Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) is an important metric for programs running on real-time systems, and finding precise estimates of a program’s WCET is crucial to avoid over-allocation and wastage of hardware resources and to improve the schedulability of task sets. Hardware Caches have a major impact on a program’s execution time, and accurate estimation of a program’s cache behavior generally leads to significant reduction of its estimated WCET. However, the cache behavior of an access cannot be determined in isolation, since it depends on the access history, and in multi-path programs, the sequence of accesses made to the cache is not fixed. Hence, the same access can exhibit different cache behavior in different execution instances. This issue is further exacerbated in shared caches in a multi-core architecture, where interfering accesses from co-running programs on other cores can arrive at any time and modify the cache state. Further, cache analysis aimed towards WCET estimation should be provably safe, in that the estimated WCET should always exceed the actual execution time across all execution instances. Faced with such contradicting requirements, previous approaches to cache analysis try to find memory accesses in a program which are guaranteed to hit the cache, irrespective of the program input, or the interferences from other co-running programs in case of a shared cache. To do so, they find the worst-case cache behavior for every individual memory access, analyzing the program (and interferences to a shared cache) to find whether there are execution instances where an access can super a cache miss. However, this approach loses out in making more precise predictions of private cache behavior which can be safely used for WCET estimation, and is significantly imprecise for shared cache analysis, where it is often impossible to guarantee that an access always hits the cache. In this work, we take a fundamentally different approach to cache analysis, by (1) trying to find worst-case behavior of groups of cache accesses, and (2) trying to find the exact cache behavior in the worst-case program execution instance, which is the execution instance with the maximum execution time. For shared caches, we propose the Worst Case Interference Placement (WCIP) technique, which finds the worst-case timing of interfering accesses that would cause the maximum number of cache misses on the worst case execution path of the program. We first use Integer Linear Programming (ILP) to find an exact solution to the WCIP problem. However, this approach does not scale well for large programs, and so we investigate the WCIP problem in detail and prove that it is NP-Hard. In the process, we discover that the source of hardness of the WCIP problem lies in finding the worst case execution path which would exhibit the maximum execution time in the presence of interferences. We use this observation to propose an approximate algorithm for performing WCIP, which bypasses the hard problem of finding the worst case execution path by simply assuming that all cache accesses made by the program occur on a single path. This allows us to use a simple greedy algorithm to distribute the interfering accesses by choosing those cache accesses which could be most affected by interferences. The greedy algorithm also guarantees that the increase in WCET due to interferences is linear in the number of interferences. Experimentally, we show that WCIP provides substantial precision improvement in the final WCET over previous approaches to shared cache analysis, and the approximate algorithm almost matches the precision of the ILP-based approach, while being considerably faster. For private caches, we discover multiple scenarios where hit-miss predictions made by traditional Abstract Interpretation-based approaches are not sufficient to fully capture cache behavior for WCET estimation. We introduce the concept of cache miss paths, which are abstractions of program path along which an access can super a cache miss. We propose an ILP-based approach which uses cache miss paths to find the exact cache behavior in the worst-case execution instance of the program. However, the ILP-based approach needs information about the worst-case execution path to predict the cache behavior, and hence it is difficult to integrate it with other micro-architectural analysis. We then show that most of the precision improvement of the ILP-based approach can be recovered without any knowledge of the worst-case execution path, by a careful analysis of the cache miss paths themselves. In particular, we can use cache miss paths to find the worst-case behavior of groups of cache accesses. Further, we can find upper bounds on the maximum number of times that cache accesses inside loops can exhibit worst-case behavior. This results in a scalable, precise method for performing private cache analysis which can be easily integrated with other micro-architectural analysis.

This comparative study focuses on the detective genre and is conducted through literary analysis with a feminist critical perspective of two of its most iconic protagonists, Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887 and Agatha Christie in 1930 respectively. The purpose is to attempt to establish the effect of the gender differences on these two protagonists. Both Holmes and Miss Marple are deemed as iconic in the detective genre, but the protagonists do not have similar experiences and are created by authors of different genders. Thus, the focus is to explore how gender differences are represented in the literary texts A Study in Scarlet (1887), “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891), and The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) when it comes to their work as detectives. By using a feminist critical perspective and with the help of previous research, the differences in three central issues, that is, work methods, attitudes and method of disguise, are established. The most prominent result from the analysis is that Miss Marple has to work independently from the police force and trust another character, Leonard Clement, with what she knows hoping that Clement will use her observations to make the case move forward. By contrast, Holmes is approached by clients and even assists the police force in investigations, while Miss Marple is dismissed because of gender discrimination and ageism when she reaches out to the police force. Miss Marple is clearly a victim of gender discrimination and ageism, while Holmes is seen as eccentric but fully competent as a detective. Holmes is even described as having “extraordinary powers” while Miss Marple is described as an “old pussy” in a derogatory manner. Therefore, the results are that there is a significant difference in attitude where Holmes as a man encounters more positive attitudes and Miss Marple as a woman encounters more negative attitudes, all because of gender discrimination and ageism. These results are of great importance as it reveals what gender differences Holmes and Miss Marple encounter in their literary texts. It opens up the opportunity for more research in gender differences and gender discrimination in comparisons between protagonists. That Miss Marple is successful in the end, however, functions as a feminist statement.

