Improvement of oral reports through the students' use of audio-visual aids

Author misnumbered thesis. Please note that there are TWO page 108s, but the continuity is the same. Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Several Approaches for the Derivation of Stationary Conditions for Elliptic MPECs with Upper-Level Control Constraints

The derivation of multiplier-based optimality conditions for elliptic mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) is essential for the characterization of solutions and development of numerical methods. Though much can be said for broad classes of elliptic MPECs in both polyhedric and non-polyhedric settings, the calculation becomes significantly more complicated when additional constraints are imposed on the control. In this paper we develop three derivation methods for constrained MPEC problems: via concepts from variational analysis, via penalization of the control constraints, and via penalization of the lower-level problem with the subsequent regularization of the resulting nonsmoothness. The developed methods and obtained results are then compared and contrasted

A Risk Management Perspective on Statistical Estimation and Generalized Variational Inference

Generalized variational inference (GVI) provides an optimization-theoretic framework for statistical estimation that encapsulates many traditional estimation procedures. The typical GVI problem is to compute a distribution of parameters that maximizes the expected payoff minus the divergence of the distribution from a specified prior. In this way, GVI enables likelihood-free estimation with the ability to control the influence of the prior by tuning the so-called learning rate. Recently, GVI was shown to outperform traditional Bayesian inference when the model and prior distribution are misspecified. In this paper, we introduce and analyze a new GVI formulation based on utility theory and risk management. Our formulation is to maximize the expected payoff while enforcing constraints on the maximizing distribution. We recover the original GVI distribution by choosing the feasible set to include a constraint on the divergence of the distribution from the prior. In doing so, we automatically determine the learning rate as the Lagrange multiplier for the constraint. In this setting, we are able to transform the infinite-dimensional estimation problem into a two-dimensional convex program. This reformulation further provides an analytic expression for the optimal density of parameters. In addition, we prove asymptotic consistency results for empirical approximations of our optimal distributions. Throughout, we draw connections between our estimation procedure and risk management. In fact, we demonstrate that our estimation procedure is equivalent to evaluating a risk measure. We test our procedure on an estimation problem with a misspecified model and prior distribution, and conclude with some extensions of our approach

Gene Expression Profile and Acute Gene Expression Response to Sclerostin Inhibition in Osteogenesis Imperfecta Bone

Sclerostin antibody (SclAb) therapy has been suggested as a novel therapeutic approach toward addressing the fragility phenotypic of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Observations of cellular and transcriptional responses to SclAb in OI have been limited to mouse models of the disorder, leaving a paucity of data on the human OI osteoblastic cellular response to the treatment. Here, we explore factors associated with response to SclAb therapy in vitro and in a novel xenograft model using OI bone tissue derived from pediatric patients. Bone isolates (approximately 2 mm3) from OI patients (OI type III, type III/IV, and type IV, n = 7; non‐OI control, n = 5) were collected to media, randomly assigned to an untreated (UN), low‐dose SclAb (TRL, 2.5 μg/mL), or high‐dose SclAb (TRH, 25 μg/mL) group, and maintained in vitro at 37°C. Treatment occurred on days 2 and 4 and was removed on day 5 for TaqMan qPCR analysis of genes related to the Wnt pathway. A subset of bone was implanted s.c. into an athymic mouse, representing our xenograft model, and treated (25 mg/kg s.c. 2×/week for 2/4 weeks). Implanted OI bone was evaluated using μCT and histomorphometry. Expression of Wnt/Wnt‐related targets varied among untreated OI bone isolates. When treated with SclAb, OI bone showed an upregulation in osteoblast and osteoblast progenitor markers, which was heterogeneous across tissue. Interestingly, the greatest magnitude of response generally corresponded to samples with low untreated expression of progenitor markers. Conversely, samples with high untreated expression of these markers showed a lower response to treatment. in vivo implanted OI bone showed a bone‐forming response to SclAb via μCT, which was corroborated by histomorphometry. SclAb induced downstream Wnt targets WISP1 and TWIST1, and elicited a compensatory response in Wnt inhibitors SOST and DKK1 in OI bone with the greatest magnitude from OI cortical bone. Understanding patients’ genetic, cellular, and morphological bone phenotypes may play an important role in predicting treatment response. This information may aid in clinical decision‐making for pharmacological interventions designed to address fragility in OI. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156449/2/jbm410377_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156449/1/jbm410377.pd

Effect of a Post-Fatigue Damage on the Residual Dynamic Behavior of Advanced-SMC Composites

The purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of an initial pre-damage induced by a fatigue loading on the tensile dynamic behavior of Advanced Sheet Molding Compounds (A-SMC). Tension-tension fatigue preloading at a frequency of 30 Hz is performed at various applied stress levels prior to subject the A-SMC specimens to tensile tests at different strain rates, namely: 10 −3 s −1 (quasi-static), 1 s −1 and 60 s −1 . The developed experimental approach provided significant findings in terms of residual behavior and damage accumulation in relation to the applied pre-fatigue loading conditions. Indeed, it has been shown that the overall quasi-static and the dynamic responses are strongly affected by the level of fatigue number of cycles reached prior to applying the high strain loading. The effect of fatigue pre-damage is found also strongly strain-rate dependent. Experimental results showed that the damage threshold in terms of stress and strain increased with strain rate. However, for a given strain-rate the damage stress threshold depends on the number of cycles applied during the fatigue preloading

A Measurement of the Coulomb Dissociation of 8B at 254 MeV/nucleon and the 8B Solar Neutrino Flux

We have measured the Coulomb dissociation of 8B into 7Be and proton at 254 MeV/nucleon using a large-acceptance focusing spectrometer. The astrophysical S17 factor for the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction at E{c.m.} = 0.25-2.78 MeV is deduced yielding S17(0)=20.6 \pm 1.2 (exp.) \pm 1.0 (theo.) eV-b. This result agrees with the presently adopted zero-energy S17 factor obtained in direct-reaction measurements and with the results of other Coulomb-dissociation studies performed at 46.5 and 51.2 MeV/nucleon.Comment: paper to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 3 figures. New Version fixes formatting problems with the figures only. There are no other change

Quality of Education and Science in the Context of Sustainable Development Goals—From Millennium Goals to Agenda 2030: Factors of Innovation Activity and Socio-Economic Impact

The relevance of the analysis of Sustainable Development Goals is based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The purpose of the study is to create a model of management/regulation of the quality of education and scientific research systems based on Sustainable Development Goals. The data of the ratings that reflect certain tasks of the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to educational and scientific activities, are analyzed. The methodology of calculating the index of the success of realization of separate purposes of sustainable development is used. Bibliometric analysis as a research tool is used to create a quality of education management model. The example of the roadmap for achieving SDGs within the relationship chain “quality of education and science + partnership and networks–innovation–socio-economic impact–sustainable development goals” is provided. The suggested methodology for determining the index of success in achieving Sustainable Development Goals includes managing education systems, implementing scientific research, and managing/regulating the economy on micro-(university), meso-(regional), and macro-(national) levels. The tool in this case is a strategy for achieving KPIs, which can be fundamentally implemented in the form of a roadmap, with detailing of its elements using other tools. The “management/regulation” stage of the process of achieving Sustainable Development Goals is concretized by a mind map

Geospatial data analysis in Russia’s geoweb

The chapter examines the role of geospatial data in Russia’s online ecosystem. Facilitated by the rise of geographic information systems and user-generated content, the distribution of geospatial data has blurred the line between physical spaces and their virtual representations. The chapter discusses different sources of these data available for Digital Russian Studies (e.g., social data and crowdsourced databases) together with the novel techniques for extracting geolocation from various data formats (e.g., textual documents and images). It also scrutinizes different ways of using these data, varying from mapping the spatial distribution of social and political phenomena to investigating the use of geotag data for cultural practices’ digitization to exploring the use of geoweb for narrating individual and collective identities online

Poland's 2011 Online Election Campaign: New Tools, New Professionalism, New Ways to Win Votes

This article analyzes the use of the online environment within the context of the Polish parliamentary election of 2011. Using traditional methods of content analysis, we find that parties tend to adhere to a professionalized model of campaigning, and adapting online tools to suit the objectives of the campaign. There also appears to be a recognition that their most likely visitors to these online presences would be converts, and so they attempt to mobilize supporters rather than convert browsers. New parties and candidates are more likely to target browsers, with the latter offering a more personalized experience to online visitors. Importantly, when analyzing the outcome of the contest, we find that being online matters for candidates when controlling for all other variables. Equally, the reach the candidate has, which may well influence their vote share, is dependent on offering a more personalized, representational image and having a frequently updated online presence that should encourage repeat visits. Cumulatively, we suggest the future of online campaigning must not only focus on having a presence, but on using it in a way that appeals to a range of visitors, encouraging repeat visits, and that this strategy could have a positive impact on election outcomes. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC