In Lolita, Humbert is obsessed with the 12-year-old Lolita. It is a vulgar and disturbing story which raises questions about morality and ethics. With a sophisticated and elegant narrative, Humbert manages to draw attention to language rather than to his actions. Through fancy prose style Humbert covers up and hides his horrible actions. His verbal game serves to manipulate his readers to accept Humbert´s feelings and actions and sympathize with him.  Humbert´s narration is very persuasive and the reader is easily fooled to concentrate on what he says rather than what he does. In this essay deconstructive method is used to analyse Lolita. The study shows how binary oppositions are used in Lolita and what effect they have on the reader´s comprehension of the text. The study presents a number of incongruities in Humbert´s telling of the story and therefore the essay argues that Humbert cannot be trusted with the telling of his tale.

Past research has highlighted various problematic issues related to the use of the RCMP undercover operation entitled the “Mr. Big” sting. In a landmark decision, R v. Hart [2014], the Supreme Court of Canada recognized many problems with it and implemented a new admissibility test that would render confessions obtained by the undercover operation presumptively inadmissible. This research project explores the impact that this new evidentiary rule has had on cases involving “Mr. Big” confession evidence since the Hart decision (2014 to 2016). A content analysis was conducted on 16 cases that applied the new admissibility test. The case analysis revealed several important findings from cases that have applied the new admissibility test following Hart. In order to situate these findings, General Systems Theory was used to illustrate the impact that the court’s interpretation of the new evidentiary rule could have on the different components of the criminal justice system. It will be important for future research to further examine the impact of the new admissibility test in order to enhance our understanding of the influence it has had on cases involving “Mr. Big” sting confession evidence.

Business processes define workflows by structuring sets of activities according to given objectives. Process Modeling Languages (PMLs) provide graphical elements to define process models. Apart from use cases in finance and commerce, PMLs gain popularity in application domains such as Cyber-Physical Systems, the Internet of Things, ubiquitous computing, mobile devices, and scenarios happening in rural, restricted, or disaster-affected regions. Many of the domains are exposed to delayed, intermittent, or broken connectivity. Existing PMLs show limitations in considering connectivity-related issues, leading to failures and breakdowns at process runtime. This thesis addresses connectivity-related issues regarding the modeling and execution of resilient business processes taking place in unreliable communication environments. With resilient BPMN (rBPMN), an extension for the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) addressing environments with delayed, intermittent, or broken connectivity is introduced. rBPMN extends the BPMN metamodel by new elements for resilient process models. Domain experts may define alternatives for possibly failing message flows based on priorities or characteristics of the alternatives. Functionality offered by remote participants may be moved to other participants for local execution. This thesis illustrates approaches for the graph-based analysis of business processes regarding their resilient operation. By translating process models into directed graphs, graph algorithms allow to dynamically find the most suitable process path. Domain experts are enabled to identify non-resilient parts of a process model, allowing them to optimize the involved segments before runtime. Multi-criteria analysis approaches optimize process operation according to a chosen set of criteria. A real-world scenario of an environmental-friendly slurry application illustrates the use of rBPMN’s concepts and approaches for modeling and executing resilient processes. Technical approaches realizing rBPMN’s resilience strategies using a BPMN runtime engine and microservices are illustrated. The proof-of-concept implementations may be extended and adapted, serving as guides for other application domains.

It is necessary to have certain flight information available to control the airplane. This information is usually displayed on flight instruments, which are located on the dashboard of the aircraft. In case of loss of indication or misleading indication of certain devices, control of the aircraft can be very complicated or even impossible. The dissertation deals with the issue of loss of information indication from aerometric instruments (especially from the airspeed indicator). The work contains research on the course of degradation of total pressure measurements using a Pitot tube. Based on this research, it is possible to design a new system for detecting blockage of the Pitot tube, which will increase aviation safety. The phenomenon described was investigated in a wind tunnel and in real conditions. Furthermore, the work defines instructions for the compilation of an emergency procedure, which the pilot could use in the event of a fault condition with aerometric instruments. The real possibilities of use were demonstrated on a Cessna 172SP aircraft during the validation experiment. The validation experiment proved the possibilities of the safe usage of the emergency procedure during flight. The final part of the work is focused on the evaluation of possible changes in the creation of reliability and safety analyzes with regard to the application of new knowledge based on this work.

