A major physiological risk factor of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is sensitization of peripheral and central nervous system pain processing pathways. Calcium channel, voltage-dependent, alpha-2/delta subunit-1 (CACNA2D1) has a crucial role in relaying nociceptive information in the spinal dorsal horn. Up-regulation of CACNA2D1 results in abnormal excitatory synapse formation and enhanced presynaptic excitatory neurotransmitter release. Blocking CACNA2D1 with gabapentinoid-class drugs relieves orofacial hypersensitivity. Drs. Foley, Horton, and Sciote previously reported that in a small sample group (n=12), CACNA2D1 expression was greater in males than females, but increased in women with TMD. The objectives of this study are to corroborate these data and investigate expression patterns of other ion channel and conducting system genes. Additionally, since the null polymorphism ACTN3-577XX associates with muscle fiber microdamage during eccentric contraction, we tested for possible gene associations with ACTN3-R577XX genotypes. Masseter muscle samples came from human subjects (n=23 male; 48 female) with malocclusions undergoing orthognathic surgery. This population had skeletal disharmony of the jaws and thus was prone to eccentric contraction. Three males and eighteen females were diagnosed with localized masticatory myalgia. Muscle total RNA was isolated and CACNA2D1, CACNA1S, GABARAP, and TRPM7 expression was quantified using RT-PCR. Expression of these genes were compared based on TMD status and various characteristics that may influence TMD including: sex, age, facial symmetry, sagittal dimension, vertical dimension, ACTN3-577 genotype and fiber type. CACNA2D1 expression differed significantly between sexes, overall (p<0.02), and without TMD (p=0.001). Women with (n=13) and without (n=23) TMD differed significantly (p<0.03). CACNA2D1 expression was also significantly higher (p=0.031) in subjects below age 25. Similarly, GABARAP expression was significantly higher (p=0.001) for patients younger than 25 and for patients less than or equal to age 18 (p=0.013). Otherwise, CACNA1S, TRPM7 and GABARAP differences were not significant. GABARAP expression differed, but not significantly by sex and for the ACTN3-577XX-null genotype. In a population of malocclusion patients, masseter muscle CACNA2D1 expression is significantly higher than CACNA1S, TRPM7, and GABARAP. CACNA2D1 expression is greater in males than females without TMD. However, CACNA2D1 expression increases significantly in females with TMD-associated myalgia. This may support evidence for calcium channel regulation of nociception differences seen between sexes in TMD. It was also found that expression of CACNA2D1 and GABARAP is significantly higher in younger subjects. Additionally, observations presented here suggest potential influence of ACTN3-null condition on function of GABARAP. / Oral Biology

Personalized medicine is the idea that every patient can be treated in a unique manner, tailored specifically to his or her individual needs. Traditionally the field of personalized medicine has focused on using genetic information to determine medical treatment. However, humans are not only the sum of their genetic parts. All people exist within the context of their environment, their experiences, and their relationships. While the connection between this greater context and medical treatment may not be immediately obvious, it exists. If we are to truly tailor medical care, it must occur in a holistic manner, combining both genetics and social context. A thorough understanding of the way that they interact, as well as the individual limitations of both, is the best way to offer individualized care to all patients. / Urban Bioethics

