Studies on integrating kinematic design method with mechanical systems simulation techniques

Theultimate goal of any research in the mechanism/kinematic/design area may be called predictive design, ie the optimisation of mechanism proportions in the design stage without requiring extensive life and wear testing. This is an ambitious goal and can be realised through development and refinement of numerical (computational) technology in order to facilitate the design analysis and optimisation of complex mechanisms, mechanical components and systems. As a part of the systematic design methodology this thesis concentrates on kinematic synthesis (kinematic design and analysis) methods in the mechanism synthesis process. The main task of kinematic design is to find all possible solutions in the form of structural parameters to accomplish the desired requirements of motion. Main formulations of kinematic design can be broadly divided to exact synthesis and approximate synthesis formulations. The exact synthesis formulation is based in solving n linear or nonlinear equations in n variables and the solutions for the problem areget by adopting closed form classical or modern algebraic solution methods or using numerical solution methods based on the polynomial continuation or homotopy. The approximate synthesis formulations is based on minimising the approximation error by direct optimisation The main drawbacks of exact synthesis formulationare: (ia) limitations of number of design specifications and (iia) failure in handling design constraints- especially inequality constraints. The main drawbacks of approximate synthesis formulations are: (ib) it is difficult to choose a proper initial linkage and (iib) it is hard to find more than one solution. Recentformulations in solving the approximate synthesis problem adopts polynomial continuation providing several solutions, but it can not handle inequality const-raints. Based on the practical design needs the mixed exact-approximate position synthesis with two exact and an unlimited number of approximate positions has also been developed. The solutions space is presented as a ground pivot map but thepole between the exact positions cannot be selected as a ground pivot. In this thesis the exact synthesis problem of planar mechanism is solved by generating all possible solutions for the optimisation process ¿ including solutions in positive dimensional solution sets - within inequality constraints of structural parameters. Through the literature research it is first shown that the algebraic and numerical solution methods ¿ used in the research area of computational kinematics ¿ are capable of solving non-parametric algebraic systems of n equations inn variables and cannot handle the singularities associated with positive-dimensional solution sets. In this thesis the problem of positive-dimensional solutionsets is solved adopting the main principles from mathematical research area of algebraic geometry in solving parametric ( in the mathematical sense that all parameter values are considered ¿ including the degenerate cases ¿ for which the system is solvable ) algebraic systems of n equations and at least n+1 variables.Adopting the developed solution method in solving the dyadic equations in direct polynomial form in two- to three-precision-points it has been algebraically proved and numerically demonstrated that the map of the ground pivots is ambiguousand that the singularities associated with positive-dimensional solution sets can be solved. The positive-dimensional solution sets associated with the poles might contain physically meaningful solutions in the form of optimal defectfree mechanisms. Traditionally the mechanism optimisation of hydraulically driven boommechanisms is done at early state of the design process. This will result in optimal component design rather than optimal system level design. Modern mechanismoptimisation at system level demands integration of kinematic design methods with mechanical system simulation techniques. In this thesis a new kinematic design method for hydraulically driven boom mechanism is developed and integrated in mechanical system simulation techniques. The developed kinematic design method is based on the combinations of two-precision-point formulation and on optimisation ( with mathematical programming techniques or adopting optimisation methods based on probability and statistics ) of substructures using calculated criteria from the system level response of multidegree-of-freedom mechanisms. Eg. by adopting the mixed exact-approximate position synthesis in direct optimisation (using mathematical programming techniques) with two exact positions and an unlimitednumber of approximate positions the drawbacks of (ia)-(iib) has been cancelled.The design principles of the developed method are based on the design-tree -approach of the mechanical systems and the design method ¿ in principle ¿ is capable of capturing the interrelationship between kinematic and dynamic synthesis simultaneously when the developed kinematic design method is integrated with the mechanical system simulation techniques.

