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This study focuses on factors that affect the structural integrity of wood-based composites. Wood-based composites exposed to fire may decompose due to the elevated temperatures, resulting in a degradation in performance. Thermal modelling can only predict the structural integrity of construction materials in fire if it is given accurate inputs. Consequently, methods for the characterization of the thermal, physical, and mechanical behaviors of wood and wood-based composites are selected, designed, and benchmarked. The relevant thermal and physical responses characterized includes porosity, permeability and thermal diffusivity. Common construction materials (white pine board, medium density fiberboard and spruce 24) are characterized from room temperature to complete decomposition. The characterization techniques and processes are based on existing literature and relevant ASTM standards. To reduce the number of experiments required for future material characterization, estimates based upon the degree of decomposition and the measured values for the virgin and charred materials are used. For porosity and thermal diffusivity, these models allow values at intermediate temperatures to be estimated with measurements at room temperature and complete decomposition and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). We find that permeability depends heavily on the microstructure of materials and should be measured independently at the conditions of interest. An additional important aspect of the performance of wood-based composites is the fracture behavior of wood/adhesive systems. Adhesive bonding enables many engineered wood products such as furniture and structural wood joints and the adhesive fracture toughness often determines the durability. The conventional characterization method for wood/adhesive fracture resistance relies on samples with machined grain angles designed to funnel cracks to the adhesive interface. This method of sample preparation is difficult and time-consuming for certain wood species. In this work, a practical and efficient method is developed to characterize adhesive fracture energy of adhesively bonded veneer systems. In the method, auxiliary aluminum adherends are bonded to the veneers in an effort to drive the crack to the wood/adhesive interface. The method is applied to rotary-peeled veneers and saw-cut veneers produced from three species of wood bonded with three commonly used adhesives. The new tests method yields a high interfacial failure rate and successfully identifies differences in the performance of the three adhesives. SPG (one species of the rotary-peeled veneers) demonstrates a rising R-curve behavior (an increase in the fracture toughness with crack length) when bonded on the loose side. This increase in fracture toughness is observed to be a result of adhesive-substrate interaction, which is a developing process zone behind the crack tip consisting of bridged wood ligaments. / Doctor of Philosophy / Construction materials exposed to elevated temperatures from fires may reach temperatures where the material decomposes from the original material to a char. Protected and unprotected structural timber products exposed to fires may exhibit this behavior resulting in a degradation of performance. Understanding the thermal and physical responses of these materials is crucial in evaluating the materials behavior in fire. Additionally, many wood-based products (such as furniture) rely on adhesive bonds. Consequently, their usefulness is determined by the performance of those bonds. In this work, methods are developed to measure key properties impacting the behavior of wood-based systems at elevated temperatures, such as that experienced in fires and when they are subjected to forces attempting to debond one wood material from another. These techniques are demonstrated on common building materials (white pine board, medium density fiberboard and spruce 24) and wood veneers from three different species bonded with three different adhesives. Mathematical models are developed to expand the use of the data beyond the specific conditions for which it is measured.

When people hear the word "nurse," they often think of qualities such as compassion and patience. While these are essential characteristics, nurses must go even further when striving for professionalism. Nurses also need strong morals and ethics and the commitment to always act in the best interests of their patients. The term professionalism embraces a set of attitudes, skills and behaviours, attributes and values which are expected from those to whom society has extended the privilege of being considered a professional. The core values of professionalism include: honesty, integrity, altruism, respect, responsibility, accountability, compassion, empathy, dedication, self-improvement, competency of clinical skills and knowledge. Professional nursing practice is a commitment to compassion, caring and strong ethical values, continuous development of self and others, accountability and responsibility for insightful practice, demonstrating a spirit of collaboration and flexibility. Rapid changes in the nursing sector have recently occurred across all areas and settings, making for a chaotic and seldom unstable work environment. All of these changes have impacted the