif met en échec les effets de contournement des règles du droit administratif sans créer de règles ou d’exceptions jurisprudentielles nouvelles. Aux côtés du mandat administratif, l’argument de transparence permet de compléter l’arsenal de protection de la compétence du juge administratif et du respect des règles propres à l’administration, dont les effets et la portée peuvent être mesurés et adaptés aux situations. Il permet également aux requérants d’envisager une stratégie juridique susceptible de faire sauter l’obstacle de la personnalité morale de l’organisme que maîtrise totalement l’administration. / Piercing the veil of corporate entities in French administrative law appears as an argument which aims at letting the reality of the situation of a corporate entity prevail over its form. This argument of transparency modifies the relation of alterity between two corporate entities in which one is completely controlled by the other: while they are distinct from each other, the judge assimilates the organization devoid of autonomy to a service belonging to the public entity. However, transparency is not provided with a stable and coherent legal regime. The operation of qualification is incidental to its implementation, so that judiciary relations between corporate entities vary. The corporate entity is only regarded as “transparent” in the course of a litigation concerning the resolving of a precise judiciary problem; it can be considered as distinct again from the public entity at a new trial. With this process, the administrative judge defeats the bypassing of the rules of administrative law without creating any new rule or jurisprudential exception. Together with administrative mandates, the argument of transparency allows to complete the arsenal of protection of the administrative judge’s authority and to enforce administrative rules, whose effects and reach can be measured and adapted to situations. It also allows petitioners to consider a legal strategy that may overcome the obstacle posed by the corporate entity of the organization which is completely controlled by the administration

Den Gemensamma Europeiska Referensramen för Språk (GERS) har haft en betydande inverkan påutvärderingen av språkkunskaper i Europa. Denna studie fokuserar på två nationellaspråkfärdighetstester med avgörande konsekvenser för testtagarna, vilkas utfärdade GERS-nivå kananvändas för antagning till utbildningsprogram, medborgarskap och certifiering i två olika europeiskaländer: CILS i Italien och Swedex i Sverige. Det som testerna avser testa och hur deras innehållåterspeglar detta analyseras i relation till GERS standardnivåer. I analysen fokuseras på inferensernaEvaluation och Explanation i Kanes (1992, 2002, 2013) och Chapelles m. fl. (2008, 2021)tolkningsargument (interpretative argument) som utgörs av sju olika inferenser som används för attanalysera de antaganden som görs om testtagarens språknivå vid tolkning av testresultat ochutvärdering av språktesters användbarhet (figur 1, s. 9, bilaga 2). Resultaten används som en del avett större validitetsargument för språktester kopplade till GERS för att underbygga antaganden omtesternas konstrukt och innehållsrelaterade validitet och konsekvenserna av testernas användning.Den genomgripande frågeställningen är hur den europeiska referensramen tillämpas mellan olikaspråkfärdighetstester och huruvida användningen av en gemensam referensram leder till en jämliktolkning och tillämpning av GERS standardnivåer och en rättvis europeisk språkbedömning. Genomanalysen utkristalliserar sig testernas starka och svaga punkter i relation till grunddokumentet GERS,och vilka sociala konsekvenser testernas användning kan medföra. Resultaten visar att testernauppvisar bristande innehållsvaliditet inom de undersökta områdena, samt att det förekommer faktorersom ligger utanför de konstrukt som testerna avser testa, vilka kan påverka testtagarens testprestation.

