archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Lu Yao

<p>Detta arbete är det första steget i en lång process vars slutgiltiga mål är att utveckla en metod för automatisk övergång från en icke-generisk objektorienterad applikation till en generisk.</p><p>Helst borde stöd för en sådan transformation implementeras i en utvecklingsmiljö, IDE. En analogi skulle kunna dras till faktorisering av klasser, en operation som stöds av de flesta utvecklingsmiljöer idag. Som ett första steg i en pågående process är detta arbete tänkt att fungera som ett icke-trivialt exempel för framtida analys. Exemplet består av ett icke-generisk och ett generisk grafpaket som är skrivet i Java 1.4.2 respektive Java 5.0. Uppsatsen beskriver övergången från den icke-generiska till den generiska lösningen på systematiskt sätt som går att upprepa. Tanken är att detta arbete även skall kunna appliceras på andra språk och applikationer i framtiden.</p> / <p>This work is the first step in a long process, which final goal is to develop a method that automatically allows you to go from a non-generic object-oriented program to a generic one. Preferably, support for such a conversion should be implemented in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). An analogy could be drawn to the factorisation of classes, an operation supported by the most common IDEs today. As a first step in an ongoing process, this work is meant to be a non-trivial example for future analysis. The example project constitutes of a non-generic and a generic graph package, which is written in Java 1.4.2 and Java 5.0 respectively. The thesis describes the transition from the non-generic to the generic solution in a systematic and repeatable way. The idea is that this work could be applied to other languages and applications in the future, as well.</p>

Generics has recently been adopted to many mainstream object oriented languages, such as C# and Java. As a particular design choice, generics in C# and Java use a sub-typing relation to constraint type parameters. Failing to encapsulate type parameters within generic interfaces and inability to encapsulate type constraints as part of an interface definition have been identified as deficiencies in the way this design choice has been implemented in these languages. These deficiencies can lead to verbose and redundant code. In particular, they have been reported to affect the development of highly generic libraries. To address these issues, extending object oriented interfaces and sub-typing with associated types and constraint propagation has been proposed and studied in an idealized small-scale formal setting. This thesis builds on this previous work and provides a design and implementation of the extensions in full C#. We also present a proof of soundness of the Featherweight Generic Java (FGJ) formalism extended with interfaces. This property was assumed in a proof of type safety of associated types and constraint propagation, but no proof for the property was provided.

Landman (1989) introduced contemporary linguistics to the as-phrase. An as-phrase is a qualifier, introduced in English by "as." "John is corrupt as a judge," for instance, contains the as-phrase "as a judge." Philosophical discourse is full of examples of as-phrase sentences. Their presence can make it difficult to distinguish valid from invalid arguments, a perennial concern for philosophers. Landman proposed the first formal semantic theory of as-phrases, based on a set of seven intuitively-valid patterns of inference involving as-phrases. Szabó (2003), Jaeger (2003), Asher (2011) each attempt to improve upon Landman's theory. Chapter 1 reviews and criticizes a temporal account of as-phrase semantics, while tracing some precedents and motivations for my approach. Chapters 2-3 criticize Szabó's and Asher's theories. Szabó's theory shows problems handling the future tense and intensional contexts. Asher's complex theory solves these problems, but resorts to the obscure notions of relative identity and bare particulars. Chapter 4 argues that neither Szabó's nor Asher's theory is clearly superior, because implicitly, they focus on different classes of sentences, which I call "Type A" and "Type B." From John Bowers' syntactic research, I argue that the element common to Type A and Type B is Pr, a predication head pronounced "as" in some contexts. Chapter 5 develops a formal semantic theory tailored to Type A sentences that solves the problems of Szabó's theory while avoiding Asher's assumptions. On my approach, the semantic properties of Type A sentences resolve into an interaction among generic quantifiers, determiner-phrase interpretation, and one core quantifier based on a principal ultrafilter. It is the interaction-effects of these elements that give rise to the many unusual readings we find in these as-phrase sentences. This result supports my motivating view that linguistic research helps to solve semantic problems of philosophical interest.