DNA microarrays are a relatively new technology for assessing the expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously. Researchers hope to find genes that are differentially expressed by hybridizing cDNA from known treatment sources with various genes spotted on the microarrays. The large number of tests involved in analyzing microarrays has raised new questions in multiple testing. Several approaches for identifying differentially expressed genes have been proposed. This paper considers two: (1) a mixed models approach, and (2) the Signiffcance Analysis of Microarrays.

Every year, millions of medical errors are committed, costing not only patient health and satisfaction, but thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Errors occur in many areas of the healthcare environment, including the profession of nursing. Nurses provide and delegate patient care and consequently, standard nursing responsibilities such as medication administration, charting, patient education, and basic life support protocol may be incorrect, inadequate, or omitted. Although there is much literature about errors among the general nurse population and there is indication that new nurses commit more errors than experienced nurses, not much literature asks the following question: What are the factors contributing to the commission of errors, including the omission of standard nursing care, among new nurses? Ten studies (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-mode) were examined to identify these factors. From the 10 studies, the researcher identified the three themes of lack of experience, stressful working conditions, and interpersonal and intrapersonal factors. New nurses may not have had enough clinical time, may develop poor habits, may not turn to more experienced nurses and other professionals, may be fatigued from working too many hours with not enough staffing, may not be able to concentrate at work, and may not give or receive adequate communication. Based on these findings and discussion, suggested implications for nursing practice include extended clinical experience, skills practice, adherence to the nursing process, adherence to medications standards such as the five rights and independent double verification, shorter working hours, adequate staffing, no-interruption and no-phone zones, creating a culture of support, electronically entered orders, translation phones, read-backs, and standardized handoff reports.

Cette thèse présente un projet de recherche création et recherche action dont l'axe principal questionne le rapport entre le processus identitaire à l’oeuvre dans l’activité picturale. Un lieu interne d'expérimentations devient « espace » de la peinture qui n’est plus abordée d’un point de vue esthétique mais sous un rapport subjectiviste et constructiviste. Ma démarche s’est construite autour d’un axe principal: le parallèle entre la construction de la peinture et la construction d'un individu devenu « sujet » créatif et autonome au sens où l'entend E. Kant. Ce rapport entre la pratique artistique et le processus d'individuation (tel que l'a défini C-G Jung) aboutit au paradoxe d’une « éthique de la relation » fondée sur un travail sur soi que j’ai approfondie pour proposer une théorie et une méthode pédagogique d’accompagnement en peinture. Accessible à tous, cette méthode accompagne des personnes en situation de handicap mental, de maladie psychique ou d’autisme, mais notre thèse engage une réflexion plus globale sur la peinture vécue par le corps « musical » comme vecteur de structure identitaire. Une nouvelle architecture de la peinture faite de « boues », de « dépôts », propose, comme appui à cette lecture musicale, des métaphores de renouvellement. Une théorie du rater se fait ici vecteur pédagogique. Elle se présente sous forme de jeux contre les principaux blocages privilégiant l’« imagination motrice » induite par la couleur et par la forme tant chez l’accompagnant que chez l’accompagné. Nous proposons un espace en peinture mutuellement constructeur permettant de sortir de la fermeture psychique et sociale parfois contrainte, pour s'ouvrir au monde et se transformer. / This thesis presents an action creation research project whose main axis analyses the relationship to the identity process at work in the pictorial activity. An internal locus of experimentation becomes a painting “space“which is no longer approached from an aesthetic point of view but more from a subjectivist and constructivist one. My approach is built around a main axis: the parallel between the construction of the painting and the construction of an individual become creative autonomous "subject" as E.Kant understands it. This relationship between artistic practice and the process of individuation (as defined by CG Jung) leads to the paradox of an "ethics of the relationship" based on self study that I have developed more thoroughly to provide both a theoretical framework and a teaching method in accompanying painting. Accessible to all, this method accompanies people with mental disability, mental illness or autism but our thesis undertakes a more comprehensive reflection on painting as embodied in a musical body as a vector of identity. A new architecture of painting as made up of "sludge", "deposits" supports this musical reading with metaphors of renewal. A theory of miss is seen here as an educational vector. It comes in the form of games against major obstacles favoring the “motor imagination” induced by shape and color both in the one that is accompanying and the one accompanied. We offer a mutually constructive painting space as a way out of psychological, sometimes social closure and stress, to open up to the world and transform ourselves.

