Software size measurement provides a basis for software project management and plays an important role for its activities such as project management estimations, process benchmarking, and quality control. As size can be measured with functional size measurement (FSM) methods in the early phases of the software projects, functionality is one of the most frequently used metric. On the other hand, FSMs are being criticized by being subjective. The main aim of this thesis is increasing the accuracy of the measurements, by decreasing the number of defects concerning FSMs that are measured by COSMIC FSM method. For this purpose, an approach that allows detecting defects of FSMs automatically is developed. During the development of the approach, first of all error classifications are established. To detect defects of COSMIC FSMs automatically, COSMIC FSM Defect Detection Approach (DDA) is proposed. Later, based on the proposed approach, COSMIC FSM DDT (DDT) is developed.

No description available.

En aquesta tesi s'analitzen les vivències d'un grup d'estudiants de primer de Magisteri d'Educació Infantil suscitades en la pràctica de situaciones motrius introjectives, és a dir, aquelles pràctiques motrius amb un lògica interna que suscita un procés d'autoconeixement i benestar personal de qui les posa en pràctica.Per tal de dur a terme la investigació s'utiliza el diari de pràctiques dels estudiants com a instrument de recollida de dades, i l'anàlisi de contingut és el mètode emprat per tal d'analitzar i interpretar les vivències en el seu context. Es tracta d'un estudi de casos, d'una recerca d'orientació fenomenològico-hermenèutica que s'endinsa en la subjectivitat dels seus protagonistes, on la docent és al mateix temps investigadora.Aquesta investigació asumeix que tota pràctica motriu constitueix un sistema praxiològic (Parlebas, 2001), el que ha permès elaborar un sistema de categories ad hoc deduïnt com a dimensions d'anàlisi el components d'aquest sistema: els participants, l'espai, el temps i el material, i definint els indicadors corresponents a partir de la descripció de les relacions intrasistèmiques entre els components del sistema praxiològic, és a dir, de la lògica interna de cadascún dels exercicis didàctics programats.Categoritzant d'aquesta manera els textos dels estudiants, s'han descrit primer una sèrie d'unitats d'anàlisi que identifiquen les vivències de les dificultats i els beneficis resultants de la pràctica dels exercicis didàctics, i després s'ha interpretat el seu significat en el context educatiu al que pertanyen. Això ha permès identificar l'itinerari pedagògic seguit pels estudiants i posar de relleu l'impacte emocional, afectiu i motor que ha tingut la pràctica de situacions motrius introjectives.Per tant, es considera prioritària una educació motriu conscient i sensitiva en la formació inicial dels mestres, una educació que contribueixi a l'adquisició de competències socials i personals com l'autoconeixement, la conciència sensitiva, l'autorregulació emocional o l'empatia amb els demés, que orienti i estimuli als estudiants, futurs mestres, a emprendre un procés constant de millora personal i professional. / En esta tesis se analizan las vivencias de un grupo de estudiantes de primero de Magisterio de Educación Infantil suscitadas en la práctica de situaciones motrices introyectivas, es decir, prácticas motrices cuya lógica interna suscita un proceso de autoconocimiento y bienestar personal de aquél que las pone en práctica.Se utiliza el diario de prácticas de los estudiantes como instrumento de recogida de datos, y el análisis de contenido como método para analizar e interpretar las vivencias en su contexto.Se trata de un estudio de casos, una investigación educativa con orientación fenomenológicohermenéutica que se introduce en la subjetividad de sus protagonistas, en la que la docente desempeña a su vez el rol de investigadora.Esta investigación asume que toda práctica motriz constituye un sistema praxiológico (Parlebas, 2001), lo que ha permitido elaborar un sistema de categorías ad hoc deduciendo como dimensiones de análisis los componentes de este sistema: los participantes, el espacio, el tiempo y el material, y definir los indicadores correspondientes a partir de la descripción de las relaciones intrasistémicas existentes entre los componentes del sistema praxiológico, es decir, de la lógica interna de cada uno de los ejercicios didácticos programados.Al categorizar de este modo los discursos de los estudiantes, se han descrito primero una serie de unidades de análisis que identifican las vivencias acerca de las dificultades y los logros como consecuencia de la práctica de los ejercicios didácticos, para interpretarlas después a tenor del contexto educativo del que proceden, lo que ha permitido identificar el