Detta arbete är det första steget i en lång process vars slutgiltiga mål är att utveckla en metod för automatisk övergång från en icke-generisk objektorienterad applikation till en generisk. Helst borde stöd för en sådan transformation implementeras i en utvecklingsmiljö, IDE. En analogi skulle kunna dras till faktorisering av klasser, en operation som stöds av de flesta utvecklingsmiljöer idag. Som ett första steg i en pågående process är detta arbete tänkt att fungera som ett icke-trivialt exempel för framtida analys. Exemplet består av ett icke-generisk och ett generisk grafpaket som är skrivet i Java 1.4.2 respektive Java 5.0. Uppsatsen beskriver övergången från den icke-generiska till den generiska lösningen på systematiskt sätt som går att upprepa. Tanken är att detta arbete även skall kunna appliceras på andra språk och applikationer i framtiden. / This work is the first step in a long process, which final goal is to develop a method that automatically allows you to go from a non-generic object-oriented program to a generic one. Preferably, support for such a conversion should be implemented in an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). An analogy could be drawn to the factorisation of classes, an operation supported by the most common IDEs today. As a first step in an ongoing process, this work is meant to be a non-trivial example for future analysis. The example project constitutes of a non-generic and a generic graph package, which is written in Java 1.4.2 and Java 5.0 respectively. The thesis describes the transition from the non-generic to the generic solution in a systematic and repeatable way. The idea is that this work could be applied to other languages and applications in the future, as well.

A qualidade da Educação oferecida pela Escola pública brasileira é objeto de inúmeras discussões e debates, tanto no campo político quanto nos meios científicos e acadêmicos. No contexto social atual, a grande questão que se apresenta é se esta Escola consegue cumprir a sua função educativa. Em decorrência disto, uma série de discursos apresenta-se para explicar, justificar ou simplesmente criticar tal realidade educacional. Nesta pesquisa, foram investigados alguns efeitos dessa produção discursiva sobre o imaginário social, dando-se uma atenção especial ao trabalho de naturalização de sentidos que a ideologia promove aí. Mais especificamente, foi analisado como esses discursos (re)produzem-se em fórmulas genéricas, tais como tem que estudar para ser alguém na vida, enunciadas por estudantes de Ensino Médio de uma escola pública. O referencial teórico-metodológico que sustenta este trabalho é o proposto pela Análise de Discurso Pechêutiana (AD), disciplina científica construída a partir de (re)leituras da lingüística, do marxismo e da psicanálise. A AD ocupa-se dos processos sócio-históricos de constituição do sentido e, também, dos gestos de leitura e interpretação. Seu objeto é o discurso, o qual deve ser entendido como um efeito de sentido entre interlocutores. Esta perspectiva distancia-se das abordagens idealistas que interpretam o significado (exato) das coisas e das palavras, pois concebe a língua como um sistema, dinâmico, afetado pela história e pela ideologia. A partir dos conceitos da AD, empreendemos uma leitura das teorias e idéias (científicas) que fornecem explicações sobre o fracasso escolar. Esta produção discursiva foi interpretada como uma tentativa de explicar-dissimular os efeitos da atualização da luta de classes e da divisão social do trabalho na Escola, indicando que as contradições fundamentais que vigoram em nossa sociedade de consumo produzem seus efeitos nesse espaço institucional. A leitura destas teorias foi fundamental para a articulação deste trabalho, já que se tem aí um importante campo discursivo sobre a Escola e a Educação. Para a construção do corpus (conjunto de enunciados investigados) de pesquisa, foi elaborado um roteiro de entrevista semi-estruturada com questões sobre a Educação, a Escola e o Trabalho. Foram selecionados para a análise três recortes nos quais os estudantes recorreram ao uso de genéricos discursivos (slogans, provérbios, máximas, etc.) para tratar de questões relacionadas à sua história acadêmica e às suas expectativas com relação ao seu futuro profissional. Na análise destes enunciados genéricos, identificamos a presença marcante de um discurso que apresenta a escolarização como a condição para se obter o sucesso social-profissional, e também, de uma ideologia que difunde um ideal de Escola democrática e igualitária, da forma como é veiculada pelo Discurso Pedagógico Escolar tradicional (D.P.E.). Por outro lado, como vimos, o sujeito não ocupa sempre a mesma posição com relação à ideologia, podendo, em alguns pontos, em função das condições de produção que determinam a enunciação, ocupar posições de resistência a determinados discursos. Isto não significa, entretanto, a liberdade do sujeito, pois todas as suas interpretações, suas tomadas de posição, são mediadas pela ação do recalque e da ideologia. / The quality of the Education provided by Brazilian public School is the point of several discussions and debates, not only in politics, but also in the scientific and academic fields. In the current social context, the main