Today’s critical systems of military and aviation grade consist of several complex requirements that need to be assessed for a safe and continuous operation before they are deployed for use. Several coverage methodologies have been proposed over the years with Modified Condition / Decision Coverage (MC/DC) being chosen by the aviation industry. This practice is becoming a highly recommended coverage methodology among several modern standards such as the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) of automotive standard ISO 26262 and the Safety integrity level (SIL) 4 in part 3 Annex B of the basic safety publication. The main focus of this thesis is to provide an automated process that can provide test vectors suitable for applying MC/DC testing. By using as the core engine a modified version of a hardware-oriented technique used in Automatic Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) called PODEM (Path-Oriented Decision Making) we get to produce several test vectors that can contribute towards MC/DC structural coverage.

The rapid demand for broadband wireless access with fast multimedia services initiated a vast research on the development of new wireless systems that will provide high spectral efficiencies and data rates. A potential candidate for future generation wireless systems is multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA). To achieve higher user capacities and increase the system data rate, various multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technologies such as spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity techniques have been proposed recently and combined with MC-CDMA.This research proposes a chip level coded ordered successive spatial and multiuser interference cancellation (OSSMIC) receiver for downlink MIMO MC-CDMA systems. As the conventional chip level OSIC receiver [1] is unable to overcome multiple access interference (MAI) and performs poorly in multiuser scenarios, the proposed receiver cancels both spatial and multiuser interference by requiring only the knowledge of the desired user's spreading sequence. Simulation results show that the proposed receiver not only performs better than the existing linear detectors [2] but also outperforms both the chip and symbol level OSIC receivers. In this work we also compare the error rate performance between our proposed system and MIMO orthogonal frequency division multiple access (MIMO OFDMA) system and we justify the comparisons with a pairwise error probability (PEP) analysis. MIMO MC-CDMA demonstrates a better performance over MIMO OFDMA under low system loads whereas in high system loads, MIMO OFDMA outperforms MIMO MC-CDMA. However if all users' spreading sequences are used at the desired user receiver, MIMO MC-CDMA performs better than MIMO OFDMA at all system loads.In the second part of this work, user grouping algorithms are proposed to provide power minimisation in grouped MC-CDMA and space-time block code (STBC) MC-CDMA systems. When the allocation is performed without a fair data rate requirement, the optimal solution to the minimisation problem is provided. However when some fairness is considered, the optimal solution requires high computational complexity and hence we solve this problem by proposing two suboptimal algorithms. Simulation results illustrate a significantly reduced power consumption in comparison with other techniques.

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has been proved to be a promising technology that enables the transmission of higher data rate. Multicarrier Code-Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) is a transmission technique which combines the advantages of both OFDM and Code-Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), so as to allow high transmission rates over severe time-dispersive multi-path channels without the need of a complex receiver implementation. Also MC-CDMA exploits frequency diversity via the different subcarriers, and therefore allows the high code rates systems to achieve good Bit Error Rate (BER) performances. Furthermore, the spreading in the frequency domain makes the time synchronization requirement much lower than traditional direct sequence CDMA schemes. There are still some problems when we use MC-CDMA. One is the high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of the transmit signal. High PAPR leads to nonlinear distortion of the amplifier and results in inter-carrier self-interference plus out-of-band radiation. On the other hand, suppressing the Multiple Access Interference (MAI) is another crucial problem in the MC-CDMA system. Imperfect cross-correlation characteristics of the spreading codes and the multipath fading destroy the orthogonality among the users, and then cause MAI, which produces serious BER degradation in the system. Moreover, in uplink system the received signals at a base station are always asynchronous. This also destroys the orthogonality among the users, and hence, generates MAI which degrades the system performance. Besides those two problems, the interference should always be considered seriously for any communication system. In this dissertation, we design a novel MC-CDMA system, which has low PAPR and mitigated MAI. The new Semi-blind channel estimation and multi-user data detection based on Parallel Interference Cancellation (PIC) have been applied in the system. The Low Density Parity Codes (LDPC) has also been introduced into the system to improve the performance. Different interference models are analyzed in multi-carrier communication systems and then the effective interference suppression for MC-CDMA systems is employed in this dissertation. The experimental results indicate that our system not only significantly reduces the PAPR and MAI but also effectively suppresses the outside interference with low complexity. Finally, we present a practical cognitive application of the proposed system over the software defined radio platform.

