This study explored the development of students' written story structure over a three-year period. Twenty longitudinal writing files, each containing three science fiction stories written at the end of students' grade 3, 4, and 5 years, were studied. The idea development of these sixty stories (20 written at each grade-level) was examined through the use of two methodologies, a genre-independent Idea Analysis, and a genre-specific Narrative Analysis. These analyses were used to explore three aspects of idea structure: (a) idea production, (b) idea elaboration, and (c) narrative structure {i.e., setting, character, and plot development}. / In the area of idea production, the following trends were identified: (a) significant growth from grades 3 to 5 in the number of idea units in students' stories, with a sharp increase in idea-unit production from grades 4 to 5, (b) steady growth in the proportion of embedded {i.e., complex} idea units in students' stories, and (c) steady growth in the proportion of Internal -State units {i.e., descriptions of story-characters' thoughts and feelings}. In the area of idea elaboration, proportions of both Descriptor- and Constraint-use remained stable across grades; in contrast, proportions of Rationale-use (a more specialized form of idea elaboration) increased steadily from grade to grade. Description was the highest-frequency of these three forms of idea elaboration, and the only one used universally by students. In the area of narrative structure, the number of setting elements in students' story openings increased steadily from grade to grade, with particularly strong emphasis on delivery of setting information in grade 5. Character description and narrative goal-setting means also increased steadily from grade to grade; however, within-grade variability was noted. The possibility that dialogue-use mediates growth in these two areas was explored informally. The developmental and instructional implications of these findings were discussed, and recommendations made for future study.

No description available.

This thesis examines Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Marshall's opinion for _Johnson and Graham's Lessee v. William M'Intosh_ (1823) in light of the fictional history he employed in justifying the decision of the Court. I work from Hannah Arendt's conceptions of myth and legend as corrective of history, and conclude in line with Milner S. Ball that the legal transcription of custom into statute finds a natural corollary in the poetic license exercised by forging precedence from obiter dicta. In my examination, I treat law as literature insofar as it allows one to elucidate the elements of _Johnson v. M'Intosh_ that are amorally imperial in nature, and on which America is founded. While legend and law can be formally quite similar, I argue that racist, ethnocentric decisions like _Johnson v. M'Intosh_ demonstrate that if we desire for our laws to endure as the paramount social embodiment of justice, it is essential that the forms of law and legend remain disparate. As I conclude, the violence done Indian tribes by the statutory institution of Marshall's mythical opinion as authoritative, "true" history is unforgiveable and irreparable. / Cette thèse examine l'opinion du président de la Cour suprême des Etats-Unis, John Marshall, sur l'arrêt _Johnson and Graham's Lessee v. William M'Intosh_ (1823), au regard de l'histoire fictionnelle qu'il employait pour justifier la décision de la Cour. Cette thèse étudie la conception d'Hannah Arendt du mythe et de la légende comme correctif de l'Histoire, et conclut, en accord avec Milner S. Ball, que la transcription légale de la coutume en loi trouve un corollaire naturel dans la licence poétique exercée dans la construction de la préséance de l'obiter dicta. Puisque épopée et loi peuvent être formellement similaires, je soutiens que des décisions racistes et ethnocentriques telles que _Johnson v. M'Intosh_ démontrent que si nous désirons que nos lois restent l'incarnation sociale prédominante de justice, il est essentiel que les textes de lois et l'épopée restent distincts. Comme je conclus, la violence faite aux tribues indiennes par l'institution, par Marshall, de l'épopée comme faisant autorité car officielle, "vraie" Histoire, est impardonnable et irréparable.

