Det sociala mediet Instagram är en applikation där människor världen runt kan dela med sig av resor, måltider och den nya familjemedlemmens ankomst. Genom att kommentera, gilla, arkivera och utforska kan användaren hålla sig uppdaterad dygnet runt. När Instagram i mars 2016 meddelade att de skulle införa algoritmer, vilka profilerar och kartlägger användare, ändrades rangordningen på inläggen i användarnas flöde. Vem som nu får se vad, när och hur styrs av dessa osynliga matematiska formler. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur svenska Instagramanvändare i åldern 15-40 år upplever dessa personliga algoritmer och huruvida dessa har en inverkan på hur de använder sig av applikationen. Då Instagram är tätt förknippat med att visa upp sig själv ser jag det även intressant att undersöka vilken roll algoritmerna har för individernas syn på sig själva. Genom mixed methods kommer både en enkät och kvalitativa intervjuer att utföras för att få en genomgripande förståelse för fenomenet på flera plan. Den kvantitativa delen ämnar att skapa en mer generell uppfattning hur individerna upplever algoritmerna och hur deras användning ser ut. Detta medan den kvalitativa delen är till för att fördjupa förståelsen för relationen mellan individerna och algoritmerna. Med hjälp av teorier rörande synlighet, algoritmer och identitet är målet att få en djupare förståelse för detta tämligen nya fenomen. Analysens resultat visar att medvetenheten är måttlig och kunskapen om algoritmerna är relativt begränsad. Det finns en tydlig skillnad mellan de som har skapat egna teorier om hur algoritmerna fungerar och de som är helt omedvetna. Vidare var det tydligt att algoritmerna hade en inverkan - både medvetet och omedvetet - på individerna vad gällde olika strategier för att bättre synas och få likes. Slutligen visade det sig att de personliga algoritmerna spelar en jämförelsevis stor roll för individernas syn på sig själva i termer av validitet och reflektion.

Del análisis de los resultados de la investigación, se afirma que la Tienda Él del centro comercial El Polo brinda un excelente servicio de atención personalizada a sus clientes y que emplean tele marketing como medio de fidelización. Sin embargo la tienda en estudio presenta falencias internas que influyen directamente en el volumen de sus ventas, ya que según las encuestas realizadas en la tienda en estudio existen diversos factores que intervienen en el proceso de venta y que son determinantes al medir la efectividad de la tienda. De los encuestados en la Tienda Él del centro comercial El Polo, un 34% valora la presentación visual del establecimiento como factor de compra, mientras que un 28% y un 18% valoran la atención personalizada y la calidad del producto respectivamente. Y la diferencia que asciende al 20% se inclina por la marca del producto y otros factores irrelevantes en el estudio. Por otro lado los encuestados no consideran que el ambiente interno de la tienda presente un adecuado Visual Merchandising, ya que un 66% no están de acuerdo en la presentación del establecimiento. Es claro que la cadena está desaprovechando una gran participación de mercado, otorgando a sus competidores parte de sus clientes frecuentes. Por lo expuesto, concluimos que la propuesta de un diseño de Visual Merchandising enlazado al Traffic Building, va permitir a la tienda en estudio, maximizar sus ventas y alcanzar sus metas. En realidad, es un diseño dúctil, maleable y parafraseando términos de mercadeo, que tiene como propósito fundamental guiar estratégicamente al personal en tienda en como rentabilizar los productos que se ofrecen y los espacios que estos ocupan. Analysis of the results of the investigation, it is affirmed that the store El Polo shopping center provides an excellent service of personalized attention to its customers and that use telemarketing as a means of loyalty. However, the shop under study has internal shortcomings that directly influence the volume of its sales, since according to the surveys conducted in the store under study there are several factors involved in the sales process and are decisive in measuring the effectiveness of the store. Of those surveyed in the Him Store of the El Polo shopping center, 34% value the visual presentation of the establishment as a purchase factor, while 28% and 18% value personalized attention and product quality respectively. And the difference amounting to 20% is tilted by the product brand and other irrelevant factors in the study. On the other hand the respondents do not consider in the internal environment of the store an adequate Visual Merchandising, since 66% do not agree on the presentation of the establishment. It is clear that the chain is wasting a large market share, giving its competitors some of its frequent customers. For the above, we conclude that the Design of a Visual Merchandising linked to the Traffic Building, will allow the store under study, maximize its sales and reach its goals. In fact, it is a ductile, malleable design and paraphrasing marketing terms, whose fundamental purpose is to strategically guide shop personnel in how to make profitable products offered and the spaces they occupy.