Despite a decade of public and private efforts to promote patient centricity in healthcare, there is still considerable ambiguity and skepticism regarding the concept and its business impact in the pharmaceutical industry. In this research, a novel methodology is developed to quantify firms’ strategic orientation using public 10-K reports. The Strategic Orientation Ratio (SOR) was developed and first validated to examine customer centricity for 9 non-pharmaceutical companies. The SOR is then extended from customer centricity to patient centricity, and it was applied to measure the extent of patient centricity in 10 multinational pharmaceutical firms. The method was successfully validated by identifying the strategic orientation of non-pharma firms such as Walmart, Apple, and Amazon. Next, by the same method, the extent of patient centricity is quantified in 10 big pharmaceutical companies for 2005-2015. This revealed the extent to which patient centricity exists in pharmaceutical companies, and how this has changed over time. The combination of an expressed patient-centric strategic orientation, personalized medicine (measured by oncology products), and patient access (measured by sales) is shown empirically to have a significant positive effect on firm performance. This implies that not only is patient centricity “the right thing to do,” it can also be a viable model for pharmaceutical firm competitiveness. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

在數位化的進程及環境中，圖書館已由對大眾一視同仁的服務演變成重視個體不同需求的服務，圖書館的服務也不再是齊頭式平等的服務。讀者個人的喜好及需求已漸融入到圖書館建置的各種服務項目中，也就是必須因人而異，以滿足使用者的資訊需求，就如同商業市場的機制一樣，唯有行銷與競爭才能使圖書館更具有持續力。 個人化為導向的資訊管理與資訊服務，正逐漸被人們所重視。為了真正滿足使用者的資訊需求，創造出實用的資訊價值，個人化資訊的服務系統強調「因人而異，各取所需」的資訊服務系統，而圖書館也從傳統大眾化式的服務走向分別式、個別化差異的服務模式。 本研究為了要能瞭解醫事人員，對於圖書館所提供的服務需求內容及需求程度，以文獻分析及網站內容分析以及問卷調查的方法對台北榮民總醫院醫事人員的基本背景資訊、網路使用行為，以及對圖書館的網站使用行為與個人化服務需求做一問卷調查。並利用交叉分析的方法，探討醫事人員身份、年齡、學歷與個人化服務需求相關度問題，歸納研究結果重點如下： 一、醫學圖書館在網站上建置個人化服務需求首先應重視個人化資訊環境的建立。 二、國外圖書館網站內容之分析是提供國內醫學圖書館個人化服務項目的參考指標。 三、醫事族群中因不同的身份、年齡、學歷對個人化資訊服務需求有所影響。 四、醫事人員應加強個人興趣檔的建置觀念，以強化醫學圖書館個人化服務功能的提昇。 五、圖書館在個人化服務系統中應規劃隱私權政策。 六、醫學圖書館對整體個人化資訊環境及資訊服務的需求有其必要性且是非常肯定的。 對研究結果提出建議如下： 國內醫學圖書館應儘快整合共同發展個人化服務的機制；對於個人化服務中群體屬性的差異要能持續的注意及改進；對使用者的調查研究由完全量的統計進展到質與量的交叉運用調查研究；圖書館應協助醫事人員建立正確的興趣檔觀念以強化個人化服務的功能；隱私權政策的制訂應多加宣導並於圖書館資訊政策時明訂；個人化服務應多加推廣與宣傳。 / In the progress and environment of digitalization, the library has transformed its service mode from satisfying general needs into catering for different individuals. The library is no longer a one-for-all service. The users' personal interests and needs have been integrated into all the services the library provided; that is, the service differs from person to person so as to meet the users' needs for information. Just like the commercial world, only with marketing and competition will the library last. The individual-oriented information management and service is gradually getting people's attention. To really satisfy the users' information needs and create practical information value, the individualized information service system emphasizes providing "tailor-made" service for different users. And such is a trend the modern library follows. This research is carried out to understand what the users of the medical library need and to what extent they need it, regarding the service the library offers. This research uses literature review, Internet content analysis, and questionnaire survey of the basic background information, Internet usage behavior, the library Internet usage behavior and the needs for personalized service of the medical staff of Taipei Veteran General Hospital. Meanwhile, it uses cross-analysis to find out the relationships between the medical staff's positions, ages, education, and the needs for personalized service. The results of the research are as follows: 1. The personalized service of the medical library on its website should put major emphasis on the establishment of personalized information environment. 2. The analysis of oversea library websites can provide the benchmark for the personalized service of our country's medical libraries. 3. There exists influence from the medical staff's positions, ages, education on the needs for personalized service. 4. Medical people should strengthen their concept of establishing personal interest profile to enhance the personalized service in the medical library. 5. Privacy policy should be taken into consideration in setting up the personalized service system. 6. The personalized information environment and service is essential to the medical library. The implications of the research: The local medical libraries should cooperate to develop the personalized service as soon as possible; they should pay attention to the differences among different groups of users; when doing the survey of users, quality research coupled with quantity research should be conducted instead of completely using quantitative statistics; the library should assist the medical people to establish correct concept of interest profiles to enhance personalized service; the privacy policy should be established and implemented; and finally, the users should be familiarized with the personalized service.