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Automation of finite element analysis based on a fully adaptive <i>p</i>-refinement procedure can reduce the magnitude of discretization error to the desired accuracy with minimum computational cost and computer resources. This study aims to 1) develop an efficient <i>p</i>-refinement procedure with a non-uniform <i>p</i> analysis capability for solving 2-D and 3-D elastostatic mechanics problems, and 2) introduce a stress error estimate. An element-by-element algorithm that decides the appropriate order for each element, where element orders can range from 1 to 8, is described. Global and element data structures that manage the complex data generated during the refinement process are introduced. These data structures are designed to match the concept of object-oriented programming where data and functions are managed and organized simultaneously. The stress error indicator introduced is found to be more reliable and to converge faster than the error indicator measured in an energy norm called the residual method. The use of the stress error indicator results in approximately 20% fewer degrees of freedom than the residual method. Agreement of the calculated stress error values and the stress error indicator values confirms the convergence of final stresses to the analyst. The error order of the stress error estimate is postulated to be one order higher than the error order of the error estimate using the residual method. The mapping of a curved boundary element in the working coordinate system from a square-shape element in the natural coordinate system results in a significant improvement in the accuracy of stress results. Numerical examples demonstrate that refinement using non-uniform <i>p</i> analysis is superior to uniform <i>p</i> analysis in the convergence rates of output stresses or related terms. Non-uniform <i>p</i> analysis uses approximately 50% to 80% less computational time than uniform <i>p</i> analysis in solving the selected stress concentration and stress intensity problems. More importantly, the non-uniform <i>p</i> refinement procedure scales the number of equations down by 1/2 to 3/4. Therefore, a small scale computer can be used to solve equation systems generated using high order <i>p</i>-elements. In the calculation of the stress intensity factor of a semi-elliptical surface crack in a finite-thickness plate, non-uniform <i>p</i> analysis used fewer degrees of freedom than a conventional <i>h</i>-type element analysis found in the literature. / Ph. D.

Software changes constantly and continuously. It is often beneficial to record the progressive changes made to software, so that when any problems arise, it is possible to identify the change that might have caused the problem. Also, recording these changes enables recovery of the software as it was at any point of time. A version control system is used to track modifications to software. Version control systems (VCS) display when and where a change was made. In the case of multiple developers working on the same software system, version control systems also record which developer was responsible for the change. RCS, SCCS and CVS are examples of such version control systems, and they usually have a command-line interface. The widespread use of CVS has however given rise to a host of "CVS clients", which provide a two-dimensional graphical interface to CVS. While working with a version control system in two dimensions is a definite improvement over traditional command line interfaces, it is still not sufficient to display all the necessary information in a single view. Using three dimensions to display the information from a version control system like CVS is an effective and efficient way to represent multiple attributes in a single view. There are many advantages to using a third dimension for visualizing the version history and evolution of software. A three-dimensional visualization tool has been developed to provide insights into the structure and characteristics of the history of a software system. It demonstrates the benefits of three-dimensional visualization and illustrates a framework that can be used to automatically derive information from a version control system. / Master of Information Systems

Dans ce qui suit je présente une traduction de l’Apocalypse de Paul (NHC V.2), précédée d’une introduction et suivie d’un commentaire explicatif. Ce court texte en langue copte, d’affiliation gnostique, décrit I’ascension de I’apôtre Paul jusqu’au dixième ciel. Je le situe dans le contexte littéraire de son temps, en montrant les liens, les similarités, et aussi les différences qu’il entretient avec d’autres textes gnostiques, apocalyptiques, chrétiens disons «orthodoxes», et hérésiologiques de 1’Antiquite tardive. J ’examine également les références de l’Apocalypse de Paul dans les sources contemporaines, je propose une datation approximative mais probable, et j ’analyse et critique les autres travaux consacres a ce texte depuis sa découverte en 1945.

A gerência de configuração vem sendo estudada desde os anos sessenta. Inicialmente, era aplicada da mesma forma para software e hardware, sendo que no final dos anos setenta já havia padrões de gerência de configuração específicos para software. Com a crescente demanda por qualidade de software, as práticas de gerência de configuração vem sendo cada vez mais utilizadas no desenvolvimento de software, uma vez que a gerência de configuração de software é um dos processos fundamentais para se ter qualidade no desenvolvimento e manutenção de software. Embora cada vez mais amplamente utilizado, não existe um consenso de práticas e nomenclaturas sobre as práticas de gerência de configuração. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é elaborar um modelo de avaliação do processo de Gerência de Configuração, que permite avaliar as práticas e processos fundamentais para a implantação da gerência de configuração, levando em consideração as práticas e processos descritos nas principais normas internacionais de desenvolvimento de software. Esse modelo de avaliação também permite que as ferramentas disponíveis para gerência de configuração sejam avaliadas, identificando quais práticas e processos elas auxiliam na execução. / The Configuration Management has been studied since the 70’s. In the beginning it was applied in the same way for software and hardware, but in the late 70’s there were some specific configuration management patterns defined for software. The demand for software quality has increased recently, this way the configuration management practices have been more used in software development, because the software configuration management is one of the most important processes to assess quality during software development or maintenance. Although its use is increasing, there is no consensus about the configuration management practices and the names applied to them. The objective of this work is to elaborate an evaluation model for configuration management process, to evaluate the practices and the fundamental processes to perform configuration management, based on the most important software development standards. This evaluation model can also be used to evaluate configuration management tools, identifying what practices and process it help to execute.