É apresentado como problema atual na área de Publicidade e Propaganda a exibição de conteúdo personalizado para nichos específicos. A propaganda acaba se concentrando nos produtos de maior sucesso, tendo como foco alguns públicos-alvo previamente determinados. Assim, o estudo pretende avaliar um novo canal para exibição de propaganda em nível individual, através das perspectivas da Cauda Longa e da Realidade Aumentada (R.A.). O ponto principal desse trabalho é, portanto, mostrar a quantidade de nichos existentes e sugerir uma personalização da propaganda a um nível praticamente individual, como uma ligação direta entre produto e consumidor, usando como suporte tecnológico a R.A. A partir da análise de trabalhos de Romero Tori, Paul Milgram, Ronald Azuma, Cláudio Kirner, Robson Siscouto, Lúcia Santaella, entre outros autores, foi feita uma avaliação dos principais pontos de interesse da tecnologia de Realidade Aumentada para profissionais da área do Design. Discorrendo não só sobre suas características como também identificando problemas e questionamentos atuais, tanto para esses profissionais como para o consumidor final. A tese se enquadra na linha de pesquisa de Design e Tecnologia ao passo que os profissionais desta área de conhecimento são responsáveis diretos por pensar as formas de interação de modo que sejam mais orgânicas e intuitivas para os usuários. Existe muito trabalho a ser realizado, no tocante à Ergonomia e Usabilidade, nas soluções que usam a Realidade Aumentada, principalmente na forma como se dá a sobreposição da informação digital ao ambiente real capturado pela câmera e sua manipulação pelo indivíduo. / Show custom content for specific market segments is a current problem in the Advertising industry. The advertisement ends up prioritizing the most successful products, with the focus on some predetermined audiences. With that in mind, this study evaluates a new channel for advertising on an individual level, through the perspectives of the Long Tail and Augmented Reality (AR). For that reason, the main point of this work is demonstrate the amount of existing niches and suggest customized ads to an individual level, as a direct link between product and consumer, using as technological support AR. From the analysis of the authors Romero Tori, Paul Milgram, Ronald Azuma, Claudio Kirner, Robson Siscouto, Lucia Santaella, among others, an assessment was made about the main points of interest in AR to the field of professional designers. Reflecting not only about their characteristics as well as identifying current problems and questions , both for these professionals and to the final consumer. The work fits the Design and Technology area because their professionals are directly responsible for thinking ways of interaction in order to be more intuitive for users. There is much more work to be done with regards to Ergonomics and Usability in the solutions that use Augmented Reality, especially in the way the digital information overlays the environment captured by the camera and its manipulation by the individual.

abstract: ABSTRACT Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and whole exome sequencing (WES) are two comprehensive genomic tests which use next-generation sequencing technology to sequence most of the 3.2 billion base pairs in a human genome (WGS) or many of the estimated 22,000 protein-coding genes in the genome (WES). The promises offered from WGS/WES are: to identify suspected yet unidentified genetic diseases, to characterize the genomic mutations in a tumor to identify targeted therapeutic agents and, to predict future diseases with the hope of promoting disease prevention strategies and/or offering early treatment. Promises notwithstanding, sequencing a human genome presents several interrelated challenges: how to adequately analyze, interpret, store, reanalyze and apply an unprecedented amount of genomic data (with uncertain clinical utility) to patient care? In addition, genomic data has the potential to become integral for improving the medical care of an individual and their family, years after a genome is sequenced. Current informed consent protocols do not adequately address the unique challenges and complexities inherent to the process of WGS/WES. This dissertation constructs a novel informed consent process for individuals considering WGS/WES, capable of fulfilling both legal and ethical requirements of medical consent while addressing the intricacies of WGS/WES, ultimately resulting in a more effective consenting experience. To better understand components of an effective consenting experience, the first part of this dissertation traces the historical origin of the informed consent process to identify the motivations, rationales and institutional commitments that sustain our current consenting protocols for genetic testing. After understanding the underlying commitments that shape our current informed consent protocols, I discuss the effectiveness of the informed consent process from an ethical and legal standpoint. I illustrate how WGS/WES introduces new complexities to the informed consent process and assess whether informed consent protocols proposed for WGS/WES address these complexities. The last section of this dissertation describes a novel informed consent process for WGS/WES, constructed from the original ethical intent of informed consent, analysis of existing informed consent protocols, and my own observations as a genetic counselor for what constitutes an effective consenting experience. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2013