itinerario pedagógico seguido por los estudiantes y poner de manifiesto el impacto emocional, afectivo y motor que la práctica de situaciones motrices introyectivas ha tenido en ellos.De ahí que se considere prioritario incluir una educación motriz consciente y sensitiva en la formación inicial de los maestros, una educación que contribuya a la adquisición de competencias sociales y personales como el autoconocimiento, la autorregulación emocional, la empatía con los demás o la conciencia sensitiva, que oriente y estimule a los estudiantes, futuros maestros, a emprender un proceso constante de mejora personal y profesional. / The present thesis goes through the experiences that a group of first-year students of Childhood Education (Magisterio de Educación Infantil) lived while practising introjective motor skill situations -i.e. motor skill exercises in which the inner logic provokes a process of sensorial self-awareness and psychosomatic balance on those who practise them.The students' practice diary is used for data gathering, while the content analysis serves as a method for the analysis and interpretation of the experiences in their context. This is a case study, an educational research, phenomenologically and hermeneutically-oriented, that penetrates its object's subjectivity, and one in which the teacher takes on her role as researcher as well.The research considers every motor skill practice as a praxiological system (Parlebas, 2001), and this allows for the composition of a system of ad-hoc categories where the dimensions for analysis are conformed by the system components (participants, space, time and materials), and for the definition of the corresponding indicators from the description of the intra-systemic relations existing among the praxiological system components -i.e. from the inner logic in each of the educational exercises scheduled.By thus categorizing the students' discourse, a series of analysis units has been described first -units that identify the experience lived from difficulties and achievements as a consequence of the practice of educational exercises- to be later interpreted according to the educational context they arose in. This allows for the identification of the pedagogical itinerary followed by the students, and for their manifestation of the emotional, affective and motor impact experienced in the practice of introjective motor skill situations.Hence the regarding of the importance for a conscious and sensorial motor skill education in the initial training of teachers, an education that contribute to the acquisition of social and personal abilities that stimulate students, future teachers, to better understand a constant process of professional and personal improvement. / Dans cette thèse, nous analyserons les expériences (le vécu) d'un groupe d'étudiants de première année d'enseignement universitaire en Education Maternelle (Magisterio de Educación Infantil). Celles-ci, suscitées par la pratique de situations motrices introjectives.C'est-à-dire de pratiques motrices dont la logique interne occasionne un processus de connaissance de soi au niveau sensitif et de l'équilibre psychosomatique de celui qui les met en pratique.Le carnet de bord de chaque étudiant sera utilisé comme instrument de recueil de données et, l'analyse du contenu comme méthode pour analyser et interpréter les expériences dans leur contexte. Il s'agit donc d'une étude de cas. Une investigation éducative avec une orientation phénoménologico-herméneutique, qui s'introduit dans la subjectivité de ses protagonistes et dans laquelle, l'enseignant assume aussi le rôle d'investigateur.Cette investigation considère que toute pratique motrice constitue un système praxiologique (Parlebas, 2001). Ce qui a permis d'élaborer un système de catégories ad hoc, en déduisant comme dimensions d'analyse, les composants de ce système: les participants, l'espace, le temps et le matériel. Puis, de définir les indicateurs correspondants, à partir de la description des relations intrasystémiques existantes, entre les différents composants du système praxiologique. C'est-à-dire de la logique interne de chacun des exercices didactiques programmés.A catégoriser de cette façon les réflexions des étudiants, nous avons décrit d'abord une série d'unités d'analyse qui identifient les expériences (le vécu) face aux difficultés et aux réussites comme conséquence de la pratique des exercices didactiques. Afin de les interpréter plus tard, dans le contexte éducatif dont elles procèdent. Ce qui a permis d'identifier l'itinéraire pédagogique suivi par les étudiants, et mettre en avant l'impact émotionnel, affectif et moteur que la pratique de situations motrices introjectives a provoqué chez eux.Et ainsi donc, mettre en évidence l'intérêt majeur d'inclure une éducation motrice.

