Magister Artium - MA / This thesis analyzed Zakes Mda's The Heart of redness in the tradition of South African pastoral and counter-pastoral. It proposed that the novel is a hybrid of both African and European tradition and perspectives. It adduced Northrop Frye's theory of myth and archetypes in literature as a basis for study. It also analysed the novel in its use of irony. / South Africa

Zugl.: Karlsruhe, Univ., Diss., 2006

Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à la définition d'une plate-forme industrielle favorisant une meilleure intégration des techniques de vérification et de validation des exigences au sein des processus de développement. Cette plate-forme, appelée R2A (pour Requirements To Analysis) est entièrement construite à l'aide de technologies issues de l'ingénierie dirigée par les modèles. Le cœur de la plate-forme est un processus de composition de modèles à deux niveaux de modélisation. Au niveau instance, il produit une spécification globale des exigences à partir d'une collection de spécifications d'exigences partielles, hétérogènes et potentiellement incohérentes. Au niveau de la conception de la plate-forme (niveau meta), il produit le formalisme interne de la plate-forme (types d'information pouvant être capturée et fonctionnalités supportées) à partir de composants de conception embarquant des sémantiques opérationnelles, de composition et de déploiement. Ce processus favorise l'adaptabilité de la plate-forme à des contextes industriels variés. L'obtention d'une spécification globale des exigences (i) autorise l'application des techniques modernes de vérification et de validation pour la détection d'incohérences et (ii) favorise une approche de développement dirigée par les modèles (MDD) dès les premières étapes du développement logiciel (synchronisation exigences et artefacts de développement aval). Dans sa version actuelle, la plate-forme est spécialisée pour le contexte industriel de France Télécom. Elle supporte quatre langages de description des exigences : les diagrammes d'activité et de classes UML, un langage naturel contraint (le RDL, pour Requirements Description Language) et son formalisme interne (le RM, pour Requirements Metamodel). Les fonctionnalités principales sont (i) la génération d'objectifs de test système, (ii) la production d'une première spécification d'analyse et (iii) la vérification de la cohérence des exigences.

This paper is about save systems and will analyze save functions in various games. Save systems in games are usually blamed for harming the suspension of disbelief as it is an act taking place outside the game and should only be used for its intended purpose: letting the players store their game data, and progress whenever they need. The game save function developed as rapid leaps of technology were made, with the beginning era of home consoles and home computers allowing players to spend more time playing, creating a demand for longer play sessions in games which lead to a need of methods for storing game data. The analysis of save systems is carried out in this paper by using MDA Framework (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics), a tool used for documenting game design. This framework can be used to analyze a game from a designer‟s or player‟s perspective. By reversing the framework ADM (Aesthetics, Dynamics and Mechanics) one can analyze the user experience, which is how the player perceives the game‟s aesthetics to be, depending on the dynamics and mechanics. This analysis aims to provide knowledge of how consistency in game design and the save system can be used to create a cohesive game world that facillitates the player's experience and immersion.

The feasibility of using a thyroid uptake counter, normally used to measure the uptake of radioactive iodine in thyroid treatments, to assay radioactivity deposited in a persons lungs has been investigated. Variations in radioactive material distributions in the lungs, the response of the detector system to radionuclides of interest to homeland security, and the change in detection efficiency due to the varying thicknesses of intervening tissue of the victims have been simulated using the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code (MCNP5) developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Point source and homogenously distributed models were created for Co-60, I-131, Cs-137, Ir-192, and Am-241 sources to simulate radiation transport between the lungs of multiple phantom models representing children and adults and the radiation detection system. To validate the simulations undertaken, the response of the counter to radiation sources in air and behind layers of Lucite have been modeled and compared to measured results.