Uuteen tietojärjestelmään siirtymisen vaikutukset

Johtavana ideana on tutkia, kuinka uusi tietojärjestelmään vaikuttaa varastointiyritykseen. Muutoksia on tutkittu niin käytännön kuin tietojärjestelmätasolla. Ongelmia ja niiden ratkaisuja on tutkittu molempien osalta erikseen. Uuteen järjestelmään siirtymisessä oli kaksi eri vaihetta. Tavoitteena on myös antaa kokonaiskuva varastonhallinnasta. Ensimmäisen käyttöönoton osalta tällä tutkielmalla oli 3kolme eri tehtävää: testata, kouluttaa ja tutkia käyttöönoton onnistumista. Tästä osiosta oli tuloksena mm. vastaanottohenkilöstön SAP-R3 käyttöohje ja vastaanottohenkilöstön koulutus. Testauksen tarkoituksena oli käyttöönoton ongelmien ennaltaehkäisy. Koulutuksen tavoitteena oli kouluttaa vastaanottohenkilöstö käyttämään R3:a siltä osin kun he sitä tarvitsevat. Tämä vaihe ei edellyttänyt vielä kerääjien koulutusta, koska heitä muutokset eivät vielä koskeneet. Työnjohto koulutettiin jo etukäteen.Toisen käyttöönoton osalta tehtäviä oli kaksi: tutkia käyttöönoton onnistumista ja tutkia, jäikö käyttöönoton jäljiltä vielä ongelmia. Lisäksi tutkielman tekijä oli mukana kouluttamassa keräilijöitä. Tämä työ on myös käyttöönottoprojektin yhteenveto. Ongelmia kappaleessa on esitetty puutteita toiminnassa ja tietojärjestelmässä. Lisäksi kappaleessa on ratkaisuehdotukset näihin pulmiin. Teoria osassa kerrotaan varastonhallinnan käytännön taustalla olevat teoriat.

Does phylogeographic structure relate to climatic niche divergence? A test using maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.)

Aim To disentangle the effects of environmental and geographical processes driving phylogenetic distances among clades of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster). To assess the implications for conservation management of combining molecular information with species distribution models (SDMs; which predict species distribution based on known occurrence records and on environmental variables). Location Western Mediterranean Basin and European Atlantic coast. Methods We undertook two cluster analyses for eight genetically defined pine clades based on climatic niche and genetic similarities. We assessed niche similarity by means of a principal component analysis and Schoener's D metric. To calculate genetic similarity, we used the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean based on Nei's distance using 266 single nucleotide polymorphisms. We then assessed the contribution of environmental and geographical distances to phylogenetic distance by means of Mantel regression with variance partitioning. Finally, we compared the projection obtained from SDMs fitted from the species level (SDMsp) and composed from the eight clade-level models (SDMcm). Results Genetically and environmentally defined clusters were identical. Environmental and geographical distances explained 12.6% of the phylogenetic distance variation and, overall, geographical and environmental overlap among clades was low. Large differences were detected between SDMsp and SDMcm (57.75% of disagreement in the areas predicted as suitable). Main conclusions The genetic structure within the maritime pine subspecies complex is primarily a consequence of its demographic history, as seen by the high proportion of unexplained variation in phylogenetic distances. Nevertheless, our results highlight the contribution of local environmental adaptation in shaping the lower-order, phylogeographical distribution patterns and spatial genetic structure of maritime pine: (1) genetically and environmentally defined clusters are consistent, and (2) environment, rather than geography, explained a higher proportion of variation in phylogenetic distance. SDMs, key tools in conservation management, better characterize the fundamental niche of the species when they include molecular information.

