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While specialized hardware description languages allow for maximum capability and efficiency in a design automation system, the use of a general purpose language in the same role can make the system more available or more available or more practical for a larger set of users. This project demonstrates the use of ADA* for the description and simulation of small digital signal processing systems. Building on conventions and primitives proposed by Denyer and Renshaw, a simple subsystem was described in ADA and then tested with a small simulator also written in ADA. * ADA is a trademark of the United States Department of Defense - ADA Joint Program Office (AJPO).

This thesis presents an automated approach to developing software that performs single event upset (SEU) detection in distributed Ada systems. Faults considered are those that fall in the single event upset (SEU) category. SEUs may cause information corruption leading to a change in program flow or causing a program to execute an infinite loop. Two techniques that detect the presence of these upsets are described. The implementation of these techniques is discussed in relation to the structure of Ada software systems and exploit the block structure of Ada. A program has been written to automatically modify Ada application software systems to contain these upset detection mechanisms. The program, Software Modifier for Upset Detection (SMUD), requires little interactive information from a programmer and relies mainly on SMUD directives that are inserted into the application software prior to the modification process. A full description of this automated procedure is included. The upset detection mechanisms have been incorporated into a distributed computer system model employing the MIL-STD-1553B communications protocol. Ada is used as the simulation environment to exercise and verify the protocol. The model used as a testbed for the upset detection mechanisms consists of two parts: the hardware model and the software implementation of the 1553B communications protocol. The hardware environment is described in detail, along with a discussion on the 1553B protocol. The detection techniques have been tested and verified at the high level using computer simulations. A testing methodology is also presented. / Master of Science

This thesis describes the design and the implementation of an Ada library for positional board games. The library consists of general software modules that use some concepts from a model of Positional Board Games presented in [Antoy 87]. This thesis shows that general software modules based on the mathematical concept of board can be built and used by any positional board game program. Furthermore, this thesis describes the data types used in the modules and presents informal and formal specifications of the operations on the data types. It also describes the implementation of the data types; presents the algorithms implementing the operations and shows how the library can be used on two positional board programs and justifies the claim of generality and simplicity of the model in [Antoy 87]. The programming language Ada is used to express the formal specifications and to code the software modules. / Master of Science

A robust algorithm has been developed to do data processing accurately, removing the need for a radio signal to be imbedded for locational accuracy. This, consequently eliminates the signposts installation and maintenance costs and worries. A sensitivity analysis of the algorithm using a real life data file revealed that the matching process change with changes in system parameters, adding credibility to the technique used for matching in the algorithm. Next, several new programs have been added to bring together a software package yielding management reports and plots. These reports and plots are tremendous decision aiding tools and since the programs are interactive, the package is easy to use. A user's manual has also been developed. Finally, an implementation of the Automated Data Acquisition System at TRT, Norfolk, is discussed. A systematic approach to the software development to meet the needs of the transit property has been conceptualized and specific software developed. A discussion of the details of this software development has been addressed, too. In essence, Automatic Data Acquisition systems research at Virginia Tech has now evolved to such a stage that with a little "tuning" of hardware & the associated software, a very powerful and versatile automated data collection and management aiding tool will be available for economical widespread implementation. / Master of Science

In a society that is increasingly dependent upon computing machinery, the issues associated with the correct functioning of that machinery are of crucial interest. The consequences of erroneous behavior of computers are dire with the worst case scenario being, conceivably, global thermonuclear war. Therefore, development of procedures and tools which can be used to increase the confidence of the correctness of the software that controls the world's computers is of vital importance. The Department of Defense (DoD) is in the process of adopting a standard computer language for the development of software. This language is called Ada¹. One of the major features of Ada is that it supports concurrent programming via its "task" compilation unit. There are not, however, any automated tools to aid in locating errors in the tasks. The design for such a tool is presented. The tool is named AdaTAD and is a debugger for programs written in Ada. The features of AdaTAD are specific to the problems of concurrent programming. The requirements of AdaTAD are derived from the literature. AdaTAD is, however, a unique tool designed using Ada as a program description language. When AdaTAD is implemented in Ada it becomes portable among all environments which support the Ada language. This offers the advantage that a single debugger is portable to many different machine architectures. Therefore, separate debuggers are not necessary for each implementation of Ada. Moreover, since AdaTAD is designed to allow debugging of tasks, AdaTAD will also support debugging in a distributed environment. That means that, if the tasks of a user's program are running on different computers in a distributed environment, the user is still able to use AdaTAD to debug the tasks as a single program. This feature is unique among automated debuggers. After the design is presented, several examples are offered to explain the operation of AdaTAD and to show that AdaTAD is useful in revealing the location of errors specific to concurrent programming. / Ph. D.

