Bilingual language production is an area of psycholinguistic research that has received recent attention. Experimental evidence from bilingual word production tasks has shown that both languages share representation at the mental lexicon, meaning that concepts will lead to the activation of the target lemma from both languages. Investigations into how bilinguals organise two grammatical systems has largely come from cross-linguistic syntactic priming. Syntactic priming is a phenomenon in which speakers are likely to repeat a syntactic structure in which they have recently experienced: cross-linguistic syntactic priming is when a speaker uses a syntactic structure in one language because they have recently experienced that structure from the other language. Together, the study of the bilingual lexicon and syntactic representations have led to the development of models of bilingual language production. A more recent experimental paradigm is the forced code-switching task in which participants are required to code-switch in some experimental trials. The forced code-switching task is the experimental method used in this thesis. This thesis aims to use this experimental task to test my proposed model of bilingual language production, the Hybrid model. The Hybrid model proposes an architecture of the bilingual lemma stratum that differs from previous models of bilingual language production. The Hybrid model assumes that lexical items from one language can be produced using the syntactic structure of the other language. In this thesis I report seven experiments testing the proposed lemma stratum of the Hybrid model. Experiment 3.1 investigated the production of prenominal adjectives of English and postnominal adjectives of Spanish during code-switching between Spanish and English to see whether speakers would use the lexical items from one language with the word order of the other language. The results showed that speakers almost exclusively used the word order dictated by the language in which they produced the lexical items. This did not support the proposed lemma stratum of the Hybrid model. Experiments 4.1 and 4.2 investigated gender agreement of possessive pronouns during code-switching between Spanish and English to see if the possessive pronoun from one language could be produced using the gender agreement rules from the other language. The results showed that English-Spanish and Spanish-English bilinguals sometimes produced possessive pronouns in one language with the gender agreement rules from the other language. It was demonstrated that this effect was not due to a misunderstanding of the gender agreement rules of the participants' second language. These results support the proposed lemma stratum of the Hybrid model. Experiments 5.1 and 5.2 investigated gender agreement of possessive determiners during code-switching between French and English to see if the possessive determiner from one language could be produced using the gender agreement rules from the other language. The results showed that English-French and French-English bilinguals sometimes produced possessive determiners in one language with the gender agreement rules from the other language. It was demonstrated that this effect was not due to a misunderstanding of the gender agreement rules of the participants' second language. These results support the proposed lemma stratum of the Hybrid model. Experiments 6.1 and 6.2 investigated the production of determiners during code-switching between German and English. Of specific interest was whether English determiners would be produced more often than German determiners because German determiners hold case information whereas English determiners do not. In Experiment 6.1 participants were forced to code-switch before an accusative NP. The results showed that English determiners were sometimes produced within the German NPs, but German determiners were not used within the English NPs. In Experiment 6.2 participants were forced to code-switch before a dative NP. The results showed that participants almost exclusively produced the determiner in the same language as the target noun. Analysing the frequencies of the determiner used within the experimental session, the different pattern of results between Experiments 6.1 and 6.2 may be a result of a competition for selection between determiner forms. To conclude the thesis I discuss the implications of these findings, what they mean for the Hybrid model, and directions for future research.

The scale of the compliance problem that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) faces was recently highlighted by the exposure of state-sponsored doping in Russia and the series of doping scandals within athletics. This study aims to analyse the problems of achieving compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code. Specifically, the study explores the techniques for, and problems of, achieving compliance in three similar international agreements: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime. The Conventions were analysed to identify the range of strategies used to achieve (or at least enhance) the level of compliance with the international conventions, to evaluate their effectiveness as a way of generating ideas for improving compliance with the WADA Code and to assess the comparative success of the WADA. To evaluate compliance, three inter-related bodies of theory were used: regime theory, implementation theory and Mitchell and Chayes (1995) compliance system. Qualitative document analysis was used to analyse documents published by relevant organisations. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with senior staff members responsible for monitoring compliance at the international and UK domestic level. The results identified a range of strategies used to achieve compliance, including a global annual index of compliance, independent monitoring institutions, whistleblowing and domestic lobbying. It is concluded that the identified strategies have had modest and variable success in improving compliance, yet have the potential to address the problems of achieving compliance with the WADA Code.