Predicting richness and composition in mountain insect communities at high resolution: a new test of the SESAM framework

Aim The aim of this study was to test different modelling approaches, including a new framework, for predicting the spatial distribution of richness and composition of two insect groups. Location The western Swiss Alps. Methods We compared two community modelling approaches: the classical method of stacking binary prediction obtained fromindividual species distribution models (binary stacked species distribution models, bS-SDMs), and various implementations of a recent framework (spatially explicit species assemblage modelling, SESAM) based on four steps that integrate the different drivers of the assembly process in a unique modelling procedure. We used: (1) five methods to create bS-SDM predictions; (2) two approaches for predicting species richness, by summing individual SDM probabilities or by modelling the number of species (i.e. richness) directly; and (3) five different biotic rules based either on ranking probabilities from SDMs or on community co-occurrence patterns. Combining these various options resulted in 47 implementations for each taxon. Results Species richness of the two taxonomic groups was predicted with good accuracy overall, and in most cases bS-SDM did not produce a biased prediction exceeding the actual number of species in each unit. In the prediction of community composition bS-SDM often also yielded the best evaluation score. In the case of poor performance of bS-SDM (i.e. when bS-SDM overestimated the prediction of richness) the SESAM framework improved predictions of species composition. Main conclusions Our results differed from previous findings using community-level models. First, we show that overprediction of richness by bS-SDM is not a general rule, thus highlighting the relevance of producing good individual SDMs to capture the ecological filters that are important for the assembly process. Second, we confirm the potential of SESAM when richness is overpredicted by bS-SDM; limiting the number of species for each unit and applying biotic rules (here using the ranking of SDM probabilities) can improve predictions of species composition

Animal modelling for inherited central vision loss.

Disease-causing variants of a large number of genes trigger inherited retinal degeneration leading to photoreceptor loss. Because cones are essential for daylight and central vision such as reading, mobility, and face recognition, this review focuses on a variety of animal models for cone diseases. The pertinence of using these models to reveal genotype/phenotype correlations and to evaluate new therapeutic strategies is discussed. Interestingly, several large animal models recapitulate human diseases and can serve as a strong base from which to study the biology of disease and to assess the scale-up of new therapies. Examples of innovative approaches will be presented such as lentiviral-based transgenesis in pigs and adeno-associated virus (AAV)-gene transfer into the monkey eye to investigate the neural circuitry plasticity of the visual system. The models reported herein permit the exploration of common mechanisms that exist between different species and the identification and highlighting of pathways that may be specific to primates, including humans.

The effects of fire severity on ectomycorrhizal colonization and morphometric features in Pinus pinaster Ait. seedlings

Aim of the study: Mycorrhizal fungi in Mediterranean forests play a key role in the complex process of recovery after wildfires. A broader understanding of an important pyrophytic species as Pinus pinaster and its fungal symbionts is thus necessary for forest restoration purposes. This study aims to assess the effects of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis on maritime pine seedlings and how fire severity affects fungal colonization ability. Area of study: Central Spain, in a Mediterranean region typically affected by wildfires dominated by Pinus pinaster, a species adapted to fire disturbance. Material and Methods: We studied P. pinaster root apexes from seedlings grown in soils collected one year after fire in undisturbed sites, sites moderately affected by fire and sites highly affected by fire. Natural ectomycorrhization was observed at the whole root system level as well as at two root vertical sections (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm). We also measured several morphometric traits ( tap root length, shoot length, dry biomass of shoots and root/shoot ratio), which were used to test the influence of fire severity and soil chemistry upon them. Main results: Ectomycorrhizal colonization in undisturbed soils for total and separated root vertical sections was higher than in soils that had been affected by fire to some degree. Inversely, seedling vegetative size increased according to fire severity. Research highlights: Fire severity affected soil properties and mycorrhizal colonization one year after occurrence, thus affecting plant development. These findings can contribute to a better knowledge of the factors mediating successful establishment of P. pinaster in Mediterranean forests after wildfires.