Établir le contenu spécifique de la philosophie naissante, élucider son essence tout en définissant son champ propre tel est l'objet de cette étude. Le concept Akom, qui rend compte de la doctrine du cosmos, intervient, grâce à l'analogie mécanique, corrme une manière de relève transcendantale, en contraste avec les genres sophiques traditionnels, le mythe notanment. Le système Akom renseigne sur la cristallisation de la terminologie philosophique; idée que la première partie de l'ouvrage met amplement en évidence. L'environnement anthropologique, mythologique et métaphysique qui caractérisa l'émergence de la philosophie est analysé dans la seconde partie. La troisième articulation de l'ouvrage décrit la détresse du concept en formation dans un contexte de crise identitaire. C'est à l'évaluation globale de l'idée de technomorphie comme appareil de la connaissance que s'attèle la dernière articulation de la thèse. Avec l'analogie mécanique qui traduit sa conceptualité, la technanorphie met sur la voie des matériaux éligibles, susceptibles de servir de fondement pour une histoire scientifique de la philosophie africaine.

Cette thèse se concentre sur la production d’Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926) et de Mary Fortune (1833 – 1909), deux écrivaines coloniales australiennes aujourd’hui méconnues mais très populaires au cours de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle. Nous nous intéressons à la représentation de l’expérience coloniale de ces femmes ayant quitté le Royaume-Uni pour l’Australie ainsi qu’à la manière dont leurs récits, majoritairement publiés dans des journaux, agirent sur le statut des femmes dans la société coloniale. Plus spécifiquement, nous étudions leur expérience en tant qu’écrivaines, c’est-à-dire le contexte de production et de réception de leurs récits, ainsi que leur représentation de la différence culturelle et de la différence de genre. Le corpus étudié contient des textes issus des archives littéraires australiennes, notamment des romans-feuilletons, nouvelles et articles de journalisme publiés dans des journaux de l’époque coloniale comme The Australian Journal, The Age et The Australasian. En inscrivant ces textes dans leur contexte historique, cette thèse révèle leur importance dans le contexte social de leur époque tout en mettant en lumière les choix littéraires de ces écrivaines, longtemps délaissées par une vision nationaliste et masculiniste de l’histoire de la littérature australienne. Cette thèse a ainsi deux objectifs principaux : enrichir notre connaissance de l’expérience coloniale australienne en prenant en compte des récits méconnus et étudier la poétique des oeuvres d’Ada Cambridge et de Mary Fortune au regard de leur contexte de production afin de réévaluer ces récits ainsi que leur place dans l’histoire littéraire australienne. / This thesis deals with the works of Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926) and Mary Fortune (1833 – 1909), two Australian colonial women writers who have been neglected and long forgotten, yet who were very popular in the nineteenth century. It focuses on how these women, who left the United Kingdom to settle in Australia, represent their colonial experience, as well as on the influence of their narratives, mostly published in newspapers, on women’s status in the colonial society. More precisely, it is a study of their experience as women writers, a study that includes the context of production and reception of their work as well as their respective representations of cultural and gender difference in the Australian colonies. This analysis includes texts previously buried in the Australian literary archives, such as serial novels, short stories and press articles published in colonial newspapers such as The Australian Journal, The Age, and The Australasian. By inscribing these texts in their historical context, this thesis reveals their importance in the social context of their time and reconsiders the literary choices of these writers, long decried by the dominant nationalist and masculinist vision of Australian literary history and criticism. This thesis thus has two main objectives: developing our knowledge of the Australian colonial experience by taking into account little known or unknown narratives, and studying the poetics of Ada Cambridge’s and Mary Fortune’s narratives in the light of their production context in order to reassess these texts as well as their place in Australian literary history.