Kant is famous for his use of transcendental arguments in the transcendental deduction. This thesis examines how such a transcendental argument is used within Kant’s methodological framework. Following the work of Henrich and Walker, the paper asks whether transcendental arguments in the Critique of Pure Reason are compatible with Kant’s methodology in general. We find that these arguments and Kant’s methodology are compatible, and that transcendental arguments are indeed very weak arguments by Walker’s standards. However, the entire transcendental deduction should be understood as a deduction writing that uses transcendental arguments particularly effectively according to Kant’s own methodological standards.

Objective: Some adolescents and young adults who do not fulfill criteria for DSM-IV alcohol abuse (AA) report symptoms of DSM-IV alcohol dependence (AD) below the diagnostic threshold (diagnostic orphans, DOs; 1 or 2 symptoms). Contemporarily, little is known on the long-term stability, risk of progression to AD, impairment, and drinking patterns possibly associated with this status in the first decades of life. Aim: (1) To identify prevalence rates of the DO status from adolescence to early adulthood. To investigate (2) stability and variability of the DO status over time and (3) associations between DO status, drinking patterns and impairment in comparison to subjects with AA, with AD, or without any symptoms. Method: N = 2039 community subjects (aged 14–24 years at baseline) were assessed at baseline and at about four and ten years after baseline. DSM-IV AUD diagnoses were obtained with the DIA-X/M-CIDI. Results: About 11–12% of the sample was classified as DOs at all waves. Over a period of ten years, 18% of DOs were stable in their diagnosis and additional 10% progressed to AD. DOs were comparable to subjects with AA in drinking patterns, impairment and stability of diagnostic status. DOs progressed to AD significantly more often than AA. AD was associated with highest levels in all outcomes of interest. Conclusions: The DO status in adolescence and early adulthood is associated with considerable stability, risk of progression and problematic alcohol intake. In consequence, it can be meaningful for the timely identification of early stages of clinically relevant alcohol problems. For subjects with DO status early specific interventions are required.

No description available.

The ways that categories of immigration are drawn and standards of successful citizenship are measured in Canadian society influence the ways that people script themselves to appear as worthy immigrant applicants and potential Canadian citizens. For immigrant hopefuls, scripting oneself using the language of immigration and positioning oneself as a deserving and desirable immigrant is crucial for gaining mobility and passage into Canadian society. In my thesis, I explore the literature surrounding processes and concepts like borders, mobility, good citizenship, the ???white standard???, and racialization that serve as foundations and outcomes of scripting ???good??? immigrants and ???successful??? citizenship. I embed the experiences of my informants within an analysis of this literature as well as the processes of immigration outlined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). I find that scripting immigrant categories and citizenship can result in immigrants enacting only a limited Canadianness. Immigrant categories involve restrictive policies that can result in exploitation. I also offer that immigrants may live a double-consciousness through their transnationalism and constituting of ???back home???. The larger hope for this project is to provide an understanding of the processes of scripting that work to make exclusive the right to be Canadian so that the vulnerability and suffering caused by the existence of hierarchies of citizenship can be tackled as a public issue and make for a more inclusive and equitable Canada.