issue presented is whether this School is capable of meeting its educational duty or not. As a result of this, a series of discourses is presented to explain, justify or simply criticize such educational reality. In this research, some of the effects of that discursive production about the social imaginary were scrutinized, paying special attention to the work of naturalization of the meaning promoted by the ideology. More specifically, it was analyzed how those discourses are (re)produced in generic formulas, such as you have to study to be someone in life expressed by Secondary students from a public school. The theoretical-methodological reference that supports this research is the one proposed by Discourse Analysis from Pêcheux (DA), a scientific subject built from (re)readings of linguistic, Marxism and psychoanalysis. DA studies the social historical processes of constitution of the meaning, but also the reading and interpretation acts. Its object is the discourse, which must be understood as the effect of meanings between speakers. This perspective withdraws itself from the idealistic approaches that interpret the (exact) meaning of things and words, as it regards the language as a system, dynamic, affected by history and ideology. From DA concepts, a reading of the theories and (scientific) ideas that provide explanations on the school failure was developed. This discursive production was interpreted as an attempt to explain/dissimulate the effects of the modernization in the fight of classes and social division of labor in School, showing that the fundamental contradictions which are held in our consumer society produce their effects in this institutional space. The reading of those theories was essential to the development of this research, as we can find there an important discursive field on School and Education. In order to build the corpus (all the studied utterances), it was prepared a semi structured interview script with questions on Education, School and Labor. To the analysis, three extracts were selected, in which students resorted to the use of discursive generics (slogans, proverbs, maxims, etc.) to address issues related to their academic history and their expectations towards their professional future. While analyzing these generic utterances, it was identified the remarkable presence of a discourse that presents the schooling as a condition to achieve the social-professional success, and also, the presence of an ideology that spreads an ideal of a Democratic and Equalitarian School, the way it is addressed by the traditional School Pedagogic Discourse (EPD). On the other hand, as seen, the subject is not on the same position concerning the ideology, but it is able, in some points, as a result of the conditions that determine the utterance, to occupy positions of resistance to certain discourses. That does not mean, however, the subjects freedom, as all its interpretations, its positions chosen are mediated by the action of repression and ideology.

O objetivo deste estudo é de-superficializar os sentidos sócio-historicamente constituídos acerca da criança, do brinquedo e da brincadeira que, acionados na publicidade de brinquedos ressoam, pela via da interpretação linguageira (imposta pela ideologia), nos processos de subjetivação. A partir desses sentidos, pretende-se contribuir para uma análise crítica da cultura contemporânea. Para atingir tal alvo, levou-se a efeito uma análise do slogan publicitário da ABRINQ (Associação dos fabricantes de brinquedos): \"Brinquedo faz criança feliz.\". Essa escolha justifica-se em virtude da posição enunciativa heterogênea que o slogan/enunciado assume, uma vez que representa tanto o lugar social ocupado pelos fabricantes de brinquedos, quanto o lugar social do sujeito coletivo, sendo que considerou-se que este último indicia como o imaginário social representa o universo infantil - considerando que a ABRINQ é legitimada socialmente como uma agência protetora e que tem voz ativa na regulamentação dos direitos da infância e da adolescência. Aposta-se nessa heterogeneidade, e tenciona-se ultrapassar o efeito de homogeneidade de sentido e o caráter de verdade universal que esse slogan procura instalar. Esse trabalho de análise se deu através do arcabouço teórico/metodológico da Análise do Discurso com filiação em Pêcheux, incluindo sua interlocução com a psicanálise, e também com as formulações de teóricos críticos da cultura e da sociedade contemporâneas, bem como teorias que tratam do universo infantil. A análise mostrou que em lugares discursivos como o slogan da ABRINQ (cujo funcionamento é genérico, o que produz o apagamento do processo sócio-histórico que o faz significar) estão condensadas formações discursivas específicas que, organizadas em torno de uma dominante (a saber, o sintoma fetichista), procuram impor um efeito de sentido ao sujeito que lê/ouve/interpreta: de que o brinquedo, a brincadeira e a criança não poderiam significar de outra maneira. No lugar da enunciação desse slogan, sedimentam-se aspectos da identidade e da subjetividade que correspondem a interpelação/identificação dos sujeitos com a posição ideológica que ocupam no contexto sócio-cultural atual, marcado pela hegemonia da cultura de consumo: a identidade de consumidor