A gerência de configuração vem sendo estudada desde os anos sessenta. Inicialmente, era aplicada da mesma forma para software e hardware, sendo que no final dos anos setenta já havia padrões de gerência de configuração específicos para software. Com a crescente demanda por qualidade de software, as práticas de gerência de configuração vem sendo cada vez mais utilizadas no desenvolvimento de software, uma vez que a gerência de configuração de software é um dos processos fundamentais para se ter qualidade no desenvolvimento e manutenção de software. Embora cada vez mais amplamente utilizado, não existe um consenso de práticas e nomenclaturas sobre as práticas de gerência de configuração. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é elaborar um modelo de avaliação do processo de Gerência de Configuração, que permite avaliar as práticas e processos fundamentais para a implantação da gerência de configuração, levando em consideração as práticas e processos descritos nas principais normas internacionais de desenvolvimento de software. Esse modelo de avaliação também permite que as ferramentas disponíveis para gerência de configuração sejam avaliadas, identificando quais práticas e processos elas auxiliam na execução. / The Configuration Management has been studied since the 70’s. In the beginning it was applied in the same way for software and hardware, but in the late 70’s there were some specific configuration management patterns defined for software. The demand for software quality has increased recently, this way the configuration management practices have been more used in software development, because the software configuration management is one of the most important processes to assess quality during software development or maintenance. Although its use is increasing, there is no consensus about the configuration management practices and the names applied to them. The objective of this work is to elaborate an evaluation model for configuration management process, to evaluate the practices and the fundamental processes to perform configuration management, based on the most important software development standards. This evaluation model can also be used to evaluate configuration management tools, identifying what practices and process it help to execute.

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζονται οι οικονομετρικές σχέσεις του νόμου του Okun, που συνδέουν τις μεταβολές στο προϊόν της οικονομίας (ΑΕΠ) με τις μεταβολές στο επίπεδο ανεργίας. Διάφορες θεωρητικές προσεγγίσεις του νόμου, εμπειρικές μελέτες προηγούμενων οικονομολόγων σχετικά με το θέμα και μία εμπειρική εφαρμογή για δεδομένα που αφορούν την Ελλάδα, θα παρουσιαστούν και θα αναλυθούν με σκοπό να διαπιστώσουμε την αποτελεσματικότητα του νόμου διαχρονικά, και ποιες αναβαθμίσεις των μορφών του, οδηγούν προς σε αυτήν την κατεύθυνση. / In this work we present the econometric relationships of Okun’s law that connect the changes in the product of economy (GDP) with those of the level of unemployment. Different theoretical approaches of the law, empirical studies of other economists, relative to the subject and one empirical application of data that concern Greece, will be described and analysed in purpose of examine, the effectiveness of Okun’s law through time and which upgrades of its versions, lead to that direction.

Contexte : Le management de la présentation foetale en siège est complexe car la littérature scientifique est contrastée. Objectif : Mettre en évidence les effets des attitudes et des interventions professionnelles sur le vécu des femmes. Méthodes : Cinq recherches quantitatives et qualitatives, incluant 311 participantes, ont été menées à la maternité des Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève. Résultats : Les femmes doivent souvent faire un deuil par anticipation de l'accouchement idéalisé. Elles sont très motivées à tenter de corriger la malposition foetale. 69% des participantes ont recours aux médecines alternatives et complémentaires pour se soigner. 68% des participantes ont qualifié la tentative de version céphalique externe (VCE) de « forte à insupportable. Un accompagnement par hypnose ne réduit pas l'intensité de la douleur, comparé à un accompagnement par une sage-femme (échelle visuelle analogique : 6,0 vs 6,3 /10 respectivement, p=0.25). Pour le choix du mode d'accouchement les femmes ont rapporté des conflits décisionnels majeurs. L'information médicale est souvent perçue en faveur de la césarienne élective. Le sentiment de contrôle, les émotions et les premiers instants avec le nouveau-né sont perçus différemment selon le mode d'accouchement, en défaveur de la césarienne en urgence. Conclusion : Un processus émotionnel et décisionnel inattendu et souvent difficile est associé au diagnostic de siège. Développer des outils d'aide à la décision pour la femme, et des techniques de relation d'aide pour les professionnels faciliteraient ces processus. La prise en charge de la douleur durant la tentative de VCE est indispensable / Context: Management of breech remains complex due to divergence of practices and recommendations reported in the literature. Objective: To highlight the effects of health professionals' interventions on women's experiences. Methods: Five research studies qualitative were conducted at the University Hospitals of Geneva, including a total of 311 participants. Two studies used a method with interviews and thematic analysis, two used a quantitative method with a statistical analysis, and one used a mixed methods' design. Results: Breech diagnosis often requires anticipating a disappointment of an idealized childbirth. Women demonstrate a strong motivation to try to turn their fetus. 69% of women use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for their treatment. 68% of participants qualified external cephalic version (ECV) as "strong to unbearable". An accompaniment by a hypnotist compared to a midwife did not decrease pain intensity (visual analogic scale: 6.0 vs 6.3/10, respectively; p=.25). For the choice of breech delivery mode, women reported strong decisional conflicts. Medical information is often perceived in favour of a planned caesarean. Feelings of control, emotions and the first moments with the newborn are perceived differently and, notably, negatively in the case of emergency ceasarean section. Conclusion: A difficult emotional and decision-making process is associated with term breech. Use of CAM should be considered by professionals. Developing tools to assist women, and relationship techniques for professionals could facilitate these processes. Reduction of pain during ECV is necessary