Interleukin-4 induced leukocyte differentiation

Monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) are important mediators of innate immune system, whereas T lymphocytes are the effector cells of adaptive immune responses. DCs play a crucial role in bridging innate and adaptive immunity. Naïve CD4+ Th progenitors (Thp) differentiate to functionally distinct effector T cell subsets including Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells, which while being responsible for specific immune functions have also been implicated in pathological responses, such as autoimmunity, asthma and allergy. The main objective of this thesis is to dissect the signalling networks involved in the IL-4 induced differentiation of two important leukocyte subtypes, Th2 cells and DCs. Gene expression profiling lead to identification of over 200 genes which are differentially expressed during cytokine induced differentiation of human monocytes to DCs or macrophages and which are likely to be essential for the proper biological functions of these cell types. Transcriptome analysis demonstrated the dynamic regulation of gene expression by IL-12 and IL-4 during the initiation of Th cell differentiation, which was partly counteracted by an immunosuppressive cytokine, TGFβ, present in the culture media. Results from RNAi mediated gene knockdown experiments and global gene expression analysis elucidated that SATB1 regulates multiple genes important for Th cell polarization or function as well as may compete with GATA3 for the reciprocal regulation of IL-5 transcription. In conclusion, the results obtained have extended our system-level understanding of the immune cell differentiation processes and provide an excellent basis for the further functional studies which could lead to development of improved therapeutic approaches for a range of immunological conditions.

Absorptive capacity of Multinational Corporation’s parent company

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the literature concerning absorptive capacity by revealing the factors affecting the absorptive capacity of MNC parent company toward subsidiary and most particularly the effects of intra-organizational antecedents. The theoretical framework is build around previous findings on knowledge sharing and absorptive capacity. The empirical part of the study is a qualitative research which includes in-depth interviews and analysis of secondary data based on a single case company. The results showed that organizational structure, internal communication, informal networks, formal networks, internationalization, human resources management, shared language, meetings, trust, participation in decision-making, level of awareness, IT system, level of adaptation to market specifications and job rotation influence parent company’s absorptive capacity. Moreover, related problems to these antecedents have been identified. Additionally, recommendations to solve these problems are formulated. In the end, directions for future research on this topic are given.

Kunnossapitopalveluiden arvopohjaisen elinkaarimallin kehittäminen

Tutkimuksen päätavoitteena on luoda yleispätevä elinkaarimalli, jota voidaan hyö-dyntää laitetason kunnossapitoon liittyvissä päätöksentekotilanteissa eri teollisuu-denaloilla. Elinkaarimalliin yhdistettiin arvoajattelu, jonka pohjalta mallin käyttäjät voivat valita ja painottaa omien näkemyksiensä mukaan arvoa luovat elementit sekä nähdä muille verkostojäsenille arvoa lisäävät tekijät. Aiemmissa elinkaarimalleissa on keskitytty pääasiassa yhteen tarkastelunäkökulmaan, joten verkostotason työkalulle on selkeä tarve. Myöskään arvoajattelua ei ole aiemmin yhdistetty elinkaarilaskentaa soveltaviin malleihin. Työn osalta käytettiin konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta. Elinkaarimallia kehitettiin ja testattiin kaivosteollisuuden yritysverkostoon kuuluvien kahden case-tapauksen avulla. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen osa pohjautui työn oleellisempiin osa-alueisiin, kuten kunnossapitoon, arvoelementteihin ja elinkaarilaskentaan. Työn empiirisessä osiossa hyödynnettiin verkostoon kuuluvien yritysedustajien haastatteluita sekä yritysten tietojärjestelmästä saatuja tietoja. Arvoelementtien muodostuksessa käy-tettiin hyväksi myös muiden teollisuusyritysten ajatuksia ja näkökulmia. Työn merkittävin tulos on ensimmäisen version kehittäminen arvopohjaisesta elinkaarimallista. Elinkaarimalli antaa tuloksina jokaisen verkostojäsenen osalta laitteen kunnossapidon kustannukset ja tuotot vuositasolla sekä kumulatiivisesti koko elinkaaren ajalta niin reaali- kuin nykyarvonakin. Mallin tuloksena saadaan myös yhteistyön myötä kasvaneen lisäarvon suuruus ja jakautuminen verkoston toimijoiden välillä heidän valitsemiensa arvoelementtien mukaisesti. Näin ollen mallia voidaan käyttää tulevaisuuden ennustamisen lisäksi menneiden kustannusten ja tuottojen seurantamallina. Kokonaisuudessaan arvopohjaisen elinkaarimallin tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää laitetason kunnossapitoon liittyvissä sopimusneuvotte-luissa niin arvoa luovien elementtien kuin kustannus- ja tuottotekijöidenkin osalta. Kokonaisuudessaan arvoajattelun yhdistäminen ja hyödyntäminen elinkaarilas-kennassa on vielä alkuvaiheessa, joten kyseinen osa-alue onkin varsin järkevä jat-kotutkimuskohde. Avoimen ja tiiviin yritysyhteistyön kautta saadaan arvopohjai-sesta elinkaarimallista jatkokehitettyä erittäin hyödyllinen työkalu yritysverkosto-jen käytettäväksi. Kiristyvässä kilpailussa verkoston kokonaisarvon kasvu ja ja-kautuminen ovat tulevaisuudessa erittäin keskeisiä aihealueita, joten tämäntyylisten verkostotyökalujen hyödyntäminen nostanee ehdottomasti suosiotaan.

