Measuring segregation using patterns of daily travel behavior : a social interaction based model of exposure

Recent advances in transportation geography demonstrate the ability to compute a metropolitan scale metric of social interaction opportunities based on the time-geographic concept of joint accessibility. The method we put forward in this article decomposes the social interaction potential (SIP) metric into interactions within and between social groups, such as people of different race, income level, and occupation. This provides a novel metric of exposure, one of the fundamental spatial dimensions of segregation. In particular, the SIP metric is disaggregated into measures of inter-group and intra-group exposure. While activity spaces have been used to measure exposure in the geographic literature, these approaches do not adequately represent the dynamic nature of the target populations. We make the next step by representing both the source and target population groups by space-time prisms, thus more accurately representing spatial and temporal dynamics and constraints. Additionally, decomposition of the SIP metric means that each of the group-wise components of the SIP metric can be represented at zones of residence, workplace, and specific origin-destination pairs. Consequently, the spatial variation in segregation can be explored and hotspots of segregation and integration potential can be identified. The proposed approach is demonstrated for synthetic cities with different population distributions and daily commute flow characteristics, as well as for a case study of the Detroit-Warren-Livonia MSA

Analysis of the convergence properties of Rubenstein's method for the determination of the lower modes of vibration of a multi-degree of freedom system

This paper analyzes the convergence properties of a method, recently proposed by Rubenstein, for the determination of the lower modes of vibration of a multi-degree of freedom system from a reduced eigenvalue problem. It is shown that under certain conditions the method converges to the exact eigenvalues. It does not have global convergence and hence some care must be exercised when using it

Enhancing Skills Transfer through Problem-based Learning. Department of Computer Science, Technical Report Series. NUIM-CS-TR-2005-13

Problem-based Learning (PBL) has proved itself as a successful teaching and learning environment in the medical field, and has slowly become the preferred teaching and learning method in other disciplines. In this report we look at the learning theories that have influenced PBL and investigate the use of PBL in computer science. We extend the boundaries of PBL and software engineering education with a proposal that fully integrates PBL into a computer science and software engineering degree structure. The objective of this proposal is to produce graduates who can successfully transfer their knowledge and skills into practical situations in new domains

Enhancing Skills Transfer through Problem-based Learning. Department of Computer Science, Technical Report Series. NUIM-CS-TR-2005-13

Problem-based Learning (PBL) has proved itself as a successful teaching and learning environment in the medical field, and has slowly become the preferred teaching and learning method in other disciplines. In this report we look at the learning theories that have influenced PBL and investigate the use of PBL in computer science. We extend the boundaries of PBL and software engineering education with a proposal that fully integrates PBL into a computer science and software engineering degree structure. The objective of this proposal is to produce graduates who can successfully transfer their knowledge and skills into practical situations in new domains

Silencing and recombination in yeast ribosomal DNA

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-132).A bioinformatic and laboratory investigation into S. cerevisiae's system for the maintenance and homogenization of rDNA. Eliminating mutations and heterogeneity in rDNA repeats is necessary evolutionarily, but harmful to individual organisms--and has been linked to aging-related pathology. We present a forensic investigation of this process using a new whole-genome shotgun dataset, and interpret the results in light of experimental results showing the dynamics of rDNA silencing and recombination in laboratory strains.by Michael J.T. O'Kelly.Ph.D