Research in Logotherapy substantiates the influence of meaning on psychological health and Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) corroborates the effects of psychological health on physical health. This dissertation explores the relationship between meaning and physical health hypothesising that purpose affects physical health. Methodology Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), ANOVAs and stepwise regression were used to explore three possible models. Results EFA revealed four factors, purpose, fear, vitality and aggression. Significant correlations were found between purpose, vitality (0.42) and work application (0.53). Despite the significant relationship between purpose and vitality, the lack of Chi-square is significant, suggesting that additional variables should be introduced into the model. Conclusion People reporting high levels of purpose together with low levels of fear and aggression, can be characterised by high vitality and an absence of medical conditions. Future research should focus on evaluating meaning centred interventions on immunity and vitality. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Cette thèse porte sur la modélisation d’un système d’aide à l’évolution du web de données en utilisant un système multi-agents. Plus particulièrement, elle a pour but de guider l’utilisateur dans sa démarche de modification d’une base de connaissances RDF. Elle aborde les problématiques suivantes : intégrer de nouveaux triplets résultant de l'annotation des documents, proposer le changement adéquat dans les deux niveaux, ontologie et données, en se basant sur des mesures de similarités, analyser les effets de changements sur la qualité des données et la gestion des versions en prenant en considération d'éventuels conflits. Cette question de recherche complexe engendre plusieurs problématiques dont les réponses sont dépendantes les unes des autres. Pour cela, nous nous sommes orientées vers le paradigme agent pour décomposer le problème. Il s’agit de répartir les tâches dans des agents. La coopération entre les agents permet de répondre au besoin de dépendance évoqué ci-dessus pour bénéficier de l’aspect dynamique et combler les inconvénients d’un système modulaire classique. Le choix d’un tel écosystème nous a permis de proposer une démarche d’évaluation de la qualité des données en employant un modèle d’argumentation. Il s’agit d’établir un consensus entre les agents pour prendre en considération les trois dimensions intrinsèques : la cohérence, la concision la complétude, la validation syntaxique et sémantique. Nous avons modélisé les métriques d’évaluation de chaque dimension sous forme d’arguments. L’acceptation ou pas d’un argument se décide via les préférences des agents.Chaque modification donne lieu à une nouvelle version de la base de connaissances RDF. Nous avons choisi de garder la dernière version de la base de connaissances. Pour cette raison, nous avons choisi de préserver les URI des ressources. Pour garder la trace des changements, nous annotons chaque ressource modifiée. Néanmoins, une base de connaissances peut être modifiée par plusieurs collaborateurs ce qui peut engendrer des conflits. Ils sont conjointement le résultat d’intégration de plusieurs données et le chevauchement des buts des agents. Pour gérer ces conflits, nous avons défini des règles. Nous avons appliqué notre travail de recherche au domaine de médecine générale. / In this thesis, we investigate the evolution of RDF datasets from documents and LOD. We identify the following issues : the integration of new triples, the proposition of changes by taking into account the data quality and the management of differents versions.To handle with the complexity of the web of data evolution, we propose an agent based argumentation framework. We assume that the agent specifications could facilitate the process of RDF dataset evolution. The agent technology is one of the most useful solution to cope with a complex problem. The agents work as a team and are autonomous in the sense that they have the ability to decide themselves which goals they should adopt and how these goals should be acheived. The Agents use argumentation theory to reach a consensus about the best change alternative. Relatively to this goal, we propose an argumentation model based on the metric related to the intrinsic dimensions.To keep a record of all the occured modifications, we are focused on the ressource version. In the case of a collaborative environment, several conflicts could be generated. To manage those conflicts, we define rules.The exploited domain is general medecine.