The purpose of this study is to highlight how Pär Lagerkvist’s fictional dwarf, a symbol of the deformed in man but is not always visible on the outside, despises weakness and peace and how the desire for power is expressed in the novel. These aspects in turn lead to contempt for love and mercy, the absence of which implies hostility, something that has moral consequences. The overall moral theme is highlighted from an anti-Nazi perspective through the three images of women with the help of the narratological concept of unreliable narrator. The material used as a basis for the study is the first edition of Lagerkvist’s novel The Dwarf from 1944. Primarily, narratological theory has been used with regard to the concept of unreliable narrator, something that belongs to modern narratology and fiction theory. Unreliable storytelling means that there is a difference between this discourse and the sanctioned content. The unreliable narrator has emerged as a concept in relation to the implicit author. To highlight the anti-Nazi perspective, I have used the moral philosopher Harald Ofstads Vårt förakt för svaghet. The power-theme which is central to the novel, is highlighted on the basis of Nietzsche, who according to Urpu-Liisa Karahka is important in the reading of Lagerkvist in general. Close reading, thematic analysis and narratological method are the methods applied in this study. Christer Johansson has presented and summarized an interesting starting point based on Wayne C. Booth, for narratological analysis where he works with four possible variants for unreliable storytelling. In terms of main results, the question of the dwarf as an unreliable narrator and example of Nazism in relation to the three female charachters show eight cases of false facts, four cases of misinterpretations of correct facts, eight cases regarding how a fictional narrator can make unreliable value judgements about certain fictional facts or circumstances, and finally four cases of how a fictional narrator can express unreliable perceptions of a more general kind, not directly related to individuals in the fictional world.

In this dissertation, we consider scheduling distributed soft real-time tasks in unreliable (e.g., those with arbitrary node and network failures) and untrustworthy systems (e.g., those with Byzantine node behaviors). We present a distributed real-time scheduling algorithm called Gamma. Gamma considers a distributed (i.e., multi-node) task model where tasks are subject to Time/Utility Function (or TUF) end-to-end time constraints, and the scheduling optimality criterion of maximizing the total accrued utility. The algorithm makes three novel contributions. First, Gamma uses gossip for reliably propagating task scheduling parameters and for discovering task execution nodes. Second, Gamma achieves distributed real-time mutual exclusion in unreliable environments. Third, the algorithm guards against potential disruption of message propagation due to Byzantine attacks using a mechanism called Launcher-Attacker-Infective-Susceptible-Immunized-Removed-Consumer (or LAISIRC). By doing so, the algorithm schedules tasks with probabilistic termination-time satisfactions, despite system unreliability and untrustworthiness. We analytically establish several timeliness and non-timeliness properties of the algorithm including probabilistic end-to-end task termination time satisfactions, optimality of message overheads, mutual exclusion guarantees, and the mathematical model of the LAISIRC mechanism. We conducted simulation-based experimental studies and compared Gamma with its competitors. Our experimental studies reveal that Gamma's scheduling algorithm accrues greater utility and satisfies a greater number of deadlines than do competitor algorithms (e.g., HVDF) by as much as 47% and 45%, respectively. LAISIRC is more tolerant to Byzantine attacks than competitor protocols (e.g., Path Verification) by obtaining as much as 28% higher correctness ratio. Gamma's mutual exclusion algorithm accrues greater utility than do competitor algorithms (e.g., EDF-Sigma) by as much as 25%. Further, we implemented the basic Gamma algorithm in the Emulab/ChronOS 250-node testbed, and measured the algorithm's performance. Our implementation measurements validate our theoretical analysis and the algorithm's effectiveness and robustness. / Ph. D.

