The constant improvements in device integration, the development of new technologies and the emergence of new design techniques call for flexible, maintainable and robust software tools. The generic nature of compiler-compiler systems, with their semi-formal specifications, can help in the construction of those tools. This thesis describes the Wright editor generator which is used in the synthesis of language-based graphical editors (LBGEs). An LBGE is a programming environment where the programs being manipulated denote pictures. Editing actions can be specified through both textual and graphical interfaces. Editors generated by the Wright system are specified using the formalism of attribute grammars. The major example editor in this thesis, Stick-Wright, is a design entry system for the construction of VLSI circuits. Stick-Wright is a hierarchical symbolic layout editor which exploits a combination of text and graphics in an interactive environment to provide the circuit designer with a tool for experimenting with circuit topologies. A simpler system, Pict-Wright: a picture drawing system, is also used to illustrate the attribute grammar specification process. This thesis aims to demonstrate the efficacy of formal specification in the generation of software-tools. The generated system Stick-Wright shows that a text/graphic programming environment can form the basis of a powerful VLSI design tool, especially with regard to providing the designer with immediate graphical feedback. Further applications of the LBGE generator approach to system design are given for a range of VLSI design activities.

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Computations with polynomials are at the heart of any computer algebra system and also have many applications in engineering, coding theory, and cryptography. Generally speaking, the low-level polynomial computations of interest can be classified as arithmetic operations, algebraic computations, and inverse symbolic problems. New algorithms are presented in all these areas which improve on the state of the art in both theoretical and practical performance. Traditionally, polynomials may be represented in a computer in one of two ways: as a "dense" array of all possible coefficients up to the polynomial's degree, or as a "sparse" list of coefficient-exponent tuples. In the latter case, zero terms are not explicitly written, giving a potentially more compact representation. In the area of arithmetic operations, new algorithms are presented for the multiplication of dense polynomials. These have the same asymptotic time cost of the fastest existing approaches, but reduce the intermediate storage required from linear in the size of the input to a constant amount. Two different algorithms for so-called "adaptive" multiplication are also presented which effectively provide a gradient between existing sparse and dense algorithms, giving a large improvement in many cases while never performing significantly worse than the best existing approaches. Algebraic computations on sparse polynomials are considered as well. The first known polynomial-time algorithm to detect when a sparse polynomial is a perfect power is presented, along with two different approaches to computing the perfect power factorization. Inverse symbolic problems are those for which the challenge is to compute a symbolic mathematical representation of a program or "black box". First, new algorithms are presented which improve the complexity of interpolation for sparse polynomials with coefficients in finite fields or approximate complex numbers. Second, the first polynomial-time algorithm for the more general problem of sparsest-shift interpolation is presented. The practical performance of all these algorithms is demonstrated with implementations in a high-performance library and compared to existing software and previous techniques.

The purpose of the study was to find out whether the interaction between mentally disabled individuals and pet positively affects the individual and gives a feeling of well-being to the extent that this might be implicated in the psychologically disabled people’s everyday life in some form of rehabilitation measure. The study is qualitative and builds on an ethnographic design. Data collection was performed through six observations, six interviews and reflections. Interviews were also conducted with relatives and assistants for greater opportunity for follow-up questions, and descriptions of the situation. Theoretical perspective guiding this study is symbolic interactionism. Theoretical focus is on Asplund's theory of social responsivity and Asplund's explanations of the concrete person and abstract social being. This focus is complemented through Mead's theory on self-consciousness, Cooley’s theory of the looking-glass-self and Berg's description of  different expressions and forms of play. Previous research is linked to interaction with pets and the elderly, individuals with autism and other disabilities. The conclusion of the study show that positive feelings of well-being arise in the meeting through interaction with companion animals. Relatives and assistants experience the activity to be of importance in the mentally disabled’s everyday life. The study also shows incomprehension in bringing this to decision-makers and others to possibly enhance the mentally disabled people everyday life with animal-assisted rehabilitation measures. / Syftet med undersökningen har varit att ta reda på om interaktion mellan psykiskt funktionshindrad individ och sällskapsdjur påverkar individen positivt och ger en känsla av välbefinnande i den omfattningen att detta eventuellt kan appliceras i den psykiskt funktionshindrades vardag i någon form av habiliteringsåtgärd. Undersökningen är kvalitativ och har utgått ifrån etnografisk design. Respondenterna är tre psykiskt funktionshindrade individer som har följts genom intervjuer och dubbla observationer. Intervjuer gjordes även med anhörig och assistenter för större möjlighet till följdfrågor och beskrivningar av situationen. Studien bygger på symbolisk interaktionism och teoretiskt fokus är Asplunds teori om social responsivitet. Även Asplunds förklaringar om skillnaden mellan konkret person och abstrakt samhällsvarelse används för att förstå ämnet. Denna utgångspunkt stärks genom Meads teorier om jagmedvetande och lekens betydelse samt Cooleys speglingsteori och Bergs beskrivning av lekens olika uttryck och form. Tidigare forskning har kopplingar till interaktion med sällskapsdjur och äldre, individer med autism och andra svårigheter. Slutsatsen i studien visar att positiva känslor av välbefinnande skapas i mötet mellan psykiskt funktionshindrad och sällskapsdjur genom interaktionen och samvaron. Anhörig och assistenter upplever aktiviteten vara viktig i psykiskt funktionshindrads vardag. Studien illustrerar även oförståelsen i att föra detta vidare till beslutsfattare och liknande för att eventuellt kunna förstärka den psykiskt funktionshindrades vardag med djurassisterade habiliteringsåtgärder.