In recent years there has been an increase in attempts to further increase the efficiency with which advertisement help drive sales. The attempts have largely focused on personalizing adverts to make sure that every person that sees an advert has an interest in it. In order to make the adverts personal, a company needs information about their customer. This is a controversial subject and has as such become a hot topic in Sweden and cause for debate. The thesis reports on our research of what the general Swedish public feel about disclosing personal information. To do this we perform a survey totalling 107 responses and come to a conclusion that there is a need for transparency amongst companies in order for the advertisement to work efficiently. / På senare år har man försökt sig på att effektivisera annonsering. Mestadels har dessa försök fokuserat på att rikta annonser mot enskilda personer, och på så sätt säkerställa att personen har ett intresse av annonsen. För att man ska ha möjligheten att personifiera en annons så behöver företaget information om konsumenten. Detta är en aning kontroversiellt och har dragit till sig en hel del uppmärksamhet i Sverige. Denna forskningsrapport fokuserar på vad den Svenska befolkningen anser om att dela med sig av sin personliga information. Vi har genomfört detta med hjälp av en enkätundersökning som 107 människor deltog i. Tillsammans kom vi fram till att det framför allt behövs genomskinlighet från företagen som använder sig utav personlig information, för att annonseringen ska fungera så bra som möjligt.

Although there has been much work done in the industry and academia on developing the theory and application of social networks as well as recommender systems, the relation between these research areas is still unclear. An innovative idea, which enables to integrate these areas, and applies recommendation systems to the online social network systems, is proposed in this thesis. Recommendation systems for social networks differ from the typical kinds of recommendation solutions, since they suggest human beings to other ones rather than inanimate goods. Thus, conventional recommendation methods should be enhanced by social features of the networks and their members. This thesis presents the result of the study on the recommendation framework for virtual communities. It also contains an overview of recent approaches to recommendation systems and social networks, as well as description of the online social network systems.

As of 2014, the State of Vermont adopted a policy package directing schools to implement a new way of educating and graduating students. Vermont’s Act 77 and Education Quality Standards require schools to identify specific skills and knowledge students must be proficient in to graduate and ensure each student has a personalized experience. Vermont’s tradition of local control means high school principals are leading change in their schools. How high school principals are understanding, valuing, and acting to lead the implementation of Vermont’s policies for personalized, proficiency-based education therefore varies by location. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore high school principal leadership at a critical juncture of implementing Vermont’s personalized proficiency education paradigm. Principals’ understanding was analyzed using an accountability vs. flexibility framework influenced by Sturgis (2016) and Labaree (1997). Principals’ action steps were considered through the lens of Frontier and Rickabaugh’s (2014) five levers for school change. Principals’ leadership style was analyzed using transformational leadership practices (Leithwood & Sun, 2012). The findings from five high school principals suggest that Vermont’s policies were valued for their potential to improve student outcomes, student engagement, and future career opportunities. Principals’ understanding of the policies varied, suggesting a lack of cohesive understanding of policy goals across the state. They leveraged school structures and education standards to enact policy implementation, suggesting a focus on proficiency over personalization at the time of this study. Principals in this study were leading school change by building teacher capacity and enabling teacher collaboration, suggesting they were accessing key transformational leadership practices to enable school change. The principals also identified sticking points to implementation, including: a lack of appropriate computer software for proficiency-based grading, a limited timeframe for implementation, limited leadership resources and supports from the state, and worries about a lack of equity of opportunity for all students. This study has implications for education policy developers, state-level education agencies, and other high school principals. The findings suggest school-based implementation of state-level education policy, even in local control states, can be facilitated by supports for growing leader understanding of policy intentions and facilitating policy implementation with suggested timelines and key steps. The findings also suggest high school principals access transformational leadership practices when engaging their schools in a change process. By increasing the breadth of these practices, they can facilitate the whole-school change in a personalized proficiency paradigm.

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a treatable, yet incurable, malignancy of bone marrowplasma cells. This cancer affects many patients and many succumb to relapse of tumor burden despite a large number of available chemotherapeutic agents developed for therapy. This is because MM tumors are heterogeneous and receive protection from therapeutic agents by the microenvironment and other mechanisms including homologous MM-MM aggregation. Therefore, therapy failure and frequent patient relapse is due to the evolution of drug resistance, not a lack of available drugs. To analyze and understand this problem, the evolution of drug resistance has been explored and presented herein. We seek to describe the methods through which MM cells become resistant to therapy, and how this resistance evolves throughout a patient’s treatment history. We achieve this in five steps. First we review the patient’s clinical history, including treatments and changes in tumor burden. Second, we trace the evolutionary tree of sub-clones within the tumor burden using standard of care fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Thirdly, immunohistochemistry slides are stained and aligned to quantify the level of environmental protection received by surrounding cells and plasma in the bone marrow microenvironment (coined environment mediated drug resistance score [EMDR]). The fourth analysis type is produced through a novel 384-well plate ex vivo chemosensitivity assay to quantify sensitivity of primary MM cells to chemotherapeutic agents and extrapolate these findings to 90-day clinical response predictions. In addition to direct clinical application in the choice of best treatment, this tool was also used to study changes in sensitivity of patient tumors to other drugs, and it was observed that, upon relapse, in addition to developing resistance to the current line of therapy, tumors become cross-resistant to agents that they were never exposed to. Finally, MM-MM homologous aggregation is quantified to assess the level of drug resistance contributed by clustering of patient tumor cells, which causes upregulation of Bcl-2 expression and other resistance mechanisms1. The findings of such experimentation improve comprehension of the driving factors that contribute to drug resistance evolution on a personalized treatment basis. The aforementioned factors all contribute in varying degrees for unique patient cases, seven of which are presented in depth for this project. In summary: Environmental protection plays a critical initial role in drug resistance, which is followed by increase in tumor genetic heterogeneity as a result of mutations and drug-induced Darwinian selection. Eventually, environment-independent drug resistant subpopulations emerge, allowing the tumor to spread to unexplored areas of the bone marrow while maintaining inherited drug resistant phenotype2. It is our hope that these findings will help in shifting perspective regarding optimal management of MM by finding new therapeutic procedures that address all aspects of drug resistance to minimize chance of relapse and improve quality of life for patients.