Several theorists (amongst whom Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:175) have stated that the verb (or the verbal group) is the core element in clauses and is largely responsible for the grammatical structure of language. In spite of this pivotal role that verbs fulfil in clauses, lexical specificity is rarely investigated in this class. Instead researchers prefer to investigate lexical specificity in the noun class. It is against this background that the main purpose of this study is to investigate specificity in the lexical verbs of first language (L1) English users and Black South African English (BSAE) users. In order to achieve this aim the secondary aims of the study are: to develop a framework for the analysis of lexical specificity in the lexical verb word class (ii) to compare specificity with regard to lexical verbs in L1 English and BSAE by using corpora, which allows one to firstly test the analysis framework on corpus data and secondly to determine whether or not lexical verbs in BSAE are less specific than lexical verbs in L1 English (iii) to establish the reasons for the differences in lexical specificity with regard to lexical verbs between L1 English and BSAE English. In order to achieve these aims, two corpora were used: the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (also known as LOCNESS) that consists of texts written by a subpopulation of L1 English users and the Tswana Learner English Corpus (also known as the TLE) that consists of texts written by a subpopulation of BSAE users. The results obtained in this study were interpreted from both a systemic functional perspective and a cognitive perspective. The initial quantitative results indicated that even though the BSAE users use lexical verbs (tokens) more frequently than L1 English users do, the BSAE users have fewer lexical verb lemmas (types) at their disposal than the L1 English users. Statistical tests determined that the mean type/token ratio between the two independent corpora is not only significant, but that the degree to which there is more specificity in the lexical verbs of the L1 English users than in the lexical verbs of the BSAE users is large. Due to space constraints, the qualitative part of the study focused only on the communication verbs in LOCNESS and the TLE. In order to provide an in-depth overview of the communication verbs, the communication verbs were divided into five semantic subcategories (using frequency counts and semantic considerations). They are: (i) to say something in a particular manner] (ii) to say something in order to express one’s feelings] (iii) to say something in order to convey information] (iv) to say something to someone in order to elicit a certain response] (v) to say something in response to something already said] Each of these semantic categories in turn was divided into semantic subcategories to present a detailed insight into the communication verbs employed in both LOCNESS and the TLE. In the study it was determined that there is overall more specificity in the lexical verbs of the L1 English users than in the lexical verbs of the L2 English users. It was also determined that there is overall more lexical diversity within the lexical verbs of the L1 English users. The following factors influenced the lexical specificity and lexical diversity in the corpora: (i) In cases where more general communication verbs are elaborated by verbs containing manner elaborations, the BSAE users tend not to use the more specific verbs. (ii) Communication verbs that usually play an important role in academic literacy (such as summarise and argue) are used to a lesser extent by the BSAE users than the L1 English users. (iii) In cases where a communication verb could possibly belong to another semantic category (as is the case with the verbs stress and maintain) the BSAE users tend to avoid using the verbs as communication verbs. (iv) Some communication verbs (such as demand and beg) acquired additional meanings in BSAE. (v) Some essay topics in both LOCNESS and the TLE influenced the frequencies of some communication verbs in the respective corpora. Considering the factors above, it was found that being a L2 English user means that English will not always function in the same contexts for the BSAE users as it would for the L1 English users. Therefore the vocabulary of the BSAE users will only be specific and diversified in those semantic categories needed to function in certain contexts. Consequently, the findings of this study can be used to contribute to the development of pedagogical material in academic literacy courses being presented to BSAE users to create an awareness of the variation in English and all the contexts in which it can function. The findings can also be of value to researchers in the fields of lexicography and computational linguistics. / Thesis (M.A. (English))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Several theorists (amongst whom Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004:175) have stated that the verb (or the verbal group) is the core element in clauses and is largely responsible for the grammatical structure of language. In spite of this pivotal role that verbs fulfil in clauses, lexical specificity is rarely investigated in this class. Instead researchers prefer to investigate lexical specificity in the noun class. It is against this background that the main purpose of this study is to investigate specificity in the lexical verbs of first language (L1) English users and Black South African English (BSAE) users. In order to achieve this aim the secondary aims of the study are: to develop a framework for the analysis of lexical specificity in the lexical verb word class (ii) to compare specificity with regard to lexical verbs in L1 English and BSAE by using corpora, which allows one to firstly test the analysis framework on corpus data and secondly to determine whether or not lexical verbs in BSAE are less specific than lexical verbs in L1 English (iii) to establish the reasons for the differences in lexical specificity with regard to lexical verbs