substantiva o sujeito que goza em uma posição ideológica definida e o slogan apela, justamente, a esse assujeitamento ideológico. Portanto, o slogan publicitário em seu funcionamento discursivo instaura, pela via da interpretação, processos de identificação, que correspondem a diversos mecanismos sociais atuantes na produção de subjetividade. No que concerne aos sentidos atribuídos à criança, ao brinquedo e à brincadeira pode-se observar através dos gestos de interpretação sobre o slogan da ABRINQ - gestos estes tecidos pelo acesso à memória discursiva e pela mobilização do arquivo textual - que o recalque do processo sócio-histórico e ideológico que faz o brinquedo significar como mercadoria está em consonância com os interesses de reprodução das relações de força no campo ideológico sob a égide da ideologia da classe dominante, ou seja, consoantes com a manutenção da coesão do imaginário social como sistema que é naturalizado pela ideologia como evidente e coerente. Em função disso, conclui-se que o brinquedo-mercadoria, enquanto bem simbólico atrelado à produção material, encarna as expectativas e as formações imaginárias que a sociedade de consumo constrói sobre a criança e revela-se como um instrumento de violência simbólica que procura repudiar, através da homogeneização de sentidos e sujeitos, a possibilidade sempre presente da irrupção do novo que pode significar resistência ou renovação dos sentidos que circulam no imaginário social. / The aim of this work is to analyze the social-historical meanings built upon the notion of child, toy, and play which, when put in action by the toy publicity, resounds in the process of subjectivation through the common sense interpretation (dictated by the ideology). A contribution to a critical analysis of contemporary culture is intended to be built upon these meanings. In order to reach this goal, a publicitary slogan of ABRINQ (Toy manufacturers association) was analyzed: \"Toys make children happy.\" This choice is justified by the heterogeneous enunciative position which this slogan/statement assumes, since it represents both the social place of the toy manufacturers and the social place of the collective subject, the latter being understood as an indication of how the social imagery represents the childish universe -- recalling that ABRINQ is socially legitimated as a protective agency and one which is active in the legislation of the children\'s and the teenagers\' rights. This heterogeneity is hoped to serve the aim of going beyond the homogeneity of meaning and the character of universal truth that the slogan tries to establish. This analysis was based on the theoretical and methodological framework of the Pêcheux\'s Discourse Analysis, including its interlocution with psychoanalysis, as well as the formulations of theoretical critics of contemporary culture and society, and on theories which deal with the childish universe. The analysis has showed that in discoursive places like the slogan of ABRINQ (whose functioning is generic, leading to the erasure of the social and historical process which makes it work) are condensed specific discoursive formations which, organized around a dominant (namely, the fetishist symptom), are intended to impose an effect of meaning on the subject which reads/listens/interprets: that the toy, the play and the child could not signify in a different manner. In the place of the enunciation of this slogan are crystalized aspects of identity and subjectivity which correspond to an interpellation/identification of the subjects with the ideological position occupied by them in the present-day social-cultural context, marked by the hegemony of the consumer society: the identity of consumer substantivates the subject which enjoys a definite ideological position, and the slogan appeals exactly to this ideological subjectivation. Therefore, the publicitary slogan in its discoursive functioning establishes, through the route of interpretation, processes of identification which correspond to varied social mechanisms active in the production of subjectivity. Concerning the meanings assigned to child, toy and play one can observe through the gestures of interpretation on the slogan of ABRINQ -- gestures which are woven through the access to the discoursive memory and the mobilization of the textual archive - that the repression of the social-historical and ideological process which makes the toy signify as a merchandise is in consonance with the interests of the reproduction of the force relations in the ideological field under the patronage of the dominant class ideology, that is, consonant with the maintenance of the cohesion of the social imagery as a system which is naturalized by the ideology as evident and coherent. In function of this, it is concluded that the toy-merchandise, as a symbolic good linked to the material production, incorporates the expectations and the imaginary formations that the consumer society builds upon the child and reveals itself as an instrument of symbolic violence which seeks to repudiate, through a process of homogeneity of meanings and subjects, the always present possibility of the irruption of the new which can signify resistance or renovation of meanings which circulate in the social imagery.