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Student: Martina Kobrlová Supervisor: prof. PharmDr. Petr Pávek, Ph.D. Title of diploma thesis: Pharmacogenetics in rheumatoid arthritis Based on scientific progress in the research of human genome and the discovery of polymorphisms, which are involved in the interindividual differences in human population, there is also a growing interest in pharmacogenetics. It is a field combining pharmacology and genetics with the aim of identifying specific features that could explain the different responses of patients to treatment by clinically used drugs. Applying this knowledge could contribute to a simpler choice of medication for a particular patient and it could reduce the risk of side effects or poor response. In this diploma thesis I dealt with the latest scientific knowledge on pharmacogenetics in rheumatology, in particular the rheumatoid arthritis. From available studies, reviews, and meta-analyzes that have been published, I summarized current data on the relationship between polymorphisms and disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) used for the treatment of this disease. The largest amount of data was found on the most commonly used methotrexate. Further, the work examines the leflunomide and other...

Background: Hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease, exhibited in 17.7% of the Canadian population, and attributed to 13% of world mortality, is influenced by both the environment and genetics. Salt sensitivity is described at higher rates in the hypertensive population. The NEDD4-like (NEDD4L) protein is important in sodium reabsorption and has been implicated in essential hypertension and salt sensitivity. Objectives: Two variations (rs4149601/rs2288774) found in NEDD4L have been associated with salt sensitivity and hypertension; a third (rs576416) is in linkage disequilibrium with rs4149601. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between the NEDD4L rs4149601, rs2288774, and rs576416 single nucleotide polymorphisms with sodium and age on blood pressure (BP). Methods: Canadian hypertensive patients were recruited through the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, with genotyped data from Leuven, Belgium, and the DNA of subjects from Warsaw, Poland also included in the study. Eligible subjects were studied off anti-hypertensive medications. Daytime BP was measured using 24hr ambulatory BP monitoring in 662 Caucasian hypertensives (BP ≥130/85 mmHg). 24hr urine Na+ was collected. DNA from Canada and Poland was genotyped on the GeneTitan Affymetrix Axiom platform and through TaqMan MGB probe-based RT-PCR, while the Belgium samples were analyzed on Illumina 1M-duo arrays. Simple and multivariate linear regression modelling with SAS 9.4.0 was used for genotypic comparisons affecting BP, combined with age and corrected urine sodium. Results: The three hypertensive populations were significantly different (P<0.05) across all demographic and clinical measures, even when stratified by sex. The Polish and female hypertensives from Canada and Belgium were removed from the analysis for lacking the general populations’ trend of increasing BP with age. Multiple linear regressive modelling found a significant association (Pmodel=0.0034) of rs4149601 GA (P=0.0129) and GG (P=0.0082), with age and urine sodium, on SBP in the Belgium male hypertensives (n=273). No significant models analyzing the association of rs576416 and rs2288774 with BP in the Belgium population were found. In the Canadian hypertensive population (n=120) no association on the discrete analyses of the rs4149601, rs576416, and rs2288774 genotypes were found; however the combination of the GG rs4149601 and AA rs576416 (β=0.021, P=0.03) and the GG rs4149601 and CC rs2288774 (β=0.020, P=0.04) genotypes showed significant associations with BP in borderline significant models (P=0.055 and P=0.094 respectively), when analyzed with urine sodium levels and age. Conclusions: A significant influence of the rs4149601 G-allele, with urine sodium and age, was found to be associated with an increase in BP in the Belgium males. Multiple linear modelling describing borderline significant findings in the interaction of rs4149601 with rs576416, and rs4149601 with rs2288774 in Canadian male hypertensives suggests of the possible synergism between polymorphisms and development of salt sensitive hypertension. Future research could evaluate the role of NEDD4L on the sex differences in early-onset salt-sensitive hypertension.