ability of ENA learners to maintain high levels of professionalism and collaboration. In particular, the researcher, as an educator within a private NEI responsible for teaching ENA learners, experienced a lack of professionalism amongst ENA learners during the course of their training, as well as after their enrolment with the South African Nursing Council (SANC). Currently, there seems to be a difference between the professionalism portrayed by ENA learners and that which is expected of them. The overall aim of this research is to enhance the professionalism of ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. The following objectives have been identified in order to reach this aim: * To explore and describe professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West, and * To formulate recommendations to advance professionalism amongst ENA learners in a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. This study was conducted by means of a case study approach as the selected topic focuses only on a private nursing education institution situated in Potchefstroom, North West. From the qualitative instrumental case study approach, a qualitative, explorative, contextual research design was followed. The population in the study was all the ENA learners of a private NEI in Potchefstroom, North West. A sample was selected through non-probable, purposive sampling according to inclusion criteria (n=25). Data collection was conducted by means of a ―World Café‖ method and a focus group. The data collected through the World Café method was recorded and transcribed and reconstructed by means of thematic analysis. The main theme that crystallised from data analysis was that ENA learners viewed professionalism as a set of behaviours that are displayed in their external environment. The behaviours are grouped into the following five subgroups, namely punctuality versus absenteeism, adhering to scheduling and duty hours, responsibility of observations and awareness, the role of dress code and the image of nursing and finally obedience to organisational rules and regulations and tolerance towards others. The World Café and focus group results were integrated with case records according to repetitive themes. From the results and conclusions, recommendations were formulated for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research to enhance professionalism amongst ENA learners in general. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

L'objectif de cette thèse est de développer une nouvelle méthodologie pour la détection active de défaillances, basée sur approche multimodèle et robuste des fautes. Ce travail prolonge des recherches effectuées dans le projet Metalau de l'Inria. L'apport essentiel de cette thèse est la prise en compte de modèles évoluant en boucle fermée. On utilise une approche multi-modèle pour modéliser le modèle en fonctionnement normal et le modèle défaillant. Les avantages potentiels de l'utilisation d'un feedback dynamique linéaire et ses propriétés de robustesse sont analysés dans la construction de signaux de détection auxiliaires. On compare les résultats obtenus avec ceux du cas boucle ouverte. La formulation du problème de détection active dans le cas d'un modèle en boucle fermée est nouvelle et repose sur la prise en considération de la norme du signal de détection auxiliaire comme critère d'optimisation. On considère aussi des fonctions coût plus générales, telles celles qui sont utilisées pour mesurer la performance de feedbacks dans des problèmes de la théorie de la commande linéaire robuste. La solution complète repose sur la résolution de plusieurs problèmes d'optimisation non standards / The aim is to develop a novel theory of robust active failure detection based on multi-model formulation of faults. The original method was already proposed by the Metalau group of INRIA. We have continued to work on the extension of this approach to more general cases. The focus is on the effects of feedback on the previous approach. The multi-model approach is still used to model the normal and the failed systems; however the possible advantages of using linear dynamic feedback in the construction of the auxiliary signal for robust fault detection is considered and the results are compared to the previously developed open-loop setup. An original formulation of the active fault detection problem using feedback is developed. The norm of the auxiliary signal is considered as a possible cost criterion. Also, we have considered a more general cost function that has already been used for measuring the performance of feedback configurations in Linear Control Theory. We have given a complete solution to this problem. In order to find a complete solution, several mathematical problems are solved

This thesis deals with archivist and collage professor Václav Vojtíšek. It's structured chronologically with few thematic areas and was written mainly by positivistic method. Thesis draws from large base of archive resources and published materials. The goal of this thesis is to map Vojtíšek's academical and archivistic career during several regimes. It's not only concentrating on his professional career, but also depicts biographical themes. Key words Václav Vojtíšek, history of science, archivistic, Auxiliary Historical Science, Charles University, Czechoslovak science and art academy.