Inom ekonomistyrning utgår ekonomer oftast från att målöverensstämmelse existerar och att de anställda arbetar utifrån de uppställda målen med perfekt information. Men informationsasymmetri finns överallt och kan leda till ökade kostnader, att fel uppstår och försenade leveranser. Detta är särskilt intressant inom gruvindustrin eftersom den karakteriseras av komplexitet vilket ökar svårigheter med att förmedla styrningen. Frågan blir; under vilka förutsättningar uppstår informationsasymmetri inom styrning och målöverensstämmelse samt hur kan asymmetrin reduceras inom gruvindustrin? Syftet med examensarbetet blir därmed att öka förståelse och analysera hur informationsasymmetri påverkar ekonomistyrning och målöverensstämmelse inom gruvindustrin samt hur asymmetrin kan reduceras. Arbetet utgår ifrån principal-agent teorin som grundas på antaganden om informationsasymmetri och egen nyttomaximering. Utifrån den målkonflikten grundas hypoteserna om de begrepp som ökar och reducerar målöverensstämmelse genom ökad och minskad informationsasymmetri. De olika teoretisk begreppen som undersöktes var missanpassad information, opportunism, återkoppling, internutbildning och tid. Examensarbetet utfördes genom att använda oss av Cavaye (1996) modell för flerstudieansats (eng. Multifaceted research approach) där vi har först gjort Studie 1 som grundas på kvalitativa intervjuer för att få mer information om företaget och industrin. Sedan i Studie 2 testas begreppen genom en kvantitativ enkät som skickades ut till personer inom företaget utifrån ett strategisk urval. Resultatet från undersökningen var att hypoteserna bekräftades och att agenterna anser att målen är viktiga och internutbildning var de starkaste faktorerna för att reducera informationsasymmetri och öka målöverensstämmelse. / In management control systems economist usually assume perfect information and goal congruence from the top to the bottom of the organization. But information asymmetry is everywhere and often leads to increased costs, missed deadlines and other mistakes. This is particularly interesting in the mining industry as it’s characterized by complexity which increases the difficulty of communicating the control system throughout the organization. The research question then becomes; under which circumstances does information asymmetry occur in control systems and goal congruence and how can the asymmetry be reduced in the mining industry? The purpose of the study is therefore to increase the understanding and analyze how information asymmetry impact control systems and goal congruence in the mining industry and how the asymmetry can be reduced. The study is based on the principal-agent theory is based on the assumptions of information asymmetry and self-interest between the two parties. Based on that goal conflict our hypothesis of the variables that increase and reduce goal congruence through increased and decreased information asymmetry is formed. The investigated variables were miss adapted information, opportunism, feedback, workplace education and time. The study was conducted by using Cavaye (1996) model for multifaceted research approach by starting off with Study 1, which was based on qualitative interviews to get more information about the company and the mining industry. Study 2 later tested the variables impact by conducting a quantitative study though the use of a survey that was sent to people of interest within the company though a strategic selection. The result of the study was that the hypotheses were confirmed and that workplace education training and valuing the importance of the goals where the most important variables to reduce information asymmetry and increase goal congruence.

This thesis work describes how to apply the stochastic analysis framework, presented in [1] for general priority-driven periodic real-time systems. The proposed framework is applicable to compute the response time distribution, the worst-case response time, and the deadline miss probability of the task under analysis in the fixed-priority driven scheduling system. To be specific, we modeled the task execution time by using the beta distribution. Moreover, we have evaluated the existing stochastic framework on a wide range of periodic systems with the help of defined evaluation parameters. In addition we have refined the notations used in system model and also developed new mathematics in order to facilitate the understanding with the concept. We have also introduced new concepts to obtain and validate the exact probabilistic task response time distribution.    Another contribution of this thesis is that we have extended the existing system model in order to deal with stochastic release time of a job. Moreover, a new algorithm is developed and validated using our extended framework where the stochastic dependencies exist due to stochastic release time patterns. / This is Second Version of the report. Submitted after few modifications made on the order of Thomas Nolte (Thesis Examiner). / START - Stochastic Real-Time Analysis of Embedded Software Systems

