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A completeness theory for parameterized computational complexity has been studied in a series of recent papers, and has been shown to have many applications in diverse problem domains including familiar graph-theoretic problems, VLSI layout, games, computational biology, cryptography, and computational learning [ADF,BDHW,BFH, DEF,DF1-7,FHW,FK]. We here study the parameterized complexity of two kinds of problems: (1) problems concerning parameterized computations of Turing machines, such as determining whether a nondeterministic machine can reach an accept state in steps (the Short TM Computation Problem), and (2) problems concerning derivations and factorizations, such as determining whether a word can be derived in a grammar in steps, or whether a permutation has a factorization of length over a given set of generators. We show hardness and completeness for these …