Euroopan unionin sisämarkkinoiden toiminnan varmistamiseksi asetettujen vero-oikeudellisten toimien vaikutukset Suomen arvonlisäverojärjestelmään

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää EU:n jäsenyyden ja EU-oikeuden vaikutuksia Suomen arvonlisäverojärjestelmään; mikä on voimassa olevan oikeuden sisältö yhteisötasolla sekä kansallisessa arvonlisäverojärjestelmässä ja millainen on vallitseva arvonlisäverotusta koskeva oikeusjärjestelmä EU kontekstissa. Päätavoitteena on tutkia EU-oikeuden vaikutusta KHO:n laintulkintoihin ja Euroopan unionin tuomioistuimen arvonlisäverotukseen liittyviä tulkintoja sekä sitä, kuinka nämä tulkinnat ovat vaikuttaneet Suomen arvonlisäverojärjestelmän normeihin ja niiden soveltamiseen. Tutkimuksessa aiheen tarkastelu on rajattu sekundäärioikeuden puolelta vaikutusten tutkimiseen arvonlisäveron vähennysoikeuden osalta. Tutkimuksen pääteemoina ovat vähennysoikeuden syntyminen ja laajuus, vähennysoikeuden suhdeluku ja vähennysoikeuden rajoitukset. Tavoitteena on oikeusdogmaattisesti tulkita ja systematisoida arvonlisäverojärjestelmän soveltamisalaan liittyvää oikeusjärjestystä vähennysoikeuden osalta ja tavoitella ristiriidattomuutta unionin järjestelmän ja Suomen arvonlisäverojärjestelmän välillä. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että EU:lla on ollut vaikutusta sekä varsinaiseen verotukseen että veropoli-tiikan muotoutumiseen. Arvonlisäverotuksen eurooppalaistuminen on näyttäytynyt jatkuvana oikeuslähdepohjan muutoksena ja sen vaikuttamisena etenkin oikeuden soveltamiseen. Yhteisessä arvonlisäverojärjestelmässä vallankäyttö on siirtynyt osittain pois kansallisista poliittisista ja oikeudellisista rakenteista EU-tason rakenteisiin. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että yhteinen arvonlisäverojärjestelmä ja EUT:n oikeuskäytäntö on vähinten vaikuttanut Suomessa vähennysoikeuden rajoituskysymyksiin. Sitä vastoin suhdelukua koskevaan käytäntöön EUT:lla on ollut vaikutusta. Näkyvimmin EU:n tuomioistuimen oikeuskäytännön mukanaan tuoma vaikutus liittyy arvonlisäveron vähennysoikeuden syntymiseen ja laajuuteen.

