Developmental Perspective into Students\u27 Contextualization of Problem Solving

The purpose of this paper is to investigate students’ contextualization of problem solving, not the problems. This study draws on the naturalistic paradigm and uses a developmental perspective to explore students’ representations and metaphors used during problem solving. Students of comparable abilities employed similar representations, tended to use analogous metaphors during problem solving, and perceived solutions as outside of a problem’s context

Developing a Contextualization of Students’ Mathematical Problem Solving

This paper investigates how students contextualize mathematical problem solving, not the actual problems. When students attempt to solve problems, what contexts (situational, cultural, or conceptual) do they evoke to describe their experiences with problem solving? The Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice emphasize contextualizing and decontextualizing problems, but what does this mean in practice? Middle and high school students were asked to attempt ability-appropriate problems during semi-structured interviews in this qualitative study. Situational contexts were analyzed using representation analysis (symbolic and nonsymbolic) while cultural contexts were analyzed using linguistic analysis (metaphors). The synergy of these two analyses developed a coherent and consistent conceptual contextualization for mathematical problem solving. Secondary students conceptualized problems as containers with the given information within the problem and solutions outside the problem. Thus students’ representations are a means to travel from within the problem to outside of the problem

A Preliminary Decision Model for Shared Services: Insights from an Australian University Context

Shared Services involves the convergence and streamlining of an organisation’s functions to ensure timely service delivery as effectively and efficiently as possible. This would result in lower cost, improved service delivery and economies of scale. The conventional wisdom of today is that the potential for Shared Services is increasing due to the increasing costs of changing systems and business requirements and also in implementing and running information systems (IS). However many organizations opt instead for an outsourcing arrangement as the alternative towards cost savings, due in essence to a lack of realization of this potential for Shared Services. This paper rationales turning from outsourcing (to looking within organisations) to leverage on Shared Services for similar cost savings and reaping other potential benefits. The paper’s objectives and contributions are three-fold: (1) distinguish between Shared Services and Outsourcing, (2) report on insights from a single Australian university case study through a transaction cost lens, and to demonstrate the potential for Shared Services and (3) develop a decision model to gauge the potential of implementing Shared Services across similar organisations

Characterizing crowd participation and productivity of foldit through web scraping

Citizen science, scientific work done by non-experts, is an emerging method of continuing scientific investigation. In recent years, Crowdsourced Science Games (CSSGs) have become a particular area of research. In this model, citizen scientists play a video game in order to help solve scientifically hard problem sets. Recent work has shown CSSGs are severely affected by low engagement rates (ER) and a disproportionate amount of work done by a small subset of the entire player base. In this thesis, we will examine Foldit, a seemingly successful CSSG. In the absence of publicly available data, we used web scraping to obtain data on a daily basis from a player scoreboard from June 1, 2015, to February 15, 2016, and from an accumulated puzzle database encompassing the lifetime of Foldit. Utilizing previous methodology quantifying the productivity of CSSGs, we show that Foldit continues to draw players despite a gradually declining number of active users. Furthermore, a core base of experienced players contributes the most to the game. With these two factors, Foldit’s game design and emphasis toward creating a small but highly trained player subset provide a strong argument for a more productive CSSG over a more entertainment-focused, casual style of game.http://archive.org/details/characterizingcr1094548499Civilian, Scholarship for ServiceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Determinants of hepatitis C virus clinical outcomes

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is characterized by a broad spectrum of clinical outcomes. An estimated 14%-46% of individuals exposed to HCV are able to clear the virus, while the other portion develops chronic (persistent) infections. Among the individuals with chronic HCV who are treated with interferon-based therapies, only a portion are able to experience sustained virological suppression. Similarly, a number of chronically infected individuals have autoimmune extrahepatic manifestations such as the presence of autoantibodies. The pathological mechanisms behind these phenomena are not known, but it is believed that host genetic factors may play a role. This thesis examines the hypothesis that host genetic factors may contribute to the diverse spectrum of HCV clinical outcomes. In addition, it examines the pathogenesis of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in chronic HCV, and the effect of ANA positivity on the natural history of HCV. Correlations were observed between female gender and geographic location and ANA positivity. No relationships were observed for an effect of ANA positivity on response rates to interferon therapy. We observed a trend of ANA positivity with faster progression of HCV-related fibrosis, although this failed to achieve statistical significance. ANA-positive individuals tended to have more plasma cells in their liver than ANA-negative individuals. This study also observed a number of correlations between genotypes of the interferon induced genes encoding the myxovirus resistance 1 protein (MxA), 2'-5'oligo-adenylate synthase 1 (OAS-1), and protein kinase (PKR), as well as genes encoding cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA4), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (encoded by the NOS2A gene) with several outcomes including self-limiting versus chronic HCV infection, along with the response to interferon therapy. This study identified several factors to be correlated with ANA positivity in HCV. These factors may serve as future points for investigation by basic scientists understanding the mechanisms of HCV-mediated autoimmunity. Importantly, this study suggests that low titre ANA positivity should not be a contraindication to therapy. This study also highlighted the importance of several genetic pathways in HCV infection. These may serve as targets for future pharmacologic interventions or genetic tests designed to screen for those who will not benefit from interferon therapies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Investigation into the impacts of migration to emergent NSA Suite B encryption standards

As information sharing becomes increasingly necessary for mission accomplishment within the Department of Defense, the rules for protecting information have tightened. The sustained and rapid advancement of information technology in the 21st century dictates the adoption of a flexible and adaptable cryptographic strategy for protecting national security information. RSA techniques, while formidable, have begun to present vulnerabilities to the raw computing power that is commercially available today. This thesis is a comprehensive characterization of the current state of the art in DoD encryption standards. It will emphasize the mathematical algorithms that facilitate legacy encryption and its proposed NSA Suite B replacements. We will look at how the new technology addresses the latest threats and vulnerabilities that legacy methods do not fully mitigate. It will then summarize the findings of the security capabilities of NSA Suite B standards as compared to the costs in manpower and money to implement them, and suggest how to best utilize NSA Suite B technology for the purpose of providing confidentiality, integrity and availability in an environment with real world threats.http://archive.org/details/investigationint109454675Department of Defense author (civilian).Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited