Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Title on accompanying disk: MURR data. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 294-327).

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a common yet frequently misdiagnosed dysautonomia characterized by a significant increase in heart rate upon standing. POTS patients experience severe fatigue, dizziness, pre-syncope, and a diminished quality of life. The intent of this thesis is to investigate factors contributing to POTS misdiagnosis and develop a proposal for improving diagnostic procedures. The first part of this thesis presents an overview of other frequently misdiagnosed conditions, providing an understanding of the basis for the diagnostic problems in POTS and methods to combat such difficulties. The second part of this thesis details a meta-analysis performed on POTS clinical studies since its classification in 1993, in an attempt to synthesize current knowledge and potential deficits in research. Results show the misdiagnosis rates for POTS are understandably high, as POTS shares many characteristics with other misdiagnosed conditions. Analysis of these conditions demonstrates the need for easier in-clinic diagnostic tests for POTS. The meta-analysis results demonstrate misunderstanding about POTS remains within the scientific community. The final recommendations to reduce POTS misdiagnosis include using a blood pressure/heart rate screening test to identify patients sooner and shifting research efforts from etiology and treatment to prevalence and diagnostic procedures.

No description available.

The study is about how home and consumer teachers perceive weight stigmatization among students in lower secondary education when the physical development is ongoing and the students are affected by, among other things, each other, and ideals. In Sweden, the ideal of thinness is the norm. Previous research shows that weight stigma occurs in most settings. One of the most common stereotypical prejudices is that overweight individuals eat a lot. Therefore, a survey was conducted on whether the teachers perceived that student carried out weight stigmatization in connection with a topic that deals with cooking. This was done by conducting five semi-structural in-depth interviews with teachers who were working with home- and consumer studies at a lower secondary school in Sweden at the time of the interviews. A thematic analysis was made of the interview material, which was analyzed using the stigma theory. The respondents perceived that there is less weight stigma than expected given the previous research. According to the respondents, the education of teachers was perceived to be deficient in the subject of weight stigmatization. Lack of education about the subject affects knowledge about it and in turn the weight stigma becomes unclear. / Studien handlar om hur lärare i hem- och konsumentkunskap uppfattar viktstigmatisering bland elever i högstadiet då den kroppsliga utvecklingen pågåroch eleverna påverkas bland annat av varandra och ideal. I Sverige är smalhetsidealet normen. Tidigare forskning visar att viktstigmatisering sker i de flesta miljöer. En av de vanligaste stereotypiska fördomarna är att överviktiga individer äter mycket. Därför gjordes en undersökning om hur lärare uppfattade att elever utförde viktstigmatisering i samband med ett ämne som handlar om matlagning. Detta gjordes genom att göra fem semi-strukturella djupintervjue rmed hem- och konsumentkunskaps-lärare som arbetade som det på högstadiet i Sverige vid tiden för intervjuerna. Av intervjumaterialet gjordes en tematisk analys som analyserades med hjälp av stigmateorin. Respondenterna uppfattade att det förekommer mindre viktstigmatisering än vad som förväntats med tanke på den tidigare forskningen. Undervisningen för hem- och konsumentkunskapslärare uppfattades vara bristfällig i ämnet viktstigmatisering enligt respondenterna. Bristande undervisning om ämnet påverkar kunskapen om det och i sin tur blir viktstigmatiseringen otydlig.