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Selenium (Se) is an oligoelement crucial for various biological processes. Se has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and plays a key role in brain development. Adenosine deaminase (ADA, EC 3.5.4.4) is a key enzyme in purine metabolism because it helps in the regulation of intracellular and extracellular levels of adenosine, an important nucleoside that acts in the neuromodulation of the immune and nervous systems. Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of reactive species and their detoxification by systems that remove or repair the resulting damage. In this context, several Se compounds have been developed and studied, among them the 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(phenylseleno)oct-2-en-1-one (C12H2HOSe), which is an α, β-unsaturated ketone functionalized vinyl chalcogenide, and sodium selenate (Na2SeO4), the main inorganic form of Se found in animals and plants. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of C12H2HOSe (organic Se) and Na2SeO4 (inorganic Se) on the cell viability, lipoperoxidation and ADA activity in cortex slices of young rats. The results showed that only organic Se caused a reduction in ADA activity at the concentrations of 1, 10 and 30μM in the cerebral cortex slices of the rats tested. However, this result is not related to the oxidation of the thiol groups, since this compound did not alter the NP-SH and LDH levels. Both compounds did not affect the lipoperoxidation levels, although the organic Se was capable of sequestering NO radicals at the highest concentration tested. The inorganic Se protected the cerebral cortex slices against the sodium nitroprusside-induced damage and increased the NP-SH levels. The tests used to evaluate cell viability (LDH and MTT) suggest the maintenance of the cell integrity of the cortex slices exposed to Se compounds. Therefore, our results suggest that organic Se has immunomodulatory properties, due to the reduction in ADA activity, and acted in the maintenance of the cell integrity. In turn, the antioxidant activity of inorganic Se was reaffirmed. Hence, the results of this study paved the way to explore both Se compounds in the CNS. / O selênio (Se) é um oligoelemento essencial em vários processos biológicos. Possui propriedades antiinflamatórias, antioxidantes e desempenha um papel fundamental no desenvolvimento do cérebro. A adenosina deaminase (ADA, E.C. 3.5.4.4) é uma enzima chave no metabolismo das purinas, pois auxilia na regulação dos níveis intra e extracelulares de adenosina, um importante nucleosídeo que atua na neuromodulação dos sistemas nervoso e imune. O estresse oxidativo ocorre quando há desequilíbrio entre a produção de espécies reativas e sua desintoxicação através de sistemas que removem ou reparem os danos por elas causados. Nesse contexto, vários compostos de Se vêm sendo desenvolvidos e estudados, entre eles podemos citar o 3-metil-1-fenil-2-(fenilseleno)oct-2-en-1-um(C12H2HOSe),um organocalcogênio com uma cetona α, β- insaturada funcionando como um vinil calcogênio e o selenato de sódio (Na2SeO4), principal Se inorgânico encontrado em animais e plantas. Este estudo teve como objetivo comparar os efeitos do C12H2HOSe (Se orgânico) e Na2SeO4 (Se inorgânico) na viabilidade celular, parâmetros relacionados ao estresse oxidativo e atividade da ADA em fatias de córtex de ratos jovens. Os resultados demonstraram que apenas o Se orgânico provocou a diminuição na atividade da ADA nas concentrações de 1, 10 e 30μM nas fatias de córtex cerebral dos ratos testados. No entanto, esse resultado não tem relação com a oxidação de seus grupamentos tióis, já que esse composto não alterou os níveis de NP-SH e de LDH. Apesar de ambos os compostos não alteraram os níveis de lipoperoxidação, o Se orgânico apresentou capacidade de sequestrar radicais NO na maior concentração testada. Já o composto inorgânico de Se protegeu as fatias de córtex cerebral contra o dano induzido pelo nitroprussiato de sódio e aumentou os níveis de NP-SH. Os testes de viabilidade celular (LDH e MTT) sugerem a manutenção da integridade celular em fatias de córtex de ratos jovens quando expostos aos compostos de Se. Assim, nossos resultados sugerem que o Se orgânico apresenta propriedades imunomoduladoras por reduzir a atividade da ADA, além de atuar na manutenção da integridade celular. Já o Se inorgânico teve sua atividade antioxidante confirmada. Portanto, os resultados obtidos neste estudo destacam um caminho promissor a ser explorado por ambos os compostos no SNC.

