This thesis describes the Drag language. Drag is a general purpose, gradually typed, lexically scoped, and multi-paradigm pro- gramming language. The essence of Drag is to build the abstract syntax trees of the programs directly and interactively. Our work includes the language specification and a prototype program. The language specification focuses on the syntax, the semantic model, and the type system. The prototype consists of an interactive editor and a compiler that targets several plat- forms, among which we focus on the LLVM platform in this thesis.

Many topics that mathematicians study at times seem so unrelated such as Geometry and Abstract Algebra. These two branches of math would seem unrelated at first glance. I will try to bridge Geometry and Abstract Algebra just a bit with the following topics. We can be sure that after we construct our basic parallel and perpendicular lines, bisected angles, regular polygons, and other basic geometric figures, we are actually constructing what in geometry is simply stated and accepted, because it will be proven using abstract algebra. Also we will look at many classic problems in Geometry that are not possible with only straightedge and compass but need a marked ruler.

Teaching algebra-based concepts to students with learning disabilities: The effects of preteaching using a gradual instructional sequence by Sarah Jean Watt An Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Teaching and Learning Special Education) in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2013 Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor William J. Therrien Research to identify validated instructional approaches to teach math to students with LD and those at-risk for failure in both core and supplemental instructional settings is necessary to assist teachers in closing the achievement gaps that exist across the country. The concrete-to-representational-to-abstract instructional sequence (CRA) has been identified through the literature as a promising approach to teaching students with and without math difficulties (Butler, Miller, Crehan, Babbitt, & Pierce, 2003; Cass, Cates, Smith, & Jackson (e.g. CSA), 2003; Flores, 2010). The CRA sequence transitions students from the use of concrete manipulatives to abstract symbols through the use of explicit instruction to increase computational and conceptual understanding. The main purpose of this study was to assess the effects of preteaching essential pre-algebra skills on the overall algebra achievement scores for students with disabilities and those at-risk for failure in math. Specifically the study examined the following research questions: (1) What are the effects of preteaching math units using the CRA instructional sequence on the algebra achievement of students with LD and those at risk for math failure? (2) What are the effects of preteaching math units using the CRA instructional sequence on the transfer of algebra-based skills of students with LD and those at risk for math failure to the general education setting? (3) What are the effects of preteaching math units using the CRA instructional sequence on the maintenance of algebra-based skills for students with LD and those at risk for math failure? Summary of Study Design and Findings Thirty-two students enrolled in one of four 6th grade classrooms across two elementary schools participated in this study. Sixth grade students who currently receive tier 2 or tier 3 supplemental and intensive instruction in math; and those identified as having a math learning disability will be participants. A treatment and control, pre/post experimental design was used to examine the effect of the intervention on students' math achievement. The intervention was replicated across two math units related to teaching algebra-based concepts: Solving Equations and Fractions. The treatment condition consisted of a combination of preteaching and the use of the CRA instructional sequence. Prior to each unit, Solving Equations and Fractions, researchers pretaught students 3 essential prerequisite skills necessary for success in the upcoming unit, at the concrete, representational, and abstract levels of learning. Each preteaching session lasted for ten days, 30 minutes each day. Immediate, delayed, and follow-up measures were used to support the examination of the research questions and hypotheses. Overall findings indicate that the combination of preteaching using the CRA gradual sequence is effective at improving the overall algebra performance for students with disabilities.

Finding equilibrium in forms, colour-form combinations and images has long been a concern of mine. I recognise a persistent manner of working within my art practice that utilises geometry, mathematics and colour to arrive at compositions that have a sense of beauty and equilibrium. Abstraction has been of significant interest to me and the three collections of work that I developed during my Master of Fine Arts studies - 'Colour:Form:Ratio', 'Photography-Free Zone' and 'Construction-Abstraction' - illustrate the different ways I have applied my interests in abstraction. Until the completion of the 'Colour:Form:Ratio' painting series my approach to abstraction was cerebral and self-reliant. While I was satisfied with results of my initial investigations and experimentation with abstract forms in painting I felt that the work lacked a social connection. I thus became interested in addressing what I perceived as this shortfall in my abstract painting. A new body of photographic work that had been evolving in parallel to my painting practice seemed to offer a solution. I realised that the photographs could be used to construct a new version of abstract composition. The images shared a similar colour and geometrical configuration to that illustrated in the 'Colour:Form:Ratio' Series. With this breakthrough, I began 'painting by eye', replacing my brush and palette with the camera and using it to capture and frame colours and geometric forms from my surrounding environment. In order to test my new methodology of arriving at abstract compositions extracted from the world around me, I selected two communally shared spaces - the gallery/museum and the construction site - as the sourcing ground for my photographs. The result of my experimentation has been two collections of work: 'Photography-Free Zone' and 'Construction-Abstraction'. Both series reflect my experience of the gallery/museum space and the construction site while illustrating the transferral of my painting process to the photographic medium. The most favourable realisation I made in the process of making these works was that the subject matter I captured with the camera possessed aesthetic and theoretical qualities in keeping with my former painted artistic vocabulary, despite being removed from the physical act of painting.