ALFA (Absolute Luminosity for ATLAS) vise à mesurer la luminosité absolue pour l'expérience ATLAS avec une incertitude de 2 - 3\% et la section efficace totale. La luminosité est reliée au nombre d’événements. Plus la luminosité est élevée, plus le nombre d’événements est élevé. C'est donc une quantité importante pour les collisionneurs en général et notamment pour le LHC (Large Hadron Collider). LHC est constitué de deux faisceaux circulant dans deux chambres à vide différentes et collisionnant aux quatre points d'interaction où les principales expériences de physique sont positionnées (ATLAS, CMS, ALICE et LHCb). Les détecteurs constituant ALFA insérés dans des Pots Romains sont positionnés à 240 m de distance du point d'intéraction d'ATLAS après six quadrîpoles et deux dipôles qui constituent la partie de ligne faisceau utile à ALFA et localisée sur le LHC.Les détecteurs sont constitués de fibres scintillantes pour détecter les protons élastiques issus du Point d'Interaction. Ces protons sont transportés au travers des différents aimants qui constituent la ligne de faisceau considérée et qui nécessite une optimisation des paramètres optiques pour les besoins de la mesure. Nous appellerons les optiques fort β, les optiques utilisées durant les périodes expérimentales dédiées à ALFA. Les paramètres des optiques fort β ont été simulés afin de remplir le cahier des charges demandé pour ALFA et elles ont été testées sur le LHC en 2011 et 2012 pendant un certain nombre de périodes expérimentales spécifiques aux optiques fort β sur le LHC.Ces périodes expérimentales se sont terminées en 2013 avant l'arrêt du LHC. Les paramètres optiques ont été mesurés et comparés aux simulations.Certains paramètres ayant des valeurs bien meilleures que celles attendues. Cela a aussi permis de regardes quelques incertitudes sur les paramètres optiques et d'évaluer l'impact de certains de ces paramètres sur la mesure de section efficace totale. / ALFA (Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS) aims at measuring the absolute luminosity for the ATLAS experiment with an incertitude down to 2-3 \% and the total elastic cross section. The luminosity is related to the number of events, the highest the luminosity, the highest the number of events. This is, then, an important quantity for colliders like LHC (Large Hadron Collider). LHC is made of two beams circulating in two different beam pipes and colliding at four interaction points where the four physics experiments are located (ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, LHCb). ALFA detectors inserted into Roman Pots (RPs), have been placed around ATLAS at 240 m distance from the collision point (IP1) after six quadrupoles magnets and two dipoles defining the ALFA beam line which is part of the LHC ring.The detectors are made of scintillating optics fibers to catch elastic protons generated at IP1. These protons are tracked through the LHC magnets beam line which needs to be optimized in terms of optics parameters. We call high β optics, the optics used for special ALFA runs measurements. The high β optics parameters have been simulated to fulfill the ALFA requirements and have been tested on LHC in 2011 and 2012 during a certain number of LHC special runs. It has ended at the end of 2013. The parameters have been measured and compared with simulations. Some of them achieving a better value than expected. It allowed us to calculate systematic uncertainties and to evaluate the impact of some optics parameters on the total elastic cross section measurement.