Detectores de falhas não confiáveis tradicionais são oráculos disponíveis localmente para processos deumsistema distribuído que fornecem uma lista de processos suspeitos de terem falhado. Este trabalho propõe um novo e flexível detector de falhas não confiável, chamado Impact FD, que fornece como saída um valor trust level que é o grau de confiança no sistema. Ao expressar a relevância de cada processo por um valor de fator de impacto, bem como por uma margem de falhas aceitáveis do sistema, o Impact FD permite ao usuário ajustar a configuração do detector de falhas de acordo com os requisitos da aplicação: em certos cenários, o defeito de umprocesso de baixo impacto ou redundante não compromete a confiança no sistema, enquanto o defeito de um processo de alto fator de impacto pode afetá-la seriamente. Assim, pode ser adotada uma estragégia de monitoramento com maior ou menor rigor. Em particular, definimos algumas propriedades de flexibilidade que caracterizam a capacidade do Impact FD para tolerar uma certa margem de falhas ou falsas suspeitas, ou seja, a sua capacidade de fornecer diferentes conjuntos de respostas que levam o sistema a estados confiáveis. O Impact FD é adequado para sistemas que apresentam redundância de nodos, heterogeneidade de nodos, recurso de agrupamento e permite uma margem de falhas que não degrada a confiança no sistema. Nós também mostramos que algumas classes do Impact FD são equivalentes a § e ­, que são detectores de falhas fundamentais para contornar a impossibilidade de resolver o problema do consenso em sistemas de transmissão de mensagens assíncronas na presença de falhas. Adicionalmente, com base em pressupostos de sincronia e nas abordagens baseada em tempo e padrão de mensagem, apresentamos três algoritmos que implementam o Impact FD. Os resultados da avaliação de desempenho usando traces reais do PlanetLab confirmam o grau de aplicabilidade flexível do nosso detector de falhas e, devido à margem aceitável de falhas, o número de falsas respostas ou suspeitas pode ser tolerado quando comparado a tradicionais detectores de falhas não confiáveis. / Traditional unreliable failure detectors are per process oracles that provide a list of processes suspected of having failed. This work proposes a new and flexible unreliable failure detector (FD), denoted the Impact FD, that outputs a trust level value which is the degree of confidence in the system. By expressing the relevance of each process by an impact factor value as well as a margin of acceptable failures of the system, the Impact FD enables the user to tune the failure detection configuration in accordance with the requirements of the application: in some scenarios, the failure of low impact or redundant processes does not jeopardize the confidence in the system, while the crash of a high impact process may seriously affect it. Either a softer or stricter monitoring strategy can be adopted. In particular, we define some flexibility properties that characterize the capacity of the Impact FD to tolerate a certain margin of failures or false suspicions, i.e., its capacity of providing different sets of responses that lead the system to trusted states. The Impact FD is suitable for systems that present node redundancy, heterogeneity of nodes, clustering feature, and allow a margin of failures which does not degrade the confidence in the system. We also show that some classes of the Impact FD are equivalent to ­ and § which are fundamental FDs to circumvent the impossibility of solving the consensus problem in asynchronous message-passing systems in presence of failures. Additionally, based on different synchrony assumptions and message-pattern or timer-based approaches, we present three algorithms which implement the Impact FD. Performance evaluation results using real PlanetLab traces confirmthe degree of flexible applicability of our failure detector and, due to the accepted margin of failures, that false responses or suspicions may be tolerated when compared to traditional unreliable failure detectors.