Hoitokuluanalyysi Suomen yksityisen sektorin työeläkejärjestelmästä

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia Suomen työeläkevakuutusyhtiöiden työeläkevakuutusmaksun hoitokustannusosalla katettavia liikekuluja ja muodostaa analyysi Suomen työeläkevakuutusjärjestelmän liikekulujen kehittymisestä ja tehokkuuden tasosta. Tehokkuusnäkökulman lisäksi tarkastellaan työeläkejärjestelmän kilpailuolosuhteita. Tutkimusta motivoi työeläkealalle ajankohtainen asia, joka liittyy yhtiökohtaisen hinnoittelumallin mahdolliseen käyttöönottoon, jota parhaillaan suunnitellaan työeläkealan tehokkuuden ja kilpailullisuuden lisäämiseksi. Yhtiökohtaisessa hinnoittelumallissa työeläkeyhtiö voisi itsenäisesti vaikuttaa työeläkevakuutuksen hintaan hoitokustannusosan kautta, joka määräytyisi pitkälti sen mukaan kuinka tehokkaasti yhtiö pystyy toimintansa järjestämään. Empiirinen tutkimus on toteutettu kvalitatiivisena tapaustutkimuksena, jossa kuitenkin empiirinen analyysi perustuu kvantitatiiviseen aineistoon ja aineistoa on käsitelty kvantitatiivisen tutkimuksen menetelmin. Pääasiallisina tutkimusotteina on käytetty taulukointia ja erinäisten muuttujien välistä korrelaatiota. Tuloksien suhteen on käytetty aineistolähtöistä induktiivista päättelyä. Tutkimuksessa on tutkittu seitsemän yksityisen sektorin työeläkeyhtiön liikekuluja vuosilta 2006–2013. Tutkimustuloksien mukaan järjestelmätasolla tarkasteltuna työeläkeyhtiöiden toiminta on tehokasta, joskin yksittäisten yhtiöiden välillä on suuriakin tehokkuuseroja. Vakuutusten ja korvaustoiminnan hoito ovat suurimmat kustannusten aiheuttajat. Työeläkemarkkinat ovat hyvin keskittyneet ja muistuttavat enemmänkin oligopolisia markkinoita kuin täydellisen kilpailun markkinoita.

Evaluating the Strategic Objectives of Cameroonian Higher Education: An application of the Balanced Scorecard

Contemporary higher education operates in an environment of dwindling and parsimonious resources; the increasing need for accountability and relevance to varying stakeholders with differing expectations. These relatively new trends in higher education have been faced by business organizations which have developed different ways of operating in response. This study outlines one way by which business organizations have addressed similar circumstances to show how the Cameroon higher education (HE) could learn from business organizations to manage strategic objectives. The balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used by business organizations to address similar trends. This study evaluates the strategic objectives of Cameroonian higher education using the balanced scorecard. The system level is used to identify the general strategic objectives and one state university is used to represent the translation and implementation of the objectives at the institution level. The BSC principles used include: operational strategic objectives; organizational alignment to the strategy; making strategy everyone’s everyday job; making strategy continual and; mobilizing the leadership for change. The underlying concepts in these principles are communication, consensus, relevance, and a participatory approach. The study employs data from policy documents, relevant literature, websites and semi-structured interviews. The research approach is qualitative and the analyses are done by making meaning of phenomena in their natural contexts. The results show that there is a general knowledge of the strategic objectives but there is disagreement on the relevance of these objectives to HE and on the type of approaches used in implementing the objectives. It was also found that the relevant stakeholders are known, but not all the respondents agree on the importance of these stakeholders. All stakeholders do not have the same level of influence-the state is the most influential. Reporting is sufficiently done but there are insufficient provisions for feedback from stakeholders. The study concludes that the BSC principles can be applied to the management of strategic objectives in Cameroon HE. For Cameroonian higher education, it is recommended that the focus should be first, on developing tools for strategy before the strategy itself. Even though the need for the BSC is confirmed the context does not seem sufficiently ready to implement the BSC as a strategic management tool. The proposed BSC framework can only be used as a communication tool. The barriers to managing strategic objectives in Cameroon HE are related to the communication, consensus, clarity and relevance. However, the system has prospects for improved management and eventual adoption of the BSC as both a strategic management and communication tool. In line with other BSC applications to higher education, this study concluded that it is more feasible to apply the balanced scorecard to a single higher education institution than to a higher education system. The study makes a contribution to the BSC by showing how its principles can be used in a non-business context. The study also opens up possibilities for future research on the same topic in a different context or the same context with a wider scope (more institutions and respondents); the same study with a deeper focus on the interrelationships between the different strategic objectives (strategy maps). The study could also be extended by including the perspectives of the identified stakeholders who are not directly part of the higher education system but constitute the environment in which higher education operates.