L’étude du mobilier céramique des peuples de la Préhistoire récente permet aux archéologues de distinguer différents groupes culturels ou cultures matérielles. Ces variétés culturelles reposent sur l’adoption par des groupes humains d’un type particulier de vases qui varie dans le temps et dans l’espace dans les limites d’aires culturelles. Les décors, les éléments de préhension, la morphologie des vases, les techniques de fabrication déterminent ces styles. L’archéologue ou le céramologue perçoit dans l’abondance de caractères ou l’absence de ceux-ci, la marque, le signe, d’un fait culturel. Ces différents critères servent à établir une typologie qui permet d’attribuer une série céramique à un groupe culturel. À travers cette typologie, l’archéologue croit percevoir une intention culturelle. Cependant, un regard porté sur l’ensemble de la céramique du Néolithique affirmé voit, dans la poterie en elle-même, le marqueur d’une nouvelle représentation du fait social et culturel, qui accompagne le nouveau rapport entre l’homme et son environnement à partir du passage à l’économie de production. C’est au travers de la perception de l’identification du vase au corps humain, tel que l’on peut le percevoir dans les sociétés traditionnelles et dans quelques cultures archéologiques, que nous désirons dépasser les limites intrinsèques à l’analyse typologique. Les cultures matérielles sont multiples, séparées, divisées, et leur diversité ne matérialise pas seulement les variétés culturelles. La poterie est avant tout le marqueur d’un nouveau fait culturel qui concerne l’ensemble des cultures néolithiques. Elle est un des vecteurs qui cristallisent l’ancrage du Néolithique et avec lui, une nouvelle perception par l’homme de lui-même, de sa société, de l’univers réel qu’il habite, mais aussi de l’univers spirituel, mythologique, imaginé, symbolisé qui l’habitent. En choisissant comme point de départ les différentes démarches analytiques sur la céramique du Languedoc-Roussillon depuis le Néolithique ancien au Néolithique final, nous voulons considérer la poterie, au-delà de son intérêt matériel, dans son intérêt symbolique et culturel. / This thesis proposes to study the question of the relations between the body and the Neolithic pottery through the case of so-called anthropomorphous vases in the north-western Mediterranean.The first part presents the problematic of this thesis and presents the chronological and geographical framework. We make a brief review of the knowledge of the presence of this type of artefacts and commonly proposed interpretations, and we expose the methods by which we intend to analyze anthropomorphic vases.The second part presents the corpus of vases collected in the catalog (volume 2) by chrono-cultural area. It proposes a typological classification of these pottery and it discusses more particularly the modalities of their emergence in the North-Western Mediterranean, their diffusion or their evolution.The last part questions the choice of pottery as a medium of Neolithic body representation. The creation of a repository of data from ethnology, ethnoarchaeology or narratives allows us to situate our object of study in the field of metaphor and to approach it as a sign. We draw inspiration from theories from semiology and more generally from cultural anthropology in order to get out of the usual accepted archaeological interpretations.The results lead us to propose a definition of anthropomorphic vases and to discuss the phenomenon of the anthropomorphization of vases in the Neolithic context and the effects of agro-pastoral lifestyles on the production of the body's imaginary.