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A quantitative and descriptive type of study design was followed using structured self-administered questionnaires distributed among 84 conveniently selected male adolescent learners from Nanogang Community Junior Secondary School (NCJSS) in Gaborone. The purpose of this study was to describe factors that influence the uptake of safe male circumcision (SMC) as a human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) prevention strategy among male adolescent learners. The study findings show that protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was found to be the main reason for adolescent learners undergoing male circumcision (MC) (p<.01). Reasons such as maintenance of genital hygiene, culture, religion, and the enhancement of sexual pleasure were not found to be significant factors. Misconceptions such as the belief that girls do not like circumcised partners were found to be the main reason for adolescent learners not undergoing MC (p<.05). A number of factors which were claimed in previous studies to be obstacles for the uptake of MC, such as surgical complications, peer pressure, stigma, and discrimination, were not found to be major obstacles / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

A quantitative and descriptive type of study design was followed using structured self-administered questionnaires distributed among 84 conveniently selected male adolescent learners from Nanogang Community Junior Secondary School (NCJSS) in Gaborone. The purpose of this study was to describe factors that influence the uptake of safe male circumcision (SMC) as a human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) prevention strategy among male adolescent learners. The study findings show that protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was found to be the main reason for adolescent learners undergoing male circumcision (MC) (p<.01). Reasons such as maintenance of genital hygiene, culture, religion, and the enhancement of sexual pleasure were not found to be significant factors. Misconceptions such as the belief that girls do not like circumcised partners were found to be the main reason for adolescent learners not undergoing MC (p<.05). A number of factors which were claimed in previous studies to be obstacles for the uptake of MC, such as surgical complications, peer pressure, stigma, and discrimination, were not found to be major obstacles / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:12:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Roberta Marques do Nascimento.pdf: 1080810 bytes, checksum: 614935c9d2d35d030d16e0b10e0d67b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-04 / Twelve years ago, Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos an artistic collective based in São Paulo - started a research which came from the dialogue of two kinds languages: epic theater (more precisely the one broadcasted by german playwright Bertolt Brecht) and hip-hop (urban popular culture born in the early '70s in the United States), giving rise to a mixed language called the hip-hop theatre . Practical results of this research, which resulted in eight plays, performances projects of urban intervention, literary publications and audiovisual equipment, can be synthesized and studied from a central figure in the work of this research center, the actor-MC, artist who keeps some features from actor-narrator of epic theater and from MC (acronym for Master of Ceremonies, one of the pillars of Hip-hop) in his formation. The aim for this research is to investigate constitutive characteristics and poetic performance of this special artist, who emerges mixing thes languages and as a representative voice of urban poetics, and the aspects concerning to his communication with the audience. Research will be mainly made under the light of Paul Zumthor s ideas and his studies on the voice and performance, and from Jerusa Pires Ferreira, coordinator of the COS- Center for the Studies of Orality, and her studies and reflections on orality, memory and translation. Semiotics theory from Iuri Lotman will also be used as well as some works of scholars and theorists from hip-hop culture, who experienced its eruption and created a basis of reasoned, documental and philosophical analysis in their works, such as Marshall Berman, Jeff Chang, George Nelson, Martha Cooper, The work will also count on audiovisual registers and interviews with active researchers of hip-hop culture and the hip-hop theatre in Brazil including the analysis of materials produced by the Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos / Há doze anos o coletivo paulistano Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos deu início a uma pesquisa que teve como ponto de partida o diálogo entre duas linguagens o teatro épico (mais precisamente o difundido pelo dramaturgo alemão Bertold Brecht) e a cultura hip-hop (cultura popular urbana nascida no começo dos anos 70 nos Estados Unidos), dando origem a uma terceira linguagem intitulada "teatro hip-hop". Os resultados práticos dessa pesquisa, dentre eles, oito espetáculos, intervenções urbanas, além de publicações literárias e audiovisuais, podem ser sintetizados e estudados a partir de uma figura central no trabalho do Núcleo Bartolomeu- o ator-MC, intérprete que traz na sua constituição características do ator-narrador do teatro épico e do MC (acrônimo para Mestre de Cerimônias) um dos pilares da cultura hip-hop. O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar as características constitutivas e particularidades da performance poética do ator -MC, que nasce da junção de linguagens e que emerge como porta-voz de poéticas da urbanidade, e de comunicação com o público. Serão utilizados para tanto, dois espetáculos do Núcleo Bartolomeu de Depoimentos: Acordei que sonhava (2005) e Vai te Catar! (2007). Além disso será observado o trânsito do ator-MC em ambientes como os do poetry slam (campeonatos de poesia falada) onde a prática do spoken word (poesia falada) passa a ser uma de suas formas de expressão. A pesquisa se dará principalmente à luz do pensamento de Paul Zumthor e seus estudos sobre a voz e performance, e dos textos, estudos e reflexões sobre oralidade, memória e tradução de Jerusa Pires Ferreira, coordenadora do Centro de Estudos da Oralidade do COS. O trabalho ainda contará com referências da teoria semiótica de Iuri M.Lotman e a observação de obras de artistas, estudiosos e teóricos da cultura hip-hop que vivenciaram sua erupção e criaram uma base de análise fundamentada, documental, filosófica em suas obras, tais como Marshall Berman, Jeff Chang, George Nelson, Martha Cooper. Serão usados artigos, registros audiovisuais e entrevistas com pesquisadores ativos do Hip-Hop, e do teatro hip-hop no Brasil além da análise do material produzido pelo Núcleo Bartolomeu

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