Formal development of resilient distributed systems

Resilience is the property of a system to remain trustworthy despite changes. Changes of a different nature, whether due to failures of system components or varying operational conditions, significantly increase the complexity of system development. Therefore, advanced development technologies are required to build robust and flexible system architectures capable of adapting to such changes. Moreover, powerful quantitative techniques are needed to assess the impact of these changes on various system characteristics. Architectural flexibility is achieved by embedding into the system design the mechanisms for identifying changes and reacting on them. Hence a resilient system should have both advanced monitoring and error detection capabilities to recognise changes as well as sophisticated reconfiguration mechanisms to adapt to them. The aim of such reconfiguration is to ensure that the system stays operational, i.e., remains capable of achieving its goals. Design, verification and assessment of the system reconfiguration mechanisms is a challenging and error prone engineering task. In this thesis, we propose and validate a formal framework for development and assessment of resilient systems. Such a framework provides us with the means to specify and verify complex component interactions, model their cooperative behaviour in achieving system goals, and analyse the chosen reconfiguration strategies. Due to the variety of properties to be analysed, such a framework should have an integrated nature. To ensure the system functional correctness, it should rely on formal modelling and verification, while, to assess the impact of changes on such properties as performance and reliability, it should be combined with quantitative analysis. To ensure scalability of the proposed framework, we choose Event-B as the basis for reasoning about functional correctness. Event-B is a statebased formal approach that promotes the correct-by-construction development paradigm and formal verification by theorem proving. Event-B has a mature industrial-strength tool support { the Rodin platform. Proof-based verification as well as the reliance on abstraction and decomposition adopted in Event-B provides the designers with a powerful support for the development of complex systems. Moreover, the top-down system development by refinement allows the developers to explicitly express and verify critical system-level properties. Besides ensuring functional correctness, to achieve resilience we also need to analyse a number of non-functional characteristics, such as reliability and performance. Therefore, in this thesis we also demonstrate how formal development in Event-B can be combined with quantitative analysis. Namely, we experiment with integration of such techniques as probabilistic model checking in PRISM and discrete-event simulation in SimPy with formal development in Event-B. Such an integration allows us to assess how changes and di erent recon guration strategies a ect the overall system resilience. The approach proposed in this thesis is validated by a number of case studies from such areas as robotics, space, healthcare and cloud domain.

Autonomy and Relatedness in Mainland Chinese Adolescents: Social or Personal? Accommodation or Distinctiveness?

Three studies comprised the current research program, in which the major goals were to propose and validate empirically the proposed two-level (universal and culture-specific) model of both autonomy and relatedness, as well as to develop reliable and valid measures for these two constructs. In Study 1, 143 mainland Chinese adolescents were asked open-ended questions about their understanding of autonomy and relatedness in three social contexts (peer, family, school). Chinese youth’s responses captured universal and culturally distinctive forms of autonomy (personal vs. social) and relatedness (accommodation vs. distinctiveness), according to a priori criteria based on the theoretical frameworks. Also, scenarios designed to reflect culture-specific forms of autonomy and relatedness suggested their relevance to Chinese adolescents. With a second sample of 201 mainland Chinese youth, in Study 2, the obtained autonomy and relatedness descriptors were formulated into scale items. Those items were subject to refinement analyses to examine their psychometric properties and centrality to Chinese youth. The findings of Study 1 scenarios were replicated in Study 2. The primary goal of Study 3 was to test empirically the proposed two-level (universal and culture-specific) models of both autonomy and relatedness, using the measures derived from Studies 1 and 2. A third sample of 465 mainland Chinese youth completed a questionnaire booklet consisting of autonomy and relatedness scales and scenarios and achievement motivation orientations measures. A series of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) autonomy and relatedness measurement models (first-order and second-order), as well as structural models linking culture-specific forms of autonomy and relatedness and achievement motivation orientations, were conducted. The first-order measurement models based on scale and scenario scores consistently confirmed the distinction between personal autonomy and social autonomy, and that of accommodation and distinctiveness. Although the construct validity of the two culture-specific forms of autonomy gained additional support from the structural models, the associations between the two culture-specific forms of relatedness and achievement motivation orientations were relatively weak. In general, the two-level models of autonomy and relatedness were supported in two ways: conceptual analysis of scale items and second-order measurement models. In addition, across the three studies, I explored potential contextual and sex differences in Chinese youth’s endorsement of the diverse forms of autonomy and relatedness. Overall, no substantial contextual variability or sex differences were found. The current research makes an important theoretical contribution to the field of developmental psychology in general, and autonomy and relatedness in particular, by proposing and testing empirically both universal and culture-specific parts of autonomy and relatedness. The current findings have implications for the measurement of autonomy and relatedness across social contexts, as well as for socialization and education practice.