Les récepteurs du glutamate de type AMPA (rAMPA) sont les acteurs principaux de la transmission synaptique excitatrice rapide. Leur abondance au niveau de la densité postsynaptique est essentielle pour l'établissement et le maintien de la fonction synaptique, et est le résultat d'un trafic hautement dynamique. De nombreuses études ont permis de caractériser les mécanismes de diffusion membranaire impliqués dans l’adressage des rAMPA jusqu’à la synapse. Le rôle majeur des protéines auxiliaires des rAMPA dans la modulation de cette étape de trafic a été démontré. Par ailleurs, il est suggéré que la localisation synaptique des rAMPA est aussi régulée lors des phases plus précoces du trafic intracellulaire, c’est-à-dire de l'appareil de Golgi vers la membrane plasmique via les vésicules post-Golgiennes. Cependant le trafic vésiculaire post-Golgien des rAMPA n'a jamais été visualisé et reste donc encore très mal compris. En collaboration avec l'équipe de Guus Smit (Amsterdam), j’ai participé à la caractérisation d’une nouvelle protéine auxiliaire des rAMPA, appelée Shisa6. Dans le cadre de ce projet, j’ai pu étudier le rôle de cette protéine sur la diffusion membranaire des rAMPA en utilisant une technique de suivi de particule unique (Quantum dot) développée au laboratoire. Mon projet de thèse principal a consisté à étudier le trafic vésiculaire post-Golgien des rAMPA par le développement d’une nouvelle méthode d’étude. En effet, l'échec dans la visualisation dynamique du trafic vésiculaire des récepteurs pourrait être expliqué par un faible rapport signal/bruit, conséquence d'une faible concentration vésiculaire en rAMPA combinée à un bruit de fond important dû aux marquages provenant du réticulum endoplasmique (RE) et de la membrane plasmique. Dans le but de surpasser cette difficulté, nous avons mis au point un outil ingénieux (système ARIAD) afin de bloquer les rAMPA dans le RE et contrôler, par l'ajout d'un ligand, leur sécrétion du RE jusqu'à la membrane plasmique. Grâce à cet outil, nous avons non seulement augmenté considérablement la concentration des rAMPA dans les vésicules post-Golgiennes, mais aussi éliminé le bruit de fond membranaire. Par la technique de FRAP nous avons pu éliminer le bruit de fond provenant du RE. Une telle approche, combinée à des techniques d'imagerie sur neurones vivants, nous a permis de visualiser pour la première fois le trafic vésiculaire post-Golgien des rAMPA et de l’étudier. / AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPAR) are the main actors of the fast excitatory synaptic transmission. Their abundance at the postsynaptic density is essential for the establishment and maintenance of synaptic function, and is the result of a highly dynamic trafficking. Many studies have characterized the membrane diffusion mechanisms involved in the AMPAR synaptic localization, and revealed the critical role of the AMPAR auxiliary proteins in the modulation of this trafficking. Furthermore, it is suggested that AMPAR synaptic localization is also regulated during the early steps of the intracellular trafficking, from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane via the post-Golgi vesicles. However, the post-Golgi vesicular trafficking of AMPAR has never been visualized and therefore remains poorly understood. In collaboration with the Guus Smit team (Amsterdam), I participated in the caracterization of a novel AMPAR auxiliary protein called Shisa6. As part of this project, I studied the role of this protein on the AMPAR membrane diffusion, using a method of single particle tracking (Quantum dot) developed in the laboratory. My main thesis project was to study the post-Golgi vesicular trafficking of AMPAR through the development of a new experimental protocol. Indeed, the failure in the dynamic visualization of the receptor vesicular trafficking could be explained by a low signal/noise ratio resulting of a poor AMPAR vesicular concentration, combined with a high background noise due to receptors localized both in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and at the plasma membrane. In order to overcome this difficulty, we have used an ingenious tool (ARIAD system) so as to block AMPAR into the ER and, by adding a ligand, control their trafficking from the ER to the plasma membrane. Thanks to this tool we have not only significantly increased the AMPAR concentration in the post-Golgi vesicles, but also eliminated the plasma membrane background noise. The FRAP imaging technique was used in order to remove the ER background noise. Such methodological approach combined with imaging techniques in living neurons, allowed us to clearly visualize for the first time the post-Golgi vesicular trafficking of AMPAR, and to study the mechanisms involved in this trafficking.