Master of Visual Arts / The title Normal What refers to a group of paintings that emerged from my Masters of Visual Arts 2004/05 studio project. Individual paintings are chronological self portrait reflecting upon my own experiences and those in the wider community who at some point in their lives have had to endure the struggles, and negative stigma that is so often attached to those who have become marginalised and detached from mainstream society. People found in this category include the disabled, homeless, unemployed, and those with addiction problems. Each painting bears a close connection with techniques associated with abstract expressionist painting. This radiates through the vast expanse of drips, stains and explosions which appear to suffocate the paintings delicate monochrome surface. Strong references to Kristeva’s theory on Abjection arrive through the aggressive and violent outbursts of paint that evoke an atmosphere of symbolic horror, personal dysfunction and social oppression. This emerges out of the shadows and private spaces of the painting’s domestic interior. Deep emotional, psychological, sociological sensitivities are raised throughout my studio practice. Combined with a series of unresolved tensions, and questions surrounding normality run deep a consequence of society’s push for normality are being felt most acutely by those effected by this form of sociology. The ideas raised through my studio project had a profound influence on the research being conducted for the dissertation. Kristeva’s theory on Abjection, along side the practices of Eva Hesse, Barnett Newman, Agnes Martin emerged from a group of highly emotional abstract paintings. This strengthened the connection between the studio project and the dissertation. Aimed at deepening a personal understanding an commitment to researching the subject of normality and how it could be successfully articulated through a visual narrative.

Master of Philosophy / This thesis investigates the work of Morris Louis (1912-1962) in relation to ‘opticality’, a theory developed by the prominent American art critic Clement Greenberg. Between the late 1930s and 1950s, Greenberg developed a comprehensive argument concerning the opticality, or the optical illusion, of abstract painting. This theory influenced common approaches towards Abstract Expressionist painting during the 1940s and 1950s, culminating in Greenberg’s writing on ‘Colourfield’ painting in major texts of the 1960s such as ‘Louis and Noland’ (1960). Through research into the development of Morris Louis’ technique, including several of his major series as well as lesser known works, this thesis argues that our understanding of Louis’ work has been constricted by a narrow perception of the opticality of his 'stain' paintings, and explores Louis' technique in light of alternative interpretations of his work.

<p>A complete Java interface to OpenModelica has been created, supporting both standard Modelica and the metamodeling extensions in MetaModelica. It is bidirectional, and capable of passing both standard Modelica data types, as well as abstract syntax trees and list structures to and from Java and process them in either Java or the OpenModelica Compiler.It currently uses the existing CORBA interface as well as JNI for standard Modelica. It is also capable of automatically generating the Java classes corresponding to MetaModelica code.This interface opens up increased possibilities for tool integration between OpenModelica and Java-based tools, since for example models or model fragments can be extracted from OpenModelica, processed in a Java tool, and put back into the main model representation in OpenModelica.</p><p>A first version text generation template language for MetaModelica is also presented. The goal for such a language is the ability to create a more concise and readablecode when translating an abstract syntax tree (AST) to text.</p>

<p>An unavoidable amount of money is spent on maintaining existing software systems today. Software maintenance cost generally higher than development cost of the system therefore lowering maintenance cost is highly appreciated in software industry.</p><p>A significant part of maintenance activities is related to repeating the investigation of problems and applying repeated solutions several times. A software system may contain a common bug in several different places and it might take extra effort and time to fix all existences of this bug. This operation commonly increases the cost of Software Maintenance Activities.</p><p>Detecting duplicate code fragments can significantly decrease the time and effort therefore the maintenance cost. Clone code detection can be achieved via analyzing the source code of given software system. An abstract syntax tree based clone detector for java systems is designed and implemented through this study.</p><p>This master thesis examines a software engineering process to create an abstract syntax tree based clone detector for the projects implemented in Java programming language.</p>

Is it possible to learn without awareness? If so, what can learn without awareness, and what are the different mechanisms that differentiate between learning with and without consciousness? How can best measure awareness? Here are a few of the many questions that I have attempted to investigate during the past few years. The main goal of this thesis was to explore the differences between conscious and unconscious learning. Thus, I will expose the behavioral and computational explorations that we conducted during the last few years. To present them properly, I first review the main concepts that, for almost a century now, researchers in the fields of neuroscience have formulated in order to tackle the issues of both learning and consciousness. Then I detail different hypotheses that guided our empirical and computational explorations. Notably, a few series of experiments allowed identification of several mechanisms that participate in either unconscious or conscious learning. In addition we explored a computational framework for explaining how one could learn unconsciously and nonetheless gain subjective access to one’s mental events. After reviewing the unfolding of our investigation, I detail the mechanisms that we identified as responsible for differences between learning with and without consciousness, and propose new hypotheses to be evaluated in the future.

This thesis presents a study on how fourth graders can learn and use metaphor to create meaningful and expressive artworks. It is intended to investigate how students can understand the idea of metaphor and how they can use it to illustrate their own thoughts and ideas within their artworks. Jean Piaget believes much abstract thinking does not occur until the Formal Operations Stage of eleven to thirteen years of age. This study sought to question the ideas of Piaget by introducing the abstract thought of metaphor to fourth graders who are at the approximate age of nine. It set out to demonstrate that students may understand the idea of metaphor while applying it to create meaningful artworks that demonstrate their own opinions, thoughts and beliefs. Concepts about metaphor were introduced to the students through a number of interactive lessons to develop their ability to implement metaphor into their own artworks. This unit taught students how to interpret metaphor and apply the use of metaphor to their own artworks.