Creativity, for Wallace Stevens, depends on connections to the natural world which can be examined through garden imagery. Chapters one and two focus on Stevens' private writing, identifying the range of garden environments and natural expanses to which he responded and associating these responses with his aesthetic sensibilities. Continental and Adamic traditions in garden imagery are explored as are contemporary practices in conservation and horticulture. Chapter three concentrates on poems which treat the garden as a locus amoenus of repose and delight where a poet can engage his imaginative faculties with sensual reality. Chapter four analyzes poems whose garden imagery elucidates Stevens' attempts to confront social and political as well as aesthetic issues. Chapters five and six examine Stevens' consideration of the garden as a hortus mentis, emblematic of creative experience, where Stevens assesses the relation of expression to environment and celebrates life lived "in the word of it."

The Post-Fordist structure has aroused as a response to the stable/rigid configuration of Fordism that caused a bottleneck within capitalist organization since the mid 1970s. This period is also labeled as flexible accumulation that is based on the least circulation period of capital and as a result turnover time of the consumption objects. Here, consumption becomes a cultural activity besides its role of meeting material necessities and calls for a form of culture, in which the symbolic value of any object is of significance more than its use-value. Within this frame, the study selected a new form of contemporary housing provision as an exemplification area / the gated enclaves that represent a form of investment for the legitimization of values projected by the consumer culture. They are especially located at the new urban development areas, shared by high income level owners / surrounded by exclusionary devices like / walls, fences and private security mechanisms, and provide additional privatized services. This study aims at studying the modes of marketing strategies of these newly emerging housing provisions in Ankara that all are constructed around the theme of &ldquo / a distinct life style&rdquo / through their representational media. Therefore the study will investigate how the idea of distinctness is made public and by means of spatial analyses, how and to what extent the assertion of distinctness is achieved or constituted a genuine position within the academic or professional architectural culture will be investigated while such concepts as &ldquo / homogenization&rdquo / and &ldquo / distinctness&rdquo / will be also in agenda.

The notion of a normal number and the Normal Number Theorem date back over 100 years. Émile Borel first stated his Normal Number Theorem in 1909. Despite their seemingly basic nature, normal numbers are still engaging many mathematicians to this day. In this paper, we provide a reinterpretation of the concept of a normal number. This leads to a new proof of Borel's classic Normal Number Theorem, and also a construction of a set that contains all absolutely normal numbers. We are also able to use the reinterpretation to apply the same definition for a normal number to any point in a symbolic dynamical system. We then provide a proof that the Fibonacci system has all of its points being normal, with respect to our new definition. / Graduation date: 2012