The traffic engineering community currently faces the advent of a new generation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), known as cooperative systems. More specifically, the recent developments of connected and autonomous vehicles, i.e. cooperative vehicles, are expected to cause a societal shift, changing the way people commute on a daily basis and relate to transport in general. The research presented in this dissertation is motivated by the need for proper understanding of the possible inputs of cooperative vehicles in a traffic stream. Beyond legal aspects regarding the introduction of such vehicles and considerations on standardization and harmonization of the communication norms, the research focuses on the use of communication for highway traffic flow homogenization. In particular, the selected approach for the introduction of cooperation inherits from the theory of traffic flow and the recent developments of microscopic traffic models. Cooperation can first be introduced as a form of multi-anticipation, which can either come from drivers' behaviors or from communication. A mathematical framework for investigating the impact of perturbations into a steady-state traffic is proposed for the class of time continuous car-following models. Linear stability analyses are refined for forward and backward multi-anticipation, exploring the underlying importance of considering upstream information. The linear stability analyses for all wavelengths can be deepened by the mean of the graphical root locus analysis, which enables comparisons and design of strategies of cooperation. The positive influence of bilateral cooperation and of added linear control terms are highlighted. Weakly non-linear analyses are also performed, and the equations of solitary waves appearing at the frontier of the instability domain are obtained. A simple condition over the partial derivatives of the dynamical system is found to determine the acceleration regime of the leading edge of the travelling wave. Following these analytical results, one aim is to simulate a realistic traffic thereby reproducing the driving behavior variability. A Next Generation Simulation trajectory dataset is used to calibrate three continuous car-following models. A methodology involving data filtering, robust calibration, parameters estimation and sampling of realistic parameters is detailed, and allows realistic traffic with stop-and-go waves appearances to be replicated. Based on these simulated trajectories, previous analytical results are confirmed, and the growing perturbations are removed for various coverage rates of cooperative vehicles and adequately tuned cooperative strategies. Finally the issue of information reliability is assessed for a mixed fleet of cooperative and non-cooperative vehicles. The modeling choice consists in building a three layers multi-agent framework that enables the following properties to be defined: the physical behavior of vehicles, the communication possibilities, and the trust each vehicle -or agent- has in another vehicle information or in itself. The investigation of trust and communication rules allow the model to deal with high rates of disturbed cooperative vehicles sensors and to learn in real time the quality of the sent and received information. It is demonstrated that appropriate communication and trust rules sensibly increase the robustness of the network to perturbations coming from exchanges of unreliable information.

Aquesta tesi vol demostrar que Joseph Conrad i William Faulkner, en les novel·les Lord Jim i Absalom, Absalom! respectivament, reflexionen sobre la credibilitat de la veu en la ficció i del discurs racial per mitjà de l'exploració tècnica de la veu narrativa i dels estereotips racials. Nascuda de les crisis històriques que giren al voltant de les relacions racials, patides al si de l'Imperi Britànic de finals del segle XIX i al Sud dels Estats Units durant la dècada de 1930, l'articulació d'aquests dos aspectes en les novel·les permet una representació de les qüestions racials que és innovadora i ambivalent. Certament, la interrogació de la credibilitat dels discursos, tan comú en la novel·la moderna, porta a la sofisticació tant de les estratègies narratives que exploren el problema de la fiabilitat en la ficció com de l'ús dels estereotips racials a dins de la narració, entesos, doncs, com a formes narratives. És justament en l'anàlisi de les correspondències entre els aspectes històrics i els aspectes formals on la tesi troba la manera complexa en què aquestes dues novel·les expressen les tensions racials pròpies dels contextos històrics que les engendren. / This dissertation intends to demonstrate that Joseph Conrad's novel Lord Jim and William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! explore the narrative strategy of narrative voice, on the one hand, and racial stereotypes, on the other, in order to reflect upon the credibility of voice in fiction as well as the trustworthiness of racial discourse. Emerging from the historical ideological crisis that involved race relations in the late nineteenth-century British Empire, and in the 1930s U.S. South, the blending of these two aspects allowed an alternative and ambivalent representation of racial issues in fiction. The interrogation of credibility, very common in the Modern novel, results in these novels in a sophistication of the strategies that address the problem of narrative reliability, and of the use of racial stereotypes for narrative purposes in other words, their conception as narrative forms. By paying attention to these two aspects, this thesis claims that it is in the analysis of their intertwining where we may find the expression of the historical tension born of complex race relations.

In my diploma thesis I dealt with the institute of liability for value added tax. It is a relatively new device in a fight against the tax evasion, which has been added to Czech legislation due to European directive on VAT. One of the biggest problems in the fight against tax evasion are carousel frauds