O objetivo deste estudo é de-superficializar os sentidos sócio-historicamente constituídos acerca da criança, do brinquedo e da brincadeira que, acionados na publicidade de brinquedos ressoam, pela via da interpretação linguageira (imposta pela ideologia), nos processos de subjetivação. A partir desses sentidos, pretende-se contribuir para uma análise crítica da cultura contemporânea. Para atingir tal alvo, levou-se a efeito uma análise do slogan publicitário da ABRINQ (Associação dos fabricantes de brinquedos): \"Brinquedo faz criança feliz.\". Essa escolha justifica-se em virtude da posição enunciativa heterogênea que o slogan/enunciado assume, uma vez que representa tanto o lugar social ocupado pelos fabricantes de brinquedos, quanto o lugar social do sujeito coletivo, sendo que considerou-se que este último indicia como o imaginário social representa o universo infantil - considerando que a ABRINQ é legitimada socialmente como uma agência protetora e que tem voz ativa na regulamentação dos direitos da infância e da adolescência. Aposta-se nessa heterogeneidade, e tenciona-se ultrapassar o efeito de homogeneidade de sentido e o caráter de verdade universal que esse slogan procura instalar. Esse trabalho de análise se deu através do arcabouço teórico/metodológico da Análise do Discurso com filiação em Pêcheux, incluindo sua interlocução com a psicanálise, e também com as formulações de teóricos críticos da cultura e da sociedade contemporâneas, bem como teorias que tratam do universo infantil. A análise mostrou que em lugares discursivos como o slogan da ABRINQ (cujo funcionamento é genérico, o que produz o apagamento do processo sócio-histórico que o faz significar) estão condensadas formações discursivas específicas que, organizadas em torno de uma dominante (a saber, o sintoma fetichista), procuram impor um efeito de sentido ao sujeito que lê/ouve/interpreta: de que o brinquedo, a brincadeira e a criança não poderiam significar de outra maneira. No lugar da enunciação desse slogan, sedimentam-se aspectos da identidade e da subjetividade que correspondem a interpelação/identificação dos sujeitos com a posição ideológica que ocupam no contexto sócio-cultural atual, marcado pela hegemonia da cultura de consumo: a identidade de consumidor substantiva o sujeito que goza em uma posição ideológica definida e o slogan apela, justamente, a esse assujeitamento ideológico. Portanto, o slogan publicitário em seu funcionamento discursivo instaura, pela via da interpretação, processos de identificação, que correspondem a diversos mecanismos sociais atuantes na produção de subjetividade. No que concerne aos sentidos atribuídos à criança, ao brinquedo e à brincadeira pode-se observar através dos gestos de interpretação sobre o slogan da ABRINQ - gestos estes tecidos pelo acesso à memória discursiva e pela mobilização do arquivo textual - que o recalque do processo sócio-histórico e ideológico que faz o brinquedo significar como mercadoria está em consonância com os interesses de reprodução das relações de força no campo ideológico sob a égide da ideologia da classe dominante, ou seja, consoantes com a manutenção da coesão do imaginário social como sistema que é naturalizado pela ideologia como evidente e coerente. Em função disso, conclui-se que o brinquedo-mercadoria, enquanto bem simbólico atrelado à produção material, encarna as expectativas e as formações imaginárias que a sociedade de consumo constrói sobre a criança e revela-se como um instrumento de violência simbólica que procura repudiar, através da homogeneização de sentidos e sujeitos, a possibilidade sempre presente da irrupção do novo que pode significar resistência ou renovação dos sentidos que circulam no imaginário social. / The aim of this work is to analyze the social-historical meanings built upon the notion of child, toy, and play which, when put in action by the toy publicity, resounds in the process of subjectivation through the common sense interpretation (dictated by the ideology). A contribution to a critical analysis of contemporary culture is intended to be built upon these meanings. In order to reach this goal, a publicitary slogan of ABRINQ (Toy manufacturers association) was analyzed: \"Toys make children happy.\" This choice is justified by the heterogeneous enunciative position which this slogan/statement assumes, since it represents both the social place of the toy manufacturers and the social place of the collective subject, the latter being understood as an indication of how the social imagery represents the childish universe -- recalling that ABRINQ is socially legitimated as a protective agency and one which is active in the legislation of the children\'s and the teenagers\' rights. This heterogeneity is hoped to serve the aim of going beyond the homogeneity of meaning and the character of universal truth that the slogan tries to establish. This analysis was based on the theoretical and methodological framework of the Pêcheux\'s Discourse Analysis, including its interlocution with psychoanalysis, as well as the formulations of theoretical critics of contemporary culture and society, and on theories which deal with the childish universe. The analysis has showed that in discoursive places like the slogan of ABRINQ (whose functioning is generic, leading to the erasure of the social and historical process which makes it work) are condensed specific discoursive formations which, organized around a dominant (namely, the fetishist symptom), are intended to impose an effect of meaning on the subject which reads/listens/interprets: that the toy, the play and the child could not signify in a different manner. In the place of the enunciation of this slogan are crystalized aspects of identity and subjectivity which correspond to an interpellation/identification of the subjects with the ideological position occupied by them in the present-day social-cultural context, marked by the hegemony of the consumer society: the identity of consumer substantivates the subject which enjoys a definite ideological position, and the slogan appeals exactly to this ideological subjectivation. Therefore, the publicitary slogan in its discoursive functioning establishes, through the route of interpretation, processes of identification which correspond to varied social mechanisms active in the production of subjectivity. Concerning the meanings assigned to child, toy and play one can observe through the gestures of interpretation on the slogan of ABRINQ -- gestures which are woven through the access to the discoursive memory and the mobilization of the textual archive - that the repression of the social-historical and ideological process which makes the toy signify as a merchandise is in consonance with the interests of the reproduction of the force relations in the ideological field under the patronage of the dominant class ideology, that is, consonant with the maintenance of the cohesion of the social imagery as a system which is naturalized by the ideology as evident and coherent. In function of this, it is concluded that the toy-merchandise, as a symbolic good linked to the material production, incorporates the expectations and the imaginary formations that the consumer society builds upon the child and reveals itself as an instrument of symbolic violence which seeks to repudiate, through a process of homogeneity of meanings and subjects, the always present possibility of the irruption of the new which can signify resistance or renovation of meanings which circulate in the social imagery.