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This dissertation investigates the relationship between genre and the representation of war-time violence in five texts written during and shortly after the United States Civil War (1861-1865). The texts are The Narrative of Edmund Wright (1864), John William De Forests Miss Ravenels Conversion from Secession to Loyalty (1867), and three short stories by Henry JamesThe Story of a Year (1865), Poor Richard (1867), and A Most Extraordinary Case (1868). These texts deal with the theme of war violence through generic mechanisms associated with the spectrum of writings often dichotomized as romance and realism. The main theoretical approach to genre depends on a distinction between criterial theories of genre and contingency theories of genre. Criterial theories emphasize the shared characteristics of literary texts: that is, criterial theories of genre are classificatory in orientation. Contingency theories emphasize the ways in which social forces influence the act of classification: contingency theories of genre, in other words, concentrate on the notion that genres are social constructs. This dissertation maintains, in line with contingency theory, that genre is affected by the social, political and cultural circumstances of the period in which the genre operates; as a result, this dissertation uses documents from and about the American Civil War to substantiate its claims. The work of Alice Fahs, David Reynolds, and John Frow has influenced the approach to genre theory and to nineteenth-century American literary history. / English

Cotutelle de thèse entre l'Université de Montréal et l'Université Paris 3 Sorbonne-Nouvelle / Parallèlement à la construction progressive du concept d’« adolescence » par certaines disciplines telles la sociologie et la psychologie, la catégorie de la jeune fille prend une importance de plus en plus marquée dans la réalité sociale et la littérature française des années 1880-1914. Et pourtant : malgré son importance tant quantitative que « qualitative » dans le roman tournant-de-siècle, force est de constater que le personnage-personne de la jeune fille n’a reçu que très peu d’attention critique au cours des dernières décennies. C’est encore plus vrai du personnage de la jeune personne tel qu’il est représenté dans le « roman catholique » des années 1880-1914, cette étiquette de même que l’immense espace d’hétérogénéité générique constitutive qu’il représente ayant somme toute fait l’objet de peu de travaux. L’objectif de cette thèse consiste donc à préciser les caractéristiques que revêt la jeune fille de papier en régime catholique d’écriture ainsi que l’utilisation à des fins politiques, socioéducatives et idéologiques qui est faite d’elle par les romanciers catholiques de l’ère 1900 – autrement dit par les différents pôles d’un sous-champ littéraire catholique en construction et en mouvement. Pour ce faire, et au croisement de l’histoire littéraire, de l’histoire culturelle et de la sociologie de la littérature, il convient d’abord de définir les exigences, normes et valeurs diffusées au sein du sous-champ, toutes liées à la jeune fille historique et sociale et qui conditionnent les postures et les pratiques d’écriture de l’ensemble des agents. Seulement après analyserons-nous les représentations de la « jeune fille » inscrites dans les principaux sous-genres investis par les romanciers catholiques du temps – le roman d’amour, le roman traditionaliste et le roman de vocation spirituelle. On verra alors qu’en plus de rendre visible un conflit de représentations fictionnelles qui réfracte les débats sociaux entre laïcs-républicains et catholiques, les personnages de jeunes filles mis en récit par le roman catholique révèlent les conflits qui opposent différents acteurs à l’intérieur même du sous-champ et, plus largement, du monde catholique de la période 1880-1914. C’est poser que la « jeune fille » est à la fois l’un des enjeux et l’un des instruments fondamentaux du sous-champ des romanciers catholiques tournant-de-siècle : sa représentation littéraire permet en effet aux écrivains catholiques d’alors, en fonction de leur position (dominante-orthodoxe ou dominée-hérétique) dans le sous-champ et des intérêts qui y sont associés, de prendre position dans le sous-champ littéraire catholique, autrement dit de conserver telle quelle ou de subvertir profondément la structure du sous-champ, et donc par extension la structure du champ des formes et des contenus romanesques. / The girl is more important than ever in Fin-de-Siècle France : the rising conflict between the Third Republic and the Church puts the spotlight on this now unavoidable fictional character. And yet, very few studies have focused on her. The same could be said of the Catholic Novel, which has not received much critical attention over the last decades. This study thus aims at describing the features of the girl in French turn-of-the-century Catholic literature, and the ways she is used by Catholic writers to undermine the basis of the new (anticlerical) Republic. But Catholic writers are far from agreeing on the ways the girl should be depicted : some believe that her fictional representation should have moral and ideological effects on the readers (romance and traditionalist writers such as M. Maryan, Henry Bordeaux, René Bazin and Paul Bourget), while others think it should inspire in them the love of the Passion of Jesus (spiritual writers like Barbey d’Aurevilly, Léon Bloy and Émile Baumann). In short, this study shows how, in Fin-de-Siècle French literature, the girl becomes one of the major instruments of the conflicts between Catholics and Republicans, but also between Catholics.