abstract: Blockchain scalability is one of the issues that concerns its current adopters. The current popular blockchains have initially been designed with imperfections that in- troduce fundamental bottlenecks which limit their ability to have a higher throughput and a lower latency. One of the major bottlenecks for existing blockchain technologies is fast block propagation. A faster block propagation enables a miner to reach a majority of the network within a time constraint and therefore leading to a lower orphan rate and better profitability. In order to attain a throughput that could compete with the current state of the art transaction processing, while also keeping the block intervals same as today, a 24.3 Gigabyte block will be required every 10 minutes with an average transaction size of 500 bytes, which translates to 48600000 transactions every 10 minutes or about 81000 transactions per second. In order to synchronize such large blocks faster across the network while maintain- ing consensus by keeping the orphan rate below 50%, the thesis proposes to aggregate partial block data from multiple nodes using digital fountain codes. The advantages of using a fountain code is that all connected peers can send part of data in an encoded form. When the receiving peer has enough data, it then decodes the information to reconstruct the block. Along with them sending only part information, the data can be relayed over UDP, instead of TCP, improving upon the speed of propagation in the current blockchains. Fountain codes applied in this research are Raptor codes, which allow construction of infinite decoding symbols. The research, when applied to blockchains, increases success rate of block delivery on decode failures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2018

The Story is one of the oldest forms of communication between humans. Various methods have enhanced and updated the Art in a variety of ways since the concept was created. In modern times, a story can exist in multiple mediums because of the variations that humans use today to tell stories. I present an artistic project that will show my development of an original universe, plot, and characters into a storyline introduction for enjoyable purposes. The belief was that these ideas I created could succeed in multiple formats, but I would need to narrow it down and test what I had created. I chose two different mediums, a Written Narrative and a Video Game, as means to tell my story as much as I could within the time frame. By using the opinions of others, I’ll learn if either project can be successful in telling my story and which method offered the best experience with my particular story ideas to share with an individual.

Tese de Mestrado Integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2012

In coding theory we wish to find as many codewords as possible, while simultaneously maintaining high distance between codewords to ease the detection and correction of errors. For linear codes, this translates to finding high-dimensional subspaces of a given metric space, where the induced distance between vectors stays above a specified minimum. In this work I describe the recent advances of this problem in the contexts of lexicodes and Ferrers diagram rank-metric codes. In the first chapter, we study lexicodes. For a ring R, we describe a lexicographic ordering of the left R-module Rn. With this ordering we set up a greedy algorithm which sequentially selects vectors for which all linear combinations satisfy a given property. The resulting output is called a lexicode. This process was discussed earlier in the literature for fields and chain rings. We describe a generalization of the algorithm to finite principal ideal rings. In the second chapter, we investigate Ferrers diagram rank-metric codes, which play a role in the construction of subspace codes. A well-known upper bound for dimension of these codes is conjectured to be sharp. We describe several solved cases of the conjecture, and further contribute new ones. In addition, probabilities for maximal Ferrers diagram codes and MRD codes are investigated in a new light. It is shown that for growing field size, the limiting probability depends highly on the Ferrers diagram.

Timely activation of the rapid response team (RRT) depends on the nurse's willingness and ability to make a rapid decision. The practice-focused questions for this DNP project sought to identify barriers that contribute to delays in activating the RRT when needed in medical-surgical patients. The self-efficacy theory was the guiding theory and was used to examine self-confidence and performance along with Donabedian's health care model. Qualitative data were obtained through focus groups and identified 2 prominent thematic barriers among nurses with less than 3 years' experience: a lack of self-confidence and the of lack of knowledge and experience. Results of a chart review included 34 charts to determine if the RRT were called appropriately and were inconclusive. Finally, an 11 item survey with 9 demographic questions showed a statistically significant difference on the summed survey score between nurses with less than 3 years of experience and more tenured nurses, indicating a lack of perceived support, self-confidence, and knowledge among the nurses with less than 3 years of experience (Pearson chi square = 7.403 with 2 df and p = .025). Results were presented to leaders at the site and the recommendations resulting from these observations include the use of high-fidelity simulation education. Nurse educators and senior leadership from the medical surgical units agreed to accept the recommendations and proceed with developing an educational solution to address the barriers. Building knowledge, skills and self-confidence in nurses reduces the barriers to effective use of the RRT, and results in better outcomes for hospitalized medical-surgical patients, a positive social change.