Este trabalho trata da organização de sintagmas nominais no armênio, revelando uma interação peculiar entre a expressão de definitude e a marcação morfológica de Caso e as conseqüências dessa relação para a organização estrutural desta língua. Mostra se que os sintagmas nominais são interpretados como definidos como resultado de atribuição de Caso estrutural, e que existe uma assimetria entre os Casos estruturais e os Casos inerentes quanto à atribuição de definitude. Como ponto de partida, discute-se o estatuto do sufixo n/y, chamado de artigo definido pela gramática tradicional do armênio. A investigação das propriedades morfossintáticas desse sufixo mostra que o mesmo é uma marca com características mistas, que atua na atribuição de definitude e Caso de uma maneira não atestada nas línguas naturais e questiona o recorte entre as funções de Caso e os meios de expressão de definitude. Baseando-nos nos trabalhos de Chomsky (1986b), Longobardi (1994) e Giusti (2002), propomos a reanálise do sufixo -n/y como uma marca de Caso estrutural, que transforma os sintagmas nominais em argumentos sintáticos, e é associada ao nível DP na estrutura frasal. Ademais, mostra-se que a ausência de marcação de Caso estrutural resulta numa série de restrições semântico-sintáticas nos sintagmas nominais (nus), a mais proeminente sendo o movimento desses sintagmas para uma posição antes do verbo, seguidos imediatamente pelo auxiliar. Isso leva a diferentes ordens superficiais para sintagmas marcados por Caso estrutural (SVO) e sintagmas nus (SOauxV). Tal evidência, junto com o quadro das características dos sintagmas nus no armênio, leva à análise dos mesmos como pseudo-incorporados, conforme proposto por Massam (2001) para o niueano, com a diferença de que o sintagma nu se adjunge à projeção funcional TP no armênio, sem passar pela operação de alçamento do predicado. Quanto à expressão de definitude nos Casos inerentes, mostramos que em contraste com os sintagmas nos Casos estruturais, que podem aparecer com ou sem marcação aberta de Caso e ter, respectivamente, leitura definida ou indefinida, os inerentes devem sempre carregar a morfologia casual e são ambíguos quanto à definitude. Nesse aspecto, analisamos as projeções nominais Genitivas e constatamos que, apesar da aparente semelhança superficial, as mesmas exibem propriedades distintas que correspondem a duas estruturas internas diferentes do sintagma nominal, viii podendo ser caracterizadas como duas classes distintas: o Genitivo Referencial, que aparece em Spec/DP e é interpretado como definido por se associar ao nível DP, e o Genitivo Modificador, que permanece no domínio do NP no percurso da derivação. As conclusões a que chegamos provam que mesmo sem possuir um artigo definido canônico, o armênio oferece evidências a favor da postulação do nível DP como universal, responsável pelas interpretações definidas dos sintagmas nominais. Nos Casos estruturais, a definitude vem da atribuição de Caso, enquanto no Genitivo (um exemplo de Caso inerente) vem da posição ocupada dentro do sintagma nominal. Por conseguinte, o presente trabalho traz uma contribuição teórica valiosa para a análise unificada das projeções nominais, além de auxiliar na elucidação de alguns assuntos empíricos controversos do armênio e abrir caminho para pesquisas futuras. / This thesis investigates the structural organization of noun phrases in Armenian, an Indo-European language with mixed properties, focusing on the interaction between Case and (in)definiteness. The main claim of the study is that, contrary to traditional view, Armenian has no (definite) article, and definiteness in this language is a result of structural Case marking on NPs. This claim has implications for the analysis of bare nominals as NPs that lack both Case and referential properties and are syntactically restricted to a peculiar configuration, resulting in different superficial orders for Case-marked (SVO) and bare noun phrases (SOauxV). Moreover, this analysis casts light on a rather intriguing question of how definiteness is expressed in inherent Cases. It is shown that, unlike structural Cases, which express a direct correlation between definiteness and Case, inherent Cases, more precisely Genitive NPs, are interpreted as (in)definite by associating themselves to distinct structural positions. The starting point of our discussion is the re-analysis of the suffix -n/y, traditionally classified as a definite article. Highlighting Case and (in)definiteness as two independent conditions on argumenthood (Chomsky (1986b), Longobardi (1994), Giusti (2002)) that are closely correlated in Armenian, we argue that this suffix is in fact a structural Case marker, which turns nominals into syntactic arguments, and is associated with DP level. Focusing on the morpho-syntactic behavior of bare nominals in Armenian, it is shown that in the absence of structural Case marking, their distribution is syntactically restricted to a position in which they appear to the left of the verb and must be adjacent to the auxiliary. This distribution is accounted for by adopting the pseudo-incorporation analysis of Massam (2001). We show that bare nouns in Armenian exhibit typical properties of pseudo-incorporated nominals, as lack of reference, number-neutrality, phrasal nature, among others. Turning our attention to Genitive constructions, which always appear with Case morphology, we analyze a number of properties that superficially distinguish two (main) types, which we propose to call Referential and Modifying Genitives. The difference between them is syntactic, as they have different structural representations: Spec/DP for Referential and NP domain for Modifying Genitive. x As a result, we conclude that there exists an asymmetry between inherent and structural Cases as to how they express definiteness. Moreover, we conclude that in spite of the fact that Armenian does not have canonical (definite) article, a DP level must be postulated for this language, as a projection responsible for the referentiality/definiteness of the noun phrases. Thus, this study contributes to the outgoing debates about the precise functions of D as universal category and provides a valuable theoretical contribution to the cross-linguistic investigations of nominal projections.