A ampla utilização da pedra-sabão na arquitetura em Minas Gerais no período colonial relegou às panelas pedra-sabão um lugar marginal, vistos como objetos mundanos e comuns, oriundos dos trabalhos manuais e ofícios banais que existiam e, no caso dos artesãos paneleiros, permanecem até hoje. Atualmente, além da produção e comércio, esses artefatos se encontram em museus, coleções particulares e sítios arqueológicos da região. De uma maneira geral, as panelas, sua produção e seus produtores são associados a uma identidade regional e nacional, vinculada às artes, ao Barroco mineiro e a Aleijadinho. As panelas são consideradas majoritariamente como contentoras de significados porem, não recebem a devida atenção no que se refere às agencias, nuances e gradações de suas relações. Essas associações diretas acabam por desconsiderar ou reduzir a participação de outros agentes ou seres, como é o caso dos artesãos paneleiros e das próprias panelas. O exercício central consiste na construção da história de vida dessa população de artefatos, partindo de suas materialidades e abordando a permuta de propriedades entre pessoas humanas e coisas. Assim, surgiram apontamentos sobre as maneiras como elas ressoam e compõem o coletivo, entendido como alargamento do termo social e aplicado aos diferentes contextos e situações espaço-temporais. Partindo da confluência de etnografias, que envolvem a análise de coleções arqueológicas, a vivência e acompanhamento na comunidade de artesãos de Cachoeira do Brumado (Mariana) e na Feira de pedra-sabão de Ouro Preto, os processos de musealização e patrimonialização, entre outros, foi possível redefinir de maneira equânime os lugares e as participações desses agentes (artesãos e artefatos). Também vieram à tona relações de constituição mútua vividas no cotidiano, das quais as materialidades são tessituras associadas às tecnologias e mobilidades compartilhadas entre pessoas e coisas. Os modos de vida e existência e os gestos e técnicas presentes nos eventos e processos de constituição desses artefatos se manifestam coletivamente e sugerem dinâmicas das quais participam seres humanos diversos. Percebida dessa maneira, a abordagem construída segue na contramão das informações oficializadas e difundidas sobre esses artefatos, as quais historicamente vêm contribuindo com a institucionalização e naturalização de perspectivas simplistas e excludentes que têm impacto direto na vida dos seres e coletivos nas múltiplas temporalidades. A partir de perspectivas simétricas criticamente aplicadas à Arqueologia, apontamos para um abandono ontológico destes objetos - panelas de pedra-sabão - que transpassam os seres e coletivos, justificados e percebidos por meio de uma série de estigmas, tais como a desabilidade dos gestos e a inferioridade do trabalho manual. Por fim, torna-se possível refletir sobre o potencial de posições teóricas que se opõem à ditadura das ontologias binárias, além de uma aproximação da dinâmica das relações artesãos-artefatos para o contexto de produção do conhecimento científico, colocando as oficinas em patamar análogo aos laboratórios, museus e instituições de pesquisa. / The widespread use of soapstone in the Minas Gerais architecture during the colonial period relegated the soapstone pots to a marginal spot. Seen as mundane and common objects, they were handmade and trivially crafted workpieces that remain until the present day, such as the case of artisans. Nowadays, besides the production and trade, these artifacts are found in museums, private collections, and archeological sites of the region. In general, the pots, their production and makers are associated to a national and local identity linked to the arts, to the Minas Gerais Baroque, and to Aleijadinho. The pots are mostly considered holders of meaning, but they do not receive the due attention regarding the agencies, nuances and gradations of their relations. These direct associations end up disregarding or reducing the participation of other agents or beings, such as the case of artisans and pots. The central exercise consists on constructing the life history of this population of artifacts, starting from their materialities up to the exchange of properties between human beings and things. Thus, notes have emerged on the ways in which they resonate and compose the collective, seen as extensors of the social term and applied to different contexts and space-time situations. Starting from a confluence of ethnographies, which involve the analysis of archaeological collections, the experience and accompaniment in the artisan community of Cachoeira do Brumado (Mariana) and in the soapstone fair of Ouro Preto, the processes of musealization and patrimonialization, among others, it was possible to redefine in an equitable way the places and the participation of these agents (artisans and artifacts). Also, relationships of mutual constitution experienced in everyday life emerged, in which materialities are tessituras associated with technologies and mobilities shared between people and things. The ways of life and existence, and the gestures and techniques present in the events and processes of elaboration of these artifacts are manifested collectively and suggest dynamics in which a diversity of human beings participates. In this sense, the approach built goes against the official and disseminated information surrounding these artifacts, which have been historically contributing to the institutionalization and naturalization of simplistic and exclusive perspectives that have a direct impact on the lives of beings and collective in the multiple temporalities. From the symmetrical perspectives critically applied to Archaeology, it leads to an ontological abandonment of these objects - soapstone pots - that transcend beings and collectives, justified and seen through a series of stigmas, such as the disability of gestures and the inferiority of handicraft. Lastly, it is possible to reflect on the potential of theoretical positions that oppose the dictatorship of binary ontologies, as well as an approximation of the dynamics of artisan-artifact relations to the context of the production of scientific knowledge, placing workshops at a similar level than laboratories, museums, and research institutions.