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sabrina Lucila de Araujo.pdf: 378388 bytes, checksum: 0d604a9eef503379df9b2c9c4e6321b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-16 / Distance learning is growing everywhere. In Brazil distance learning courses are becoming more common and educational institutions are authorized to develop distance learning programs. Nevertheless, distance learning courses as any other teaching procedures, will be effective only if teaching contingencies are carefully planned and implemented. Behavior analysis as a discipline has accumulated technology that is suitable for distance learning, based on the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), first developed by Keller, in 1968. PSI courses are characterized by: course content is broken down in small units, learning goals are previously established, studying pace depends on the student, mastery is a requisite on each unit, emphasis on written material, immediate feedback for students, proctors. A distance learning program that uses the internet, called Computer-aided Personalized System of Instruction (CAPSI), developed at the University of Manitoba, Canada, some 20 years, has been applied to many disciplines with promising results. CAPSI courses have all the characteristics of PSI courses and are taken by students through the internet. The system makes tests and exams available to the student, records students performances and progress, and manages aspects of the course, such as sending tests for correction. Tests are taken when students apply for them and are marked by teachers, instructors and/or proctors (advanced students). Tests become eligible when students master previous tests. This study was conducted to test the generality of previous research on CAPSI with Brazilian students, with a course on Behavior Analysis Principles. 77 students (62 from the same teaching institution) and the others from other state were enrolled, but only for 33 of them the course was initially mandatory (as part of their professional training). The mandatory status was changed on the 9th week of the course. The following variables are considered as the course results: dropouts, students performances on tests and exams, level of difficulty of tests, students activities as proctors, precision and content of feedbacks to students, feedback effects, and students assessment of the course. Results showed a larger number of dropouts when compared with the literature. Other results are consistent with the literature: students grades are high and students evaluation of the course is similar to those reported previously. The higher percentage of dropouts is discussed as s a probable function of students previous history as well as the elective character of the course / A educação a distância é uma modalidade de ensino que vem sendo empregada no mundo todo e no Brasil, onde instituições, inclusive de nível universitário, são autorizadas a promovê-la. Como no caso do ensino tradicional, entretanto, também nos cursos a distância é necessário programar o ensino para que a aprendizagem de fato ocorra. A Análise do Comportamento oferece uma alternativa de curso a distância baseada nos princípios do Sistema Personalizado de Ensino (PSI), proposto por Keller em 1968. As principais características do PSI são: divisão do conteúdo do curso em unidades, objetivos finais previamente estabelecidos, ritmo de estudo dependente exclusivamente do aluno, exigência de domínio a cada unidade para prosseguir no curso, ênfase em material escrito, uso de feedback imediato, participação de monitores. O Computer-aided Personalized System of Instruction (Sistema Personalizado de Ensino com Ajuda de Computadores CAPSI) foi desenvolvido na Universidade de Manitoba, Canadá e é aplicado em diversas disciplinas há mais de 20 anos pela internet. Cursos CAPSI têm as características mencionadas dos cursos PSI e são feitos pela internet. O sistema na internet torna disponíveis os testes e exames intermediários, registra os pontos dos alunos em cada teste respondido e mantém registro completo da trajetória do aluno no curso. O computador também auxilia no gerenciamento do curso, envia testes para correções e permite a coleta de outros conjuntos