The American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) has established measures for how quickly a resuscitation team is to respond in a cardiac arrest with performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. Two of the core measures for GWTG require initiation of CPR within 1 minute of cardiac arrest and defibrillation within 2 minutes in at least 85% of cases. The problem of interest in this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was that the facility had not been able to reach 85% on these 2 measures. The purpose of this project was to achieve nursing response times for CPR and defibrillation to meet the core measures. Using the logic model, the project leader implemented mock code training over an 8-week period on the medical-surgical units. The study design for this project was a nonexperimental, retrospective chart review. Compliance data were obtained from the American Heart Association's GWTG database for the facility before and after implementation of mock code training. The results included a review of 10 cardiac arrest cases that occurred after implementation of training. There was 100% compliance with initiation of first compression within 1 minute of cardiac arrest. However, of 2 cases that required defibrillation, only 1 received the shock within 2 minutes. Quantitative descriptive analysis used percentages and a runs chart to compare response times prior to training with response times after training. The chart showed improvement in the area of first compression in meeting the goal of 85% compliance. As a result, the facility will continue to implement mock code training on a routine basis in its effort to improve patient outcomes, including survival and quality of life.

Thesis (M.ED.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / The Department of Education language policy states that all official languages may be used in the teaching and learning at South African schools. The department of Education has adopted an Additive Multilingualism as an approach to teaching. English is however, still being used as the language of learning and teaching, even to the learners who are not mother-tongue speakers of the language. This study explores the question of whether code-switching aids or impedes teaching and learning in Mathematics. The problem arises when learners encounter concepts in Mathematics which are written in English and need to be explained in English. Learners often struggled to understand these concepts with the results that educators resort to using their home language to try to explain what these concepts mean. To understand the nature of this problem and how it affects teaching and learning, a qualitative research was undertaken. Two secondary schools in the Sekgosese East Circuit were purposefully sampled for this study. The purpose of the study was to explore the role of code-switching in the teaching and learning of concepts in Mathematics and its effects on the acquisition of Mathematics. The findings revealed that the school were code-switching was applied performed better in Mathematics than the school where code-switching was not employed. The study recommended that educators should use the learners’ home language in instances where their knowledge of English impedes them to convey the meaning clearly.

Avec l’avènement du règne personnel du Roi soleil et sa volonté de contrôle sur l’ensemble de son royaume en 1661, de nombreux changements sont apparus dans la relation entre la Martinique et la métropole, avec un renforcement des dépendances et inégalités. La première des volontés du roi porta sur l’affirmation de sa majesté. Il enleva le statut seigneurial particulier de la Martinique afin d’intégrer l’île dans le Royaume. L’autre aspect de sa politique, avec l’ambitieux Colbert fut de réformer la dépendance économique, des productions agricoles afin de répondre aux besoins et ambitions “mercantiles” de la France en prônant à nouveau l’exclusif.Les transferts de populations connurent un accroissement considérable. Le plus connu est celui issu des Traites, il est important de distinguer d’autres plus particuliers comme les engagés blancs ou encore les pensionnaires des hôpitaux et les exils. La société coloniale était divisée alors en trois grandes catégories : les blancs, les libres et les serviles, mais les strates étaient bien plus complexes.Le ministère de l’Église fut chargé de maintenir les populations dans l’obéissance à la royauté en leur rappelant leur statut de sujets. Il fut chargé de convertir les esclaves, amérindiens, réformés mais aussi les Juifs présents dans la colonie, afin de les consacrer à une forme de maxime : un roi, une religion.Mais les volontés d’assujettissement des populations créèrent de nombreuses réactions qui furent l’interlope, les révoltes blanches et serviles, le marronnage ou encore la persistance des « réfractaires » religieux. / With the advent of the personal reign of the Sun King and his desire to control his entire kingdom in 1661, many changes have occurred in the relationship between Martinique and metropolitan France, with stronger dependency and inequality. The first of the will of the king fell on the affirmation of his majesty. He removed the particular lordly status of Martinique to integrate the island into the Kingdom. The other aspect of his policy, with the ambitious Colbert was to reform the economic dependence of agricultural production to meet the needs and aspirations "mercantile" in France advocating again exclusive.Population transfers experienced a significant increase . The best known is based on the Treaties, it is important to distinguish it from other more specific as white or residents of hospitals and exiles incurred. Colonial society was divided then into three broad categories: white , free and servile , but the layers are much more complex. The ministry of the Church was responsible for maintaining populations in obedience to royalty reminding them of their status as subjects. The Church was responsible for converting the slaves, Native Americans , but also reformed Jews in the colony , in order to focus on a form of maxim : one king, one religion.But the will of subjugation of populations created many reactions that were the underworld , white and servile revolts, runaways or the persistence of "refractory" religious.