between L1 English and BSAE English. In order to achieve these aims, two corpora were used: the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays (also known as LOCNESS) that consists of texts written by a subpopulation of L1 English users and the Tswana Learner English Corpus (also known as the TLE) that consists of texts written by a subpopulation of BSAE users. The results obtained in this study were interpreted from both a systemic functional perspective and a cognitive perspective. The initial quantitative results indicated that even though the BSAE users use lexical verbs (tokens) more frequently than L1 English users do, the BSAE users have fewer lexical verb lemmas (types) at their disposal than the L1 English users. Statistical tests determined that the mean type/token ratio between the two independent corpora is not only significant, but that the degree to which there is more specificity in the lexical verbs of the L1 English users than in the lexical verbs of the BSAE users is large. Due to space constraints, the qualitative part of the study focused only on the communication verbs in LOCNESS and the TLE. In order to provide an in-depth overview of the communication verbs, the communication verbs were divided into five semantic subcategories (using frequency counts and semantic considerations). They are: (i) to say something in a particular manner] (ii) to say something in order to express one’s feelings] (iii) to say something in order to convey information] (iv) to say something to someone in order to elicit a certain response] (v) to say something in response to something already said] Each of these semantic categories in turn was divided into semantic subcategories to present a detailed insight into the communication verbs employed in both LOCNESS and the TLE. In the study it was determined that there is overall more specificity in the lexical verbs of the L1 English users than in the lexical verbs of the L2 English users. It was also determined that there is overall more lexical diversity within the lexical verbs of the L1 English users. The following factors influenced the lexical specificity and lexical diversity in the corpora: (i) In cases where more general communication verbs are elaborated by verbs containing manner elaborations, the BSAE users tend not to use the more specific verbs. (ii) Communication verbs that usually play an important role in academic literacy (such as summarise and argue) are used to a lesser extent by the BSAE users than the L1 English users. (iii) In cases where a communication verb could possibly belong to another semantic category (as is the case with the verbs stress and maintain) the BSAE users tend to avoid using the verbs as communication verbs. (iv) Some communication verbs (such as demand and beg) acquired additional meanings in BSAE. (v) Some essay topics in both LOCNESS and the TLE influenced the frequencies of some communication verbs in the respective corpora. Considering the factors above, it was found that being a L2 English user means that English will not always function in the same contexts for the BSAE users as it would for the L1 English users. Therefore the vocabulary of the BSAE users will only be specific and diversified in those semantic categories needed to function in certain contexts. Consequently, the findings of this study can be used to contribute to the development of pedagogical material in academic literacy courses being presented to BSAE users to create an awareness of the variation in English and all the contexts in which it can function. The findings can also be of value to researchers in the fields of lexicography and computational linguistics. / Thesis (M.A. (English))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

English exhibits a rich apparatus of tense, aspect, time adverbials and other expressions that can be used to order states of affairs with respect to each other, or to locate them at a point in time with respect to the moment of speech. Ideally one would want a semantics for these expressions to demonstrate that an orderly relationship exists between any one expression and the meanings it conveys. Yet most existing linguistic and formal semantic accounts leave something to be desired in this respect, describing natural language temporal categories as being full of ambiguities and indetenninacies, apparently escaping a uniform semantic description. It will be argued that this anomaly stems from the assumption that the semantics of these expressions is directly related to the linear conception of time familiar from temporal logic or physics - an assumption which can be seen to underly most of the current work on tense and aspect. According to these theories, the cognitive work involved in the processing of temporal discourse consists of the ordering of events as points or intervals on a time line or a set of time lines. There are, however, good reasons for wondering whether this time concept really is the one that our linguistic categories are most directly related to; it will be argued that a semantics of temporally referring expressions and a theory of their use in defining the temporal relations of events require a different and more complex structure underlying the meaning representations than is commonly assumed. A semantics will be developed, based on the assumption that categories like tense, aspect, aspectual adverbials and propositions refer to a mental representation of events that is structured on other than purely temporal principles, and to which the notion of a nucleus or consequentially related sequence of preparatory process, goal event and consequent state is central. It will be argued that the identification of the correct ontology is a logical preliminary to the choice of any particular formal representation scheme, as well as being essential in the design of natural language front-ends for temporal databases. It will be shown how the ontology developed here can be implemented in a database that contains time-related information about events and that is to be queried by means of natural language utterances.