Carthago Delenda Est: Co-opetitive Indirect Information Diffusion Model for Influence Operations on Online Social Media

For a state or non-state actor whose credibility is bankrupt, relying on bots to conduct non-attributable, non-accountable, and seemingly-grassroots-but-decentralized-in-actuality influence/information operations (info ops) on social media can help circumvent the issue of trust deficit while advancing its interests. Planning and/or defending against decentralized info ops can be aided by computational simulations in lieu of ethically-fraught live experiments on social media. In this study, we introduce Diluvsion, an agent-based model for contested information propagation efforts on Twitter-like social media. The model emphasizes a user's belief in an opinion (stance) being impacted by the perception of potentially illusory popular support from constant incoming floods of indirect information, floods that can be cooperatively engineered in an uncoordinated manner by bots as they compete to spread their stances. Our model, which has been validated against real-world data, is an advancement over previous models because we account for engagement metrics in influencing stance adoption, non-social tie spreading of information, neutrality as a stance that can be spread, and themes that are analogous to media's framing effect and are symbiotic with respect to stance propagation. The strengths of the Diluvsion model are demonstrated in simulations of orthodox info ops, e.g., maximizing adoption of one stance; creating echo chambers; inducing polarization; and unorthodox info ops, e.g., simultaneous support of multiple stances as a Trojan horse tactic for the dissemination of a theme.Comment: 60 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Will Nano-Butlers Work for Micro-Payments? Innovation in Business Services Model may Reduce Cost of Delivering Global Healthcare Services

This paper represents an emerging view of personalized care and patient-centric systems approach. It integrates biomedical informatics and business services. A potentially innovative model may evolve from this convergence and may serve as a global template to reduce cost of service. The future of global healthcare may increasingly rely on “sense and then, respond” systems but excluding the instances of exception management, necessary for accidents and emergencies. Solutions suggested in this paper are neither complete nor a panacea but are elements that deserve inclusion in the delivery of healthcare that may combine a portfolio of approaches to suit the needs of the community. As a potential future direction to improve analytics in healthcare, the concept of molecular semantics is proposed

Register-based studies on childhood cancer : relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and skeletal adverse events in childhood cancer survivors in the Nordic countries

Background: Although cancer is a rare disease in children, it is the leading disease-related cause of death in children and adolescents in developed countries. Currently 80% of patients become long-time survivors but if a relapse occurs the outcome for most patients is still poor. Childhood cancer survivors are also at increased risk of chronic health conditions caused by the cancer treatment. The skeletal system is vulnerable to the toxic effects of cancer treatment during childhood and adolescence. Skeletal adverse events are not life- threatening events but may have a large impact on the quality of life and daily functions of childhood cancer survivors. Aims: The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the use of the unique Nordic registry data to find ways to improve outcomes in childhood cancer. In studies I and II we identified a cohort of patients with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) within the NOPHO ALL registry and searched for factors associated with overall survival and treatment-related mortality (TRM). In studies III and IV, we used both the Nordic public health data registries and arthroplasty quality registries to explore the life-time pattern of skeletal late adverse events in a large cohort of childhood cancer survivors and to identify vulnerable subgroups. Results: In study I, we observed an improvement in the 5-year overall survival after relapse of ALL between 1992-2001 and 2002-2011. We identified risk factors independently associated with death: short duration in first remission, bone marrow relapse, age ≥10 years at primary diagnosis, unfavorable cytogenetics and Down syndrome. Our findings indicate that the currently used risk stratification underestimates the risk of second relapses in patients with combined B-precursor relapses. In study II, we identified 52 patients who met criteria for TRM but we did not observe a reduction of TRM over time. Infections, predominantly bacterial infections, were the most common cause of death. Factors associated with TRM were high-risk stratification at relapse, unfavorable cytogenetics and allogeneic HSCT. In study III, we observed a 35% increased hospitalization risk for skeletal adverse events among childhood cancer survivors compared to population comparison subjects. For most of the skeletal adverse events the risk was highest in the years close to the treatment, but an excess risk extended for decades for some of the events. The relative risk was particularly high for osteonecrosis, especially among patients with hematological malignancies and patients diagnosed with cancer between 10-19 years of age. In study IV, we observed an increased risk for hip arthroplasties among survivors of leukemia and lymphoma and for knee arthroplasties among survivors of malignant bone tumors. The rate of arthroplasty operations was highest in early adulthood. Conclusions: Finding ways to balance the treatment intention of inducing and maintaining long-term remission against the potential risk of life-threatening or long-term treatment complications is becoming more difficult. Individualized treatment approaches and novel strategies are therefore needed both to increase survival and improve health in patients with childhood cancer. Despite different study designs and end-points, studies I-IV provide evidence that the Nordic registry data can be used as excellent research tools to increase our knowledge on childhood cancer. The Nordic countries are in a unique position to conduct registry studies on childhood cancer by combining data from public health registries and different quality registries. The design of the registries and the regulatory framework should aim to facilitate research using this valuable source of information

Changing Paradigms : Designing for a Sustainable Future

Changing Paradigms: designing for a sustainable future is intended for designers, design students and design educators, who want to understand why and how to integrate Sustainability into design education and practice. It consists of five parts; Part One presents why we must design for a sustainable future, Part Two describes how to design for a sustainable future, Part Three presents student design projects exemplifying sustainable design, Part Four is a glossary of 120 terms and concepts about Sustainability and design, and finally, Part Five includes three appendices: The Cumulus Kyoto Design Declaration, and guidelines on how to green both school campuses and conferences. This book has been edited by Peter Stebbing and Ursula Tischner, who have invited internationally renown experts to contribute chapters. Changing Paradigms offers a comprehensive survey of essential knowledge for designers and other creative professions to shift their focus to the new design paradigm for sustainable production, consumption, and life styles

Udergraduate course catalog (Florida International University). [2018-2019]

This catalog contains a description of the various policies, undergraduate programs, degree requirements, and course offerings at Florida International University during the 2018-2019 academic year.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/catalogs/1075/thumbnail.jp

Undergraduate course catalog (Florida International University). [2019-2020]

This catalog contains a description of the various policies, undergraduate programs, degree requirements, and course offerings at Florida International University during the 2019-2020 academic year.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/catalogs/1077/thumbnail.jp

Undergraduate course catalog (Florida International University). [2023-2024]

This catalog contains a description of the various policies, undergraduate programs, degree requirements, and course offerings at Florida International University during the 2023-2024 academic year.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/catalogs/1085/thumbnail.jp

Undergraduate course catalog (Florida International University). [2021-2022]

This catalog contains a description of the various policies, undergraduate programs, degree requirements, and course offerings at Florida International University during the 2021-2022 academic year.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/catalogs/1081/thumbnail.jp