Nosso principal objeto de estudo foi a Avaliação Dirigida Amostral (ADA), avaliação aplicada de forma amostral em apenas algumas instituições escolhidas por meio de sorteio no estado de Goiás. Esta avaliação é aplicada em duas etapas, sendo a primeira com o objetivo de diagnosticar o início do processo, na qual os/as estudantes ainda não tiveram contato com os conteúdos, e a segunda é realizada dois meses depois, após o trabalho com os conteúdos em sala de aula. Essas avaliações são diferentes, porém contemplam os mesmos conteúdos, descritores e habilidades. Os caminhos percorridos nos levaram a refletir também sobre as relações de quase-mercado que são impostas na educação pública. A instituição participante da pesquisa faz parte do Programa Novo Futuro em Goiás, onde implantou-se escolas de ensino médio de tempo integral com base nas escolas charters, modelo de escola pública com a lógica de gestão de unidades escolares privadas, voltadas para a preparação de jovens para a carreira acadêmica, principalmente. Priorizamos analisar como a ADA e as demais avaliações externas são compreendidas pelos/as participantes desse processo avaliativo. Para isso, entrevistamos a gestora e as coordenadoras de uma unidade escolar estadual de Itumbiara-GO, além de dois grupos focais, sendo um com estudantes e outro com professores/as de uma turma de 3º ano do Ensino Médio desta mesma escola. Percebemos com este estudo que há a responsabilização unilateral, entendida em nosso estudo como uma forma de colocar todo o peso dos resultados das avaliações externas apenas nos partícipes da escola (estudantes, professores/as e gestores/as) e tirar a responsabilidade do Estado. Porém, não acontece apenas com relação à ADA, mas também em relação ao Enem (Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio). Para os/as estudantes e professores, o Enem representa uma maior importância se comparado às provas externas, sendo que isso se deve à importância que a escola e seus partícipes dão ao ingresso em universidades. A rotina avaliativa desta escola apresenta um grande número de provas, internas e externas, levando professores/as a questionarem em qual delas deve-se focar mais. Para os/as estudantes, de acordo com os relatos, percebemos que este alto número de provas tem se transformado em um “costume”, sendo que para eles/as trata-se de apenas “mais uma prova”. / Our main object of study was the Avaliação Dirigida Amostral (ADA), an evaluation applied in a sampling manner in only some institutions chosen by means of a draw in the state of Goiás. This evaluation is applied in two stages, the first with the purpose of diagnosing the beginning of the process, in which the students have not yet had contact with the contents, and the second which is carried out two months later, after the work with the contents in the classroom. These evaluations are different, but they contemplate the same contents, descriptors and abilities. The paths taken have also led us to reflect on the quasi-market relations that are imposed on public education. The research institution is part of the Novo Futuro Program in Goiás, where full-time high schools were established based on charter schools, a model of public school with the management logic of private school units, aimed at preparing young people for their academic career, mainly. Our priority is to analyze how ADA and the other external evaluations are understood by the participants of this evaluation process. For this, we interviewed the manager and the coordinators of a state school unit in Itumbiara-GO, in addition to two focus groups, one with students and the other with teachers from a 3rd grade high school class from this same school. We realized with this study that takes place the unilateral accountability, understood in our study as a way to put the full weight of the results of external evaluations only on the participants of the school (students, teachers and managers) and take responsibility off the State. However, it doesn’t happen only with the ADA, but also regarding the Enem (National High School Examination). For students and teachers, the Enem is more important than external tests, due to the importance that the school and its participants give to the entrance on universities. The evaluative routine of this school presents a large number of internal and external tests, leading teachers to question which one they should focus more. For the students, according to the reports, we realize that this high number of tests has become a "habit", and for them it is only "one more test". / Dissertação (Mestrado)