The HPV vaccine represents an important step in the primary prevention of cervical cancer, yet uptake rates for the vaccine remain below what is needed to establish "herd immunity" from the virus. While many studies have examined both psychosocial and communication factors affecting HPV vaccination decisions, this study adopts a unique approach to understand the communication environment within which this health decision happens, such as the many and sometimes conflicting messages about vaccine efficacy and safety guiding young women's decisions. Using the message convergence framework, this project identifies how further study of converging and diverging messages in the communication environment in which young women make their vaccination decision can extend research in considering optimal communication strategies to enhance demand for HPV vaccination. In Study 1, 39 unvaccinated women participated in qualitative interviews and were asked questions in order to understand the important elements of the HPV vaccination communication environment that affected their decision (i.e., common sources and content of messages, how they discussed these messages "interacting" and influencing their decision). Study 2 builds on the findings of Study 1 by employing an experimental design to test different message convergence conditions on women's intent to vaccinate (e.g., what happens when a doctor and a family member give conflicting information and recommendations about HPV vaccination?). Three hundred and nine unvaccinated women were randomly assigned to one of nine experimental message conditions and then assessed on behavioral intentions. Support was found for the message convergence framework. This project represents the first formal testing of the message convergence framework and the first time it has been used in the health context. The findings from these studies are discussed in terms of the implications for future cervical cancer research and prevention campaigns, as well as the utility of the message convergence framework for other health communication research topics in which researchers are seeking to better understand and consider the communication environment when designing health behavior interventions.

In this dissertation I argue for using John Dewey's scholarship in ethics, progressive education, and public discourse as a framework for teaching rhetoric for civic engagement. By "civic engagement" I mean working to discover, address, or confront issues of public importance through discourse. In the first part I establish Dewey as a point of reference for progressive revisions of curriculum in rhetoric at the undergraduate level. Using data gathered from a sample of undergraduate institutions, I argue for an increase in courses that reflect classical interests in performance of argument and critical analysis of text as essential skills for civic engagement. In the second part I describe what such revisions may look like as we consider teaching argument as a back and forth process, deliberation as a key component of rhetorical literacy, and critical analysis of literature as an aid to civic imagination. This dissertation contributes to the continuing interest in the way rhetorical education can help students develop transferable skills, attitudes, and interests that will make them effective and ethical agents in their professional and civic lives.

The purpose of this study is to assess the cogency of Francis Schaeffer‘s apologetic in light of John Frame‘s triperspectival epistemology, giving special attention to the existential perspective evident throughout Schaeffer‘s trilogy. The study achieves this aim by employing the instrumental case study method to meet five specific objectives. First, the study determines the extent to which Schaeffer‘s existential perspective is recognized within the apologetic literature that critically engages with his ideas. Based on these sources, the study determines that this perspective is recognized in Schaeffer‘s work but not as an integral component within a broader perspectival approach to apologetics. Second, the study discovers the ways in which Frame‘s triperspectivalism may be used in analyzing apologetic systems to reveal their strengths, weaknesses and cogency. By giving attention to Frame‘s system as a meta-apologetic, it is evident that this tool is applicable to Schaeffer and to other apologists. This establishes Frame‘s perspectivalism as an appropriate theoretical model to use in an instrumental case study on apologetics. Third, the study analyzes the ways in which Frame‘s triperspectivalism is reflected in Schaeffer‘s trilogy, highlighting the existential perspective. Meeting this objective establishes the central theoretical argument of the study, showing that Frame‘s epistemology reveals the underlying cogency of Schaeffer‘s apologetic credibly (?) and does so most profoundly with respect to the existential perspective. Fourth, the study compares Schaeffer‘s existential perspective with that of E.J. Carnell and secular existentialism, which both apologists confronted. On the basis of Carnell‘s critique of existentialism and his existential apologetic of personal rectitude, credible support is offered for Schaeffer‘s engagement with this philosophical movement and his own existential perspective. Fifth, support is offered for the current relevance of Schaeffer‘s apologetic of personal rectitude by showing how the postmodern situation he anticipated is best addressed using the apologetic tools he offers. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Dogmatics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

