Philon's line generalized: an optimization problem from geometry

Consider inn-dimensional Euclidean space the intersection of a convex cone and a hyperplane through a given point. The problem is to minimize the (n-1)-volume of this intersection. A geometric interpretation of the first-order optimality condition is given. The special casen=2 is known as a characteristic property of Philon's line

”Try to relax” - A survey study in Sweden among native Swedes and Arabic immigrants concerning views on stuttering

Studies performed in various countries have shown that negative attitudes and beliefs towards stuttering and People Who Stutter (PWS), which can lead to stigmatization, discrimination and social anxiety, are widespread across different societies. It is important that clinicians are aware that patients can meet different attitudes in their daily life, affecting health care seeking behavior and self-image. These can also be affected by the cultural background. Combined with different views on disorders and individualist versus collectivist societal constructions, this has clinical impacts for the treatment. For measuring these attitudes and beliefs, a questionnaire (POSHA-S) has been developed in the USA with the aim of being a worldwide instrument. We translated POSHA-S to Swedish and conducted a survey among native Swedes and immigrants with an Arabic background, as the latter group is one of the largest, and growing, minorities in Sweden. We contacted schools around Sweden for the distribution of the survey. They received either a paper version or an online version of the questionnaire. We obtained answers from 42 native Swedes, seven Arabic immigrants and 13 respondents with a background in another country. The results show that in an international comparison, native Swedes have a positive/accurate view on stuttering and PWS; notwithstanding, the attitudes towards the PWS abilities at the labor market were negative. The Arabic group holds a more negative/inaccurate view on certain items, specifically regarding the cause of stuttering and the traits attributed to PWS. The low number of Arabic respondents, however, prevents us from drawing general conclusions as the statistical power is too low

Chebyshev approximation of a point set by a straight line

The problem of calculating the best approximating straight line—in the sense of Chebyshev—to a finite set of points inRn is considered. First-and second-order optimality conditions are derived and analysed. Lipschitz optimization techniques can be used to find a global minimizer

Ubiquitous Learning, Leren in een intelligente omgeving?

Deze studie naar de mogelijkheden van Ubiquitous Learning heeft als doel om antwoord te geven op de vraag welke rol Ubiquitous Learning kan spelen in het hoger onderwijs. Deze studie dient als inventarisatie van de mogelijkheden en zou kunnen dienen als handvat voor instellingen die met Ubiquitous Learning aan de slag willen. De studie start met een omschrijving van Ubiquitous Learning en factoren die bij Ubiquitous Learning van belang zijn. Hierbij wordt ook ingegaan op het verschil met bijvoorbeeld Mobile Learning en Wireless Learning, ontwikkelingen die onderdeel kunnen zijn van Ubiquitous Learning. Na het definiëren van Ubiquitous Learning wordt een overzicht gegeven van bestaande ervaringen en worden mogelijke scenario’s voor Ubiquitous Learning geschetst vanuit het perspectief van zowel de student, de docent als de instelling. Op basis van de bestaande ervaringen en mogelijke scenario’s wordt daarna ingegaan op de (on)mogelijkheden van Ubiquitous Learning op dit moment of in de nabije toekomst en wordt gepoogd om een voorspelling te doen van de mogelijkheden van Ubiquitous Learning in de wat verdere toekomst. Tot slot worden aanbevelingen gedaan met betrekking tot het gebruik van Ubiquitous Learning in het onderwijs

Definitheitsbedingungen für relative Extrema bei Optimierungs- und Approximationsaufgaben

In this paper, sufficient and necessary maximum conditions are established for a class of mathematical programming problems with an infinite set of restrictions, which is described by a finite number of inequalities. The criteria may be applied to nonlinear approximation problems and to the numerical solution of boundary value problems