Le sujet de cette thèse de doctorat est la mesure de la corruption. Ses principales contributions à la recherche en économie sont une réflexion sur la pratique actuelle de construction d'indicateurs de la corruption à partir d'enquêtes d’entreprises, et la suggestion d'approches innovantes visant à améliorer la qualité de ces indicateurs. Cette thèse est composée de trois chapitres. Le premier chapitre examine la mesure dans laquelle demander à des propriétaires et gestionnaires d’entreprise d'évaluer la magnitude de la corruption en pourcentage de leur chiffre d'affaires ou en termes monétaires influence leurs estimations, et les raisons expliquant cette différence. Je confirme des résultats antérieurs que les estimations de la corruption sont significativement plus élevées lorsqu'elles sont exprimées en pourcentage de chiffres d’affaires plutôt qu'en valeur monétaire. Ce résultat est vraisemblablement causé par une erreur de calcul de la part de certains répondants. L'expérience dans la gestion d'entreprise limite cette propension à l'erreur, sans toutefois l'éliminer complètement. Le deuxième chapitre évalue comment les chefs d'entreprise ayant remporté des marchés publics considérés à risque de corruption se comportent vis-à-vis d'une enquête sur les marchés publics. Je conclus que les entreprises ayant une plus grande expérience de la corruption ne sont pas plus susceptibles de refuser de participer à l'enquête ou de répondre à une question leur demandant d'estimer la magnitude de la corruption, mais ont une probabilité plus élevée que les autres de nier l'existence de corruption dans les marchés publics. Le troisième chapitre propose une approche innovante d'identification des répondants réticents dans les enquêtes d'entreprise et de correction des indicateurs de fréquence de la corruption. / The topic of this doctoral thesis is corruption measurement. Its main contributions to economic research are a reflection on the current practice of producing corruption indicators using business survey data, and suggesting innovative approaches to improve the quality of those indicators. This thesis is composed of three Chapters. The first Chapter investigates how asking firm owners and managers to estimate the magnitude of bribery as a percentage of their turnover or in monetary terms affects their estimations and the reasons for this difference. I confirm previous findings that estimates of bribery are significantly higher when expressed as a percentage of turnover rather than in monetary value. This result is likely due to miscalculations on the part of some respondents. Experience in running a business appears to mitigate this propensity to error, but without eliminating entirely. The second Chapter evaluates how firm owners and managers which were awarded public contracts considered at risk of corruption behave in responding to a survey about public procurement. I conclude that firms with more experience of corruption are no more likely to decline participating in the survey or to answer a question asking them to evaluate the magnitude of bribery, but have a higher probability to deny the existence of bribery compared to firms with less experience of corruption. The third Chapter suggests an innovative approach to identify reticent respondents in business surveys and to correct indicators for the frequency of corruption accordingly.

The purpose of this research was to study the ways in which a content driven after-school art program focused on community-based art projects inspires high school students to create work that are personal and purposeful. This study involved members of the Hempstead High School Art Club. I collected data in various ways including focus groups video recording, journal reflections, and observations with Art club members who meet monthly to discuss the project and biweekly to work on the project. My plan was to gather information on the effectiveness of a content driven after school art club in the teaching and learning of visual art. Through my research I hoped to discover the benefits and drawbacks of an after school art program as compared to a regular art classroom setting and the implementation of content driven art projects. Finally, I hoped to study and analyze the effects such a program would have on a student's understanding of the purpose of creating community-based art.

Information security communities are always talking about "attackers" or "blackhats", but in reality very little is known about their skills. The idea of studying attacker behaviors was pioneered in the early nineties. In the last decade the number of attacks has increased exponentially and honeypots were introduced in order to gather information about attackers and to develop early-warning systems. Honeypots come in different flavors with respect to their interaction potential. A honeypot can be very restrictive, but this implies only a few interactions. However, if a honeypot is very tolerant, attackers can quickly achieve their goal. Choosing the best trade-off between attacker freedom and honeypot restrictions is challenging. In this dissertation, we address the issue of self-adaptive honeypots that can change their behavior and lure attackers into revealing as much information as possible about themselves. Rather than being allowed simply to carry out attacks, attackers are challenged by strategic interference from adaptive honeypots. The observation of the attackers' reactions is particularly interesting and, using derived measurable criteria, the attacker's skills and capabilities can be assessed by the honeypot operator. Attackers enter sequences of inputs on a compromised system which is generic enough to characterize most attacker behaviors. Based on these principles, we formally model the interactions of attackers with a compromised system. The key idea is to leverage game-theoretic concepts to define the configuration and reciprocal actions of high-interaction honeypots. We have also leveraged machine learning techniques for this task and have developed a honeypot that uses a variant of reinforcement learning in order to arrive at the best behavior when facing attackers. The honeypot is capable of adopting behavioral strategies that vary from blocking commands or returning erroneous messages, right up to insults that aim to irritate the intruder and serve as a reverse Turing Test distinguishing human attackers from machines. Our experimental results show that behavioral strategies are dependent on contextual parameters and can serve as advanced building blocks for intelligent honeypots. The knowledge obtained can be used either by the adaptive honeypots themselves or to reconfigure low-interaction honeypots.