No final da década dos 70 e início da década dos 80, em diferentes regiões do Brasil, os serviços públicos - tanto aqueles existentes quanto aqueles começando a se estruturar - passam a utilizar pessoal de nível elementar e médio para auxiliar nas ações de atenção à saúde bucal. No Estado de São Paulo, embora inúmeros sistemas locais de saúde (SILOS) venham empregando pessoal auxiliar odontológico (PAO), existe pouca informação disponível sobre a contribuição dada por estes trabalhadores à essas ações. O objetivo desta investigação foi de analisar a participação do PAO em dez SILOS de cinco municípios do Estado de São Paulo, em 1994. Um questionário foi respondido por 248 (76,3 por cento) dos 325 auxiliares e técnicos em higiene dental empregados nos municípios de ltú, Embú, Penápolis, São José dos Campos e Campinas. Os resultados indicaram que a maioria do PAO é jovem, do sexo feminino, possui 2° grau completo, curso de qualificação profissional, tem vínculo municipal e trabalha 40 horas/semana, sendo que, recebem entre US$ 119,00 e US$ 330,00 no exercício da função de ACD e entre US$ 162,00 e US$ 232,00 como THD. Sua participação em atividades de promoção da saúde bucal é relativa e varia conforme o SILOS em estudo: nos SILOS do Embú e das regiões norte e leste de S. José do Campos, o PAO vem dedicando sua jornada de trabalho mais para ações coletivas que para ações de assistência individual, contribuindo para a transformação das práticas da odontologia em saúde coletiva e para a mudança do modelo assistencial conforme as diretrizes de saúde bucal e os princípios do SUS. A participação do PAO é mais frequente em atividades de evidenciação de placa bacteriana seguida de escovação supervisionada (ES), bochechos fluorados e atividades educativas. A participação em ações coletivas é maior quando se trata da realização dessas atividades em escolas ou outros espaços sociais. Entretanto, em ltú, Embú e Penápolis, o pessoal auxiliar desenvolve de forma significativa atividades de ES em unidades básicas de saúde, atingindo com atividades de promoção da saúde bucal grupos populacionais que as frequentam. Excetuando-se os três SILOS de Campinas e o de ltú, é baixa a proporção do PAO que trabalha à quatro-mãos rotineiramente. Os SILOS de ltú, Embú e Penápolis apresentam maior grau de delegação de funções ao PAO na assistência individual que os SILOS dos municípios de São José dos Campos e Campinas. Segundo o pessoal auxiliar, a população-usuária reage positivamente e aceita bem os seus serviços. Além disso, os cirurgiões-dentistas têm um relacionamento profissional bom ou muito bom com eles, prestam-lhes orientações sempre que necessário e, na opinião deles, devem manter o grau de orientação corrente. / At the end of the seventies and begining of the eighties, dental public services from different areas of Brazil started to introduce basically and intermediately trainned personnel to assist dental care activities. This happened both in services in operation at the time and in those which were begining to be structured. In São Paulo State, although several health local systems are employing dental auxiliary personnel, we know there is a small number of studies in this field and also little information about this personnel. The purpose of this survey was to document the role and extent of dental auxiliary personnel in some state public health programmes in São Paulo State, 1994. A questionnaire requested information from 248 (76,3 per cent) auxiliarias of 325 dental assistants and dental hygienists employed in the health municipal systems of ltú, Embú, Penápolis, São José dos Campos and Campinas (towns in São Paulo State). The results indicated that most of them are young, female sex, went through high school and professional qualification course, work forty hours a week and receive between US$ 119,00 and US$ 330,00 in dental assistant function and between US$ 162,00 and US$ 232,00 in dental hygienist function. Their participation in oral healh promotion activities is relative and varies according to each town reality: in Embú and in the north and east health local systems of São José dos Campos, the working time of auxiliary personnel is spent more in oral health promotion activities than in dental clinic activities, contributing to the transformation of public health dentistry practice according to the principies of health systems in Brazil. This \' participation occurs more often in fluoride mouthrinse, dental plaque staining followed by supervised brushing and oral health education activities. The participation in oral health promotion activities happens more often in schools than in health centers. However, in ltú, Embú and Penápolis, the auxiliarias provide expressively dental plaque staining followed by supervised brushing in health centers, reaching population groups who use them. Excluding the health local systems of Campinas and ltú, the proportion of them who practice four-handed dentistry daily is low. ltú, Embú and Penápolis present high grade of expanded functions to auxiliary personnel in dental clinic activities. According to the auxiliary personnel, the aided population answer positively and accept their services well. Besides, dentists have a good or very good professional relationship with them, give them orientation everytime it is necessary; also, in their opinion, dentists ought to keep up the corrent levei of supervision.