L’objectif général de la présente thèse est d’évaluer dans quelle mesure la grammaire des verbes, aussi appelée complémentation verbale, peut être basée sur l’usage de la langue. La linguistique de l’usage (usage-based approach) constitue un récent changement de paradigme dans les sciences du langage, qui défend l’idée que la grammaire est un inventaire dynamique d’unités symboliques qui émergent et sont constamment redéfinies par l’usage de la langue. En adoptant une approche constructionnelle de la complémentation verbale et sur la base de données de l’anglais, nous traitons la question de la relation entre la grammaire des verbes et leur usage à trois niveaux d’organisation.Au niveau des verbes, nous comparons des résultats expérimentaux à des données de corpus, et trouvons que les plus fréquentes valences d’un verbe sont traitées plus facilement, ce qui montre que la valence est basée sur l’usage. Au niveau des constructions, nous montrons que, dans le cas de la construction conative, il est possible de formuler le sens d’une construction sur la base du sens des verbes en se plaçant au niveau de classes sémantiques, mais moins facilement au niveau le plus abstrait. Nous considérons ceci comme une preuve supplémentaire de l’importance des schémas de bas niveau sur les généralisations abstraites. Au niveau des alternances, nous suggérons que la productivité verbale peut être basée sur des relations d’alternances. Nous montrons que l’alternance dative présente une asymétrie en productivité, et que cette asymétrie peut être expliquée par des différences correspondantes en termes du nombre de verbes utilisés dans chaque construction. / The general goal of this thesis is to investigate to what extent the grammar of verbs, also called argument realization, can be based on linguistic usage. The usage-based approach is a recent paradigm shift in linguistics which takes the view that grammar is a dynamic inventory of symbolic conventions that emerges through, and is likewise shaped by, actual language use. Adopting a constructional approach to argument structure and on the basis of English data, we address the question of the usage basis of argument realization at three levels of organization.At the level of verbs, we compare experimental results to usage data, and find that more frequent valency patterns of a verb are processed more easily. These findings provide evidence for the usage basis of valency. At the level of constructions, we show that, in the case of the conative construction, it is possible to formulate constructional generalizations on the basis of verbal meaning at the level of semantically defined verb classes, but not so easily at the most abstract level. We take this as further evidence of the importance of lower-level schemas over broad generalizations. At the level of alternations, we present usage-based evidence that productivity can be based on alternation relations. We report that the dative alternation displays a productivity asymmetry, and we show that these differences can be explained by corresponding asymmetries in type frequencies.

This study investigated two questions: a) What is the relationship between reflection and professional development? and b) What is the role of reflection in teachers' instructional decision-making? Teachers are often conflicted by competing theories (e.g. behaviorist vs. constructivist) and principles (progressives vs. essentialists) at both national and state levels. Other sources of conflict teachers encounter stem from standards-based teaching, student assessments and teacher evaluations. For over eighty years educational theorists (e.g., Dewey, 1933; Fenstermacher, 1994; Schon, 1983) have suggested that reflection is an important key for resolving conflict and improving curriculum and instruction. Yet, top-down professional development models currently prevail rather than creative, individualized models that are designed to encourage reflective thinking and support teacher growth. Research has suggested that although reflection is necessary, reflective thinking can be challenging for teachers. For example, the Reading Instruction Study (RIS) (Richardson & Anders, 1994), which this study is patterned after, found that teachers who examine and link theory to their practice were more likely to change when their beliefs were challenged. In addition, other researchers (e. g., Wildman & Niles; 1987; Wlodarsky & Walters, 2006; Woolley & Woolley, 1999) have suggested that there are differences in reflection among more experienced teachers versus novice teachers. This study considers differences in reflective thinking. This instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) examined the reflective thinking of four teachers (two 3rd grade and two 6th grade) using practical argument (Fenstermacher, 1994) as a tool for analyzing their practices. Belief statements served to bridge theory and practice encouraging teachers to be more coherent in their classroom decision-making and instructional practices. The professional development sessions offered throughout this process provided opportunities for teachers to reflect. Results revealed that participants' reflected in and on practice in different ways that seemed to bring about a change. Not only did articulating beliefs provide opportunities for teachers to examine and link theory to practice, practical arguments provided a means for examining inconsistencies between beliefs and practice, differences in reflective language, and the dimensions of reflective thinking used by teachers with varying degrees of experience. Findings further suggest that when challenged, beliefs change. The language revealed in participants' reflections varied between every day and academic depending upon their dimension of reflective thinking. Language mattered. Not only was movement between personal and public theories impeded by a lack of academic language, movement throughout the five dimensions of reflective (Griffiths & Tann,1992) thinking was likewise hindered by a lack of academic language. Implications are provided for teacher education, professional development and further research. Conclusions call for educators and policy makers to recognize the complexities of teaching, the importance of reflection in coping with conflict, and the need for change in prevailing professional development models.