Because of the long and entrenched history of Chinese medicine in Taiwan, people have traditionally incorporated this knowledge into their health care. With the appearance and growing acceptance of Western medical practices, multiple medical approaches have become more and more popular. Yet, despite the strong foundations of Western medicine in the treatment of cancer in Taiwan, the use of Chinese medicine continues to be popular (Lin, 1992, p. 114). The focus of this research is the contextual construction of meanings about non Western medicine (NWM). The context for the study is Taiwan, the researcher's home country. The purpose of the research is to explore the motivations for, and the processes by which, Taiwanese people with cancer incorporate NWM into their cancer treatment journey. Utilising a grounded theory approach, this research sought to explore the social processes by which Taiwanese people with cancer come to use non Western medicine. Twenty four in depth interviews were undertaken in the study. The findings of the study demonstrate that the interactions between people with cancer and their use of NWM are complex. Taken-for-grantedness emerges as the core category in the study. The core category situates the use of non Western medicine outside the institutionalised and regulated domains of health care. More specifically, the meanings attributed to NWM are embedded in the philosophical beliefs and social relationships that constitute the lives of the participants. These findings suggest implications for our understanding of the co-existence of NWM and Western medicine by Taiwanese people with cancer and the social processes with which they engage.

The global trend towards an ageing population presents challenges for health-care professionals, including registered nurses (RNs). In Taiwan, health care policies relating to the aged and to gerontological nursing are still in the early stages of development. Integral to this development is the evolving definition of the clinical role of RNs who make a major contribution to aged care. Using data from in-depth interviews of 29 RNs working across eight nursing homes, this grounded theory study examines the factors that shape the care work of RNs in long-term aged care in Taiwan. The objectives of this study were to: * examine the work-experience perceptions of RNs employed in nursing homes in Taiwan * explore the factors that influence the delivery of nursing care to the aged by RNs * explain the events that constitute nursing practices in aged care provision that have an effect on the roles of RNs, and * develop a theoretical proposition that can guide future nursing practice in aged care. Grounded theory and symbolic interactionism are the complementary methodologies selected to underpin this study. The perspective of grounded theory allows for a critical investigation of the social processes that are integral in shaping the perspectives of RNs who work in Taiwanese nursing homes. The application of the theory of symbolic interactionism facilitates an exploration of the roles of RNs in this context and of the different meanings for individuals in the various situations they confront. Organizational factors and interactions that shape the role of RNs in the working environment of aged care are highlighted in the interaction between the data and the theory. The core category that emerged from the study was searching for an identity. This core process reflects ambivalence in the perceptions of RNs in describing and explaining the nursing role in Taiwanese nursing homes. Five categories that bring some greater understanding of this ambivalence are: coming to know, doing anything and everything, negotiating the work role, dealing with the system, and learning by being there. The specific intention of this study was to extend our understanding of nursing work and the delivery of care to older people in nursing homes in Taiwan. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of an educational framework that may be applied to improve nursing practices in nursing homes. These findings also have the potential to make a positive contribution to aged health care policy-making in Taiwan.

Borges saw narrative as the bearer of universally re-combinable elements. Although these elements seem sequential, their essential formal integrity guarantees their rearrangement to generate new narratives. The ficción lives beyond its author. However, Borges’ ontological anxieties also have a life of their own that undermines the ficción’s assimilative potential. By developing poetic and linguistic insights Borges creates immortal text through the construction of a symbolic repertoire. Each element of the repertoire has its genesis in the author’s personal development. This history is archaeologised in the early poetry and mediated through a theory of metaphor and the reader’s interaction with the text. Borges sees no need for a Freudian reading theory. Instead he develops an antipsychological poetics. He enlists the reader as a willing participant in the text by a dual strategy of symbolic incorporation. Firstly, readers identify with characters through vicarious emotional prediction. Secondly, he refreshes the reader’s participation by presenting emblematic devices serving as sub-text to enhance symbolic participation. Together these strategies constitute a ‘magic causality’ of negotiated textual interpretation continually operating in his narratives. But the discipline of magic causality also conceals a rhetoric of presence establishing counter-motivational effects to disturb symbolic incorporation at the level of genre. The dissertation extracts key features for scrutiny from Borges’ early literary theory and criticism, elaborating them into a general aesthetic programme. It examines biographical influences in shaping his critical and creative work. It problematises his texts from the point of view of his ideas about linguistics, their identity as contributions to the genre of the ficción, and the centrality of metaphor and analogy as interpretative strategies. I use a number of approaches for this enterprise, including biographical criticism (ontological preoccupations), substitutional analysis (temporal subjectivity), linguistic interpretation (theory of metaphor), literary criticism (readerly reception), structuralism (readerly incorporation), and deconstruction (rhetoric of suppression). The dissertation pragmatically investigates, and contests, Borges’ assimilative poetics of textual presence.