Modelling software quality : a multidimensional approach

Les sociétés modernes dépendent de plus en plus sur les systèmes informatiques et ainsi, il y a de plus en plus de pression sur les équipes de développement pour produire des logiciels de bonne qualité. Plusieurs compagnies utilisent des modèles de qualité, des suites de programmes qui analysent et évaluent la qualité d'autres programmes, mais la construction de modèles de qualité est difficile parce qu'il existe plusieurs questions qui n'ont pas été répondues dans la littérature. Nous avons étudié les pratiques de modélisation de la qualité auprès d'une grande entreprise et avons identifié les trois dimensions où une recherche additionnelle est désirable : Le support de la subjectivité de la qualité, les techniques pour faire le suivi de la qualité lors de l'évolution des logiciels, et la composition de la qualité entre différents niveaux d'abstraction. Concernant la subjectivité, nous avons proposé l'utilisation de modèles bayésiens parce qu'ils sont capables de traiter des données ambiguës. Nous avons appliqué nos modèles au problème de la détection des défauts de conception. Dans une étude de deux logiciels libres, nous avons trouvé que notre approche est supérieure aux techniques décrites dans l'état de l'art, qui sont basées sur des règles. Pour supporter l'évolution des logiciels, nous avons considéré que les scores produits par un modèle de qualité sont des signaux qui peuvent être analysés en utilisant des techniques d'exploration de données pour identifier des patrons d'évolution de la qualité. Nous avons étudié comment les défauts de conception apparaissent et disparaissent des logiciels. Un logiciel est typiquement conçu comme une hiérarchie de composants, mais les modèles de qualité ne tiennent pas compte de cette organisation. Dans la dernière partie de la dissertation, nous présentons un modèle de qualité à deux niveaux. Ces modèles ont trois parties: un modèle au niveau du composant, un modèle qui évalue l'importance de chacun des composants, et un autre qui évalue la qualité d'un composé en combinant la qualité de ses composants. L'approche a été testée sur la prédiction de classes à fort changement à partir de la qualité des méthodes. Nous avons trouvé que nos modèles à deux niveaux permettent une meilleure identification des classes à fort changement. Pour terminer, nous avons appliqué nos modèles à deux niveaux pour l'évaluation de la navigabilité des sites web à partir de la qualité des pages. Nos modèles étaient capables de distinguer entre des sites de très bonne qualité et des sites choisis aléatoirement. Au cours de la dissertation, nous présentons non seulement des problèmes théoriques et leurs solutions, mais nous avons également mené des expériences pour démontrer les avantages et les limitations de nos solutions. Nos résultats indiquent qu'on peut espérer améliorer l'état de l'art dans les trois dimensions présentées. En particulier, notre travail sur la composition de la qualité et la modélisation de l'importance est le premier à cibler ce problème. Nous croyons que nos modèles à deux niveaux sont un point de départ intéressant pour des travaux de recherche plus approfondis.