The three studies presented here represent a two-year program of research that critically explored one case of high-stakes language assessment—English proficiency assessment for teacher certification in Quebec, Canada.The first study was an examination of the final administration of a writing test used for this purpose at one Quebec university before this test was replaced. In this study, mismatches were revealed in stakeholder perceptions of the task to be produced in this assessment. The second study examined the pilot administration of a new replacement test. It focused on the socio-political environment of the test—namely, how the perception of high or low stakes by raters affected scoring. Results from this study suggested that test stakes—to all stakeholders, including raters—is a worthwhile focus of study. The third study examined the first official administration of the new test, and focused on rater behavior from a socio-cognitive perspective, suggesting that information on decision-making style may provide insight into variability in rater scoring.This program of research has been critical in that •it has integrated social and political values into the test validation process;•test stakeholders, including the test takers themselves, have not only been consulted but have determined the direction of the research program to a great extent; and•the conflicting views and competing interests of the stakeholders have been embraced and have enriched the research program.These studies will make contributions to the field of language assessment, and in particular, in better understanding how all elements of the subjectively-scored assessment situation interact. Because of its critical approach, these studies have demonstrated a responsible and progressive approach to researching the assessment of language proficiency for professional certification. In addition, the use of mixed methods designs in all three studies has been somewhat innovative and will add to the emerging field of mixed method research. / Les trois études présentées ici forment une programme de recherche unie, étalé sur deux ans, qui explore de manière critique une étude de cas se rapportant aux enjeux majeurs de l'évaluation de la langue et en particulier, au jugement de la compétence en anglais dans la certification des enseignants du Québec.La première étude est une exploration de l'ancienne épreuve finale du test écrit évaluant cette compétence. Celle-ci trace un portrait des divergences de perceptions des partis impliqués (étudiants, administrateurs et correcteurs) de la tâche exigée par cette épreuve. La deuxième étude examine l'administration pilote d'un nouveau test (The English Exam for Teacher Certification ou EETC). Cette étude s'attarde à l'environnement sociopolitique du processus d'évaluation et tente de déterminer en quoi les perceptions des conséquences d'échec entretenues par les évaluateurs peuvent affecter le score attribué. La troisième étude porte sur la première administration officielle du EETC. Dans une perspective sociocognitive, le comportement de l'évaluateur y est analysé. Cette étude cherche à déterminer comment l'information est perçue et traitée selon le style cognitive des évaluateurs et en quoi ce style peut affecter leur décision.Ce programme de recherche est critique dans le sens qu'il :-a intégré des valeurs sociales et politiques tout au long du processus de validation du test ;-a impliqué les différents acteurs concernés (étudiants, administrateurs et correcteurs) dans l'orientation de ce projet ; -a pris en compte les divers points de vue et intérêts des partis impliqués pour enrichir le programme de recherche.Ces études contribueront à l'élargissement des connaissances dans le domaine de l'évaluation de la langue. Entre autres, les résultats de celles-ci permettront de mieux saisir les interactions de chacun des partis impliqués dans cette situation d'évaluation. Cette recherche critique sur l'évaluation de la compétence de la langue pour la certification professionnelle a donné lieu à trois études menées dans une perspective progressiste et responsable. De plus, le recours à des méthodes variées pour chacune des études s'inscrit dans le domaine émergeant des méthodologiques mixtes.

Using Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), software resides on servers not on user computers. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides the ability to divide an application into parts known as services. This allows enhanced support for distribution, code re-use and code sharing. Combining these ideas, applications can be dynamically composed from components stored at convenient locations in a wide-area network. This benefits users since software installation and upgrades are unnecessary and is also suited to personal devices that may have limited resources (e.g. disk space) to support conventional installed software. I have designed, prototyped, and evaluated component-placement and location algorithms for a system that combines ideas from SaaS and SOA to support on-demand composition of applications that run on user devices from storage sites in the network. These algorithms support mobility and are scalable and reliable. I have implemented a Java prototype and a simulation system that I used to assess my system’s behaviour.

No description available.

Collagenases were extracted from the skeletal muscle of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) with Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4, containing 5 mM CaCl$ sb2.$ The crude extract in the active form was purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, followed by a succession of column chromatographic steps which included ion-exchange, immobilized metal affinity and size-exclusion in the Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) system. The trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like activities of the crude extract diminished with purification. A comparative study of the collagenase fraction from ion-exchange chromatography (IEX-1) and the commercial collagenase fraction from Clostridium histolyticum indicated that the two enzymes were similar with respect to their response to temperature but differed with respect to their response to pH. The enzymes differed slightly in terms of their thermal and pH stabilities. The winter flounder collagenase fraction from size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) had a higher optimum pH temperature than the IEX-1 fraction as well as the commercial collagenase. However, both SEC and the IEX-1 extracts had the same optimum pH. The collagenase fraction from SEC had a slightly lower thermal stability than the IEX-1 fraction and the commercial collagenase. / The higher catalytic efficiency (V$ sb{ rm max}$/K$ sb{ rm m}$') and the lower $ Delta$G values for C. histolyticum collagenases showed that bacterial collagenases are better catalysts than winter flounder skeletal muscle collagenases for the PZ-peptide hydrolase reaction at 37$ sp circ$C and pH 7.1. / Zymography revealed the presence of two collagenase isoenzymes from the fish muscle, designated as WFC-1 and WFC-2 with molecular weights of 79,600 and 75,500, respectively. WFC-1 was separated from WFC-2 by electrophoretic blotting onto the PVDF membrane. The amino acid composition of WFC-1 and WFC-2 were closely related. / The fish collagenases were inhibited by metal chelators, EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline suggesting that these enzymes are metalloproteases. The enzyme activity in the presence of EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline were recovered upon addition of low levels of calcium and zinc ions, respectively. Higher levels of these metal ions inhibited the isoenzymes. 2-Mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol were also effective inhibitors.

<p> This dissertation is a historical project that traces the development of notable strands of composition pedagogy first crafted by Gregory Ulmer in his 1984 Applied Grammatology that continue to the present day, and groups them together in how they are incorporating multimodal tools in writing instruction that demand innovation in composition instruction. This will demonstrate how the work of certain contemporary composition scholars can be seen as creatively re-working the invention model that was devised and promoted by Ulmer in 1984. Through this history of invention in composition, Ulmer's invention model of writing instruction is clearly seen as both situated within a contemporary American Romanticism, and influenced heavily by Derridean deconstruction, and I will show that today's scholars who are students of Ulmer's invention model are creating pedagogy that effectively bring together elements of both Romanticism and Deconstruction.</p>

No description available.

No description available.