Graphic user interface has become the mainstream of today¡¦s web-based systems. The object oriented technique and the diagrams from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) are becoming the major tools for modeling the platform independent model (PIM) of a web-based system. Once the PIM is constructed, the results can then be transformed into its platform specific model and template code based on the model driven architecture (MDA) approach. However, the detailed guideline for the transformation from PIM to the Microsoft .Net platform is lacking. Therefore, this study presents a methodology which provides guidelines for the transformation from PIM to Microsoft .Net platform for a web-based system. The research methodology is articulated using the design science research methodology. A usability evaluation with a real-world web-based system case is performed to demonstrate its applicability. The results indicated that with this proposed method, the system developer can effectively transform the PIM of a web-based system into its Microsoft .Net platform and template code.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach has become the mainstream of today¡¦s systems development technique. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is becoming the major tool for modeling the platform independent model (PIM) of a SOA system. Once the PIM is constructed, the results can then be transformed into its platform specific model based on the model driven architecture (MDA) approach and a specific platform. To develop a SOA system, the developer can then use the platform and choose the proper components to construct services and then business processes. However, the detailed guideline for this type of construction based on a specific platform is lacking. Therefore, this study presents a methodology which provides guidelines for the construction from components, service to business process for a SOA system based on the IBM WebSphere platform. The research methodology is articulated using the design science research methodology. A usability evaluation with a hypothesized case is performed to demonstrate its applicability. The results indicated that with this proposed method, the system developer can effectively use the IBM WebSphere platform to construct the business process based on the PIM of a SOA system.

Zugl.: Kiel, Univ., Diss., 2009

Denna undersökning behandlar spel i kontext till lärande och matematik. Genom att gestalta ett spel undersökte vi, författare hur olika designval kunde påverka lärande. Målet var att spelare skulle lära sig genom situationsbaserat lärande och där genom få möjlighet att överföra sin kunskap till sitt vardagsliv. Undersökningen hade sin utgångspunkt i ANT (actor-network theory) som användes som metodologi för att analysera och reflektera över de val som gjordes. MDA (Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics) användes som ett ramverk för att utveckla själva gestaltningen. Gestaltningen som skapades blev ett tvåpersonspussel och plattforms spel. Där spelarna fick interagera med spelmiljön och objekten i den för att lösa matematiska problem. Genom undersökningen kom vi fram till att inlevelse och flow kan bidra till situationsbaserat lärande och öka engagemang hos elever. Vi fann även att lärospel kan presentera abstrakta problem så som matematiska uppgifter i konkreta representationer, vilket kunde åstadkommas genom att tillåta interaktion med miljö och objekt. Slutligen fann vi att låta spelare spela tillsammans med varandra kan vara gynnsamt för spelares motivation och lärande. / This study examined digital games in context to learning and mathematics. By creating a game we, the authors researched different design choices could effect learning. The goal was that players could learn through situated based learning and b e able to transfer their knowledge into their everyday life. The study had used ANT(actor-network theory) as methodology. Through it choices were analyzed. MDA(mechanics dynamics aesthetics) was used as a framework to develop the game itself. In the end the game became a two player, puzzle platform game. Within which players got to interact with the game environment and objects in it to solve mathematical problems. Through this study we found immersion and flow to be beneficial for a situated based learning game. We also found that games can translate abstract problems such as mathematical tasks into more concrete representations. This can be done by letting players sole the tasks through interaction with the digital environment and the objects within it. Lastly we saw that there can be positive effects of students playing multiplayer when it comes to motivation and learning.

In this master thesis the advanced design methodology is presented by which information systems requirements represented with precise UML models are transformed to project. The first section describes a research of five existing MDA tools comparison according to evaluation criteria. This criteria covers model to model and model to code transformations approach, platform of generated code and integration with UML CASE tools abilities. For requirements model transformation to design, plug-in for CASE tool MagicDraw is created according MDA standards. Model transformation plug-in takes system requirement model as input and generates design model. In this way it is possible to implement design methods that have explicit design rules. Created plug-in requirements, functional specification and architecture described in Project section. The investigation section describes investigation of the developed plug-in. In this section were investigate the working efficiency of designer increasing and the quality of design models ensuring with create MagicDraw plug-in.