Background: To reduce the increasing cost for pharmaceuticals on prescription in Sweden, the generic drug exchange was introduced in 2002. According to the law (2002:160) of drug benefits all pharmacies are forced to exchange the brand-name product/original for a generic drug, i.e. a drug that is covered by the Swedish drug benefit system and in addition has been found by The Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) to be equivalent to the brand-name product/original in question. The Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, TLV, determines which available drug is the lowest price, "the product of the period". The reform has led to major economic savings for both the individual and the society. For some patients the generic drug exchange has resulted in increased safety problems in the form of medication errors, lack of drug effects, and new unwanted side effects. Insufficient information from prescribers and pharmacists and different names of drugs has led to confusion among patients. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the customers' experience of the generic drug exchange at pharmacies, the potential problems of generic exchange, and whether any differences in how the generic drug exchange is experienced can be explained by the customer's level of education. Method: The investigation was conducted as a survey, which consisted of 10 different multiple choice questions where the respondent was able to choose the answer best in line with their perception. Results and discussion: The majority (87%) of the participants stated that they had accepted the generic exchange. In general, there was no apparent difference in regards to the different levels of education. Nevertheless, among those with university/college as the highest level of education, there was a greater proportion of women (45%) than men (29%). A small percentage (22%) of the participants had experienced problems in connection with or after the exchange. Among the problems mentioned were, among other things, unknown name, tablet, or packaging; and new side effects. 42% of the participants had received information about the generic drug exchange from the medical doctors while 90% of the participants had received information at the pharmacy. No difference between different groups could be detected. The overall experience with the generic exchange showed that 81% of participants were satisfied with the exchange. No difference between different groups could be detected. Conclusion: The study showed that the main part of the (survey) participants has a positive attitude towards generic exchange. The majority of the participants felt that they had gotten adequate information regarding the exchange at the pharmacy (from the pharmacist), whilst the survey revealed that the medical doctors was insufficient in informing their patients about the possibility of generic exchange. There was no apparent difference amongst different groups when it comes to acceptance and general perception of the generic drug exchange.

The latest versions of AspectJ { the most popular aspect oriented extension for Java { must cope with complex changes that occurred in the Java type system, specially with the parametric polymorphism which aims to improve the type safety and the readability of the source code. However, for legacy and non-generic constructions to take advantage of this pervasive feature, they must be migrated to explicitly supply actual type parameters in both declarations and instantiations of generic classes. Even though the type systems of Java and AspectJ were designed to support this kind of migration in a gradual way, this process is somewhat complex and error prone. The reason behind this assertion is that actual type parameters must be inferred to remove as much unsafe downcasts as possible without a ecting the original semantics of the program. Therefore, tools are essential to minimize the e ort of a manual application of the refactoring steps and to prevent the introduction of new errors. Since current automated solutions focus only on Java programs, they do not consider the use of aspects to encapsulate crosscutting concerns. Thus, this dissertation proposes a novel collection of inference rules to derive type constraints for the polymorphic version of AspectJ. These rules were used together with an existing generic migration algorithm to enable the conversion of non-generic legacy code to add actual type parameters in both Java and AspectJ languages.