Esta tese oferece uma análise para os verbos auxiliares em geral e para os auxiliares do português em particular. A nossa proposta é a de caracterizar universalmente os verbos auxiliares como uma classe de elementos verbais que apresentam as seguintes propriedades: pertencem à categoria verbal, apresentam um traço verbal não-valorado [uV], não atribuem papel temático e compõem, juntamente com o verbo principal, um mesmo domínio oracional. A presença do traço [uV] na estrutura dos verbos auxiliares tem como consequência o fato de esses verbos selecionarem uma projeção verbal como complemento. Dentro dessa projeção estará o alvo que vai valorar esse traço não-interpretável por meio da operação Agree (Chomsky 2000, 2001). A postulação dessas quatro propriedades nos permitiu a derivação de critérios de auxiliaridade, uma reinterpretação dos critérios comumente propostos na literatura. Com esse trabalho, chegamos a uma lista de oito critérios necessários e suficientes para a definição de um verbo como auxiliar no português. Da aplicação desses critérios resultou a composição dos membros da classe dos verbos auxiliares do português: ser, ter, estar e ir. Para a análise das passivas, foi adotado o sistema de derivação por smuggling, sugerido por Collins (2005) e o auxiliar ser foi analisado como um verbo funcional que valora o traço [perfectivo] do particípio passivo. Apontamos para a existência de um outro tipo de passiva, as passivas não-canônicas, que apresentam como traço característico a presença do verbo auxiliar ter. Argumentamos que esse verbo é um produto computacional que resulta da combinação dos traços do auxiliar ser com os traços do núcleo funcional v*. Na análise dos auxiliares ter perfectivo e estar progressivo, adotamos uma postura decomposicional, tal como proposta por Kayne (1993), que deriva esses verbos a partir da incorporação de elementos preposicionais aos traços de um verbo auxiliar abstrato. Com isso, temos três verbos auxiliares que resultam da computação sintática: o auxiliar passivo ter, que é a realização dos traços [vSER v*], o auxiliar perfectivo ter, que realiza os traços [vAUX PDEPOIS] e o verbo auxiliar progressivo estar, cujo conjunto de traços inclui [vAUX PDENTRO]. Por fim o auxiliar ir é tratado como um núcleo modal que, em combinação com os traços do núcleo T, gera a interpretação de futuro. / This dissertation puts forward an analysis of auxiliary verbs in general, and of Portuguese auxiliary verbs in particular. The proposal is to universally characterize auxiliary verbs as a class of verbal elements which (i) belong to the verbal category ; (ii) have a unvalued verbal feature [uV] ; (iii) do not assign theta roles ; and (iv), together with the main verb, compose one single phrasal domain. The presence of [uV] guarantees that the auxiliary verb will select a verbal projection as its complement, within which is the target that will value the uninterpretable [uV] feature by means of the operation Agree (Chomsky 2000, 2001). The four characteristics proposed to describe auxiliary verbs allowed for the derivation of criteria of auxiliarity, a reinterpretation of the criteria usually discussed in the literature. Eight necessary and sufficient criteria define an auxiliary verb in Portuguese. The composition of THE Portuguese auxiliary class with its four members ser, ter, estar and ir resulted from the application of these eight criteria. Passives were analysed by means of the smuggling system, proposed by Collins (2005) and the auxiliary ser was considered to be a functional verb which values the [perfective] feature of the passive participle. A non-canonical passive was found to co-exist with canonical passives, one which shows the auxiliary ter. We argue that ter is the computational product of features of the auxiliary ser with features of the functional node v*. For the analysis of perfective ter and progressive estar, we have adopted a decompositional view along the lines of Kayne (1993), which derives these verbs from the incoporation of prepositional elements to the features of an abstract auxiliary verb. So, three of the Portuguese auxiliary verbs result from syntactic computation: passive ter is the manifestation of the features [vSER - v*]; perfective ter is the manifestation of the features [vAUX - PDEPOIS]; and progressive estar includes the features [vAUX - PDENTRO]. And the auxiliary verb ir is treated as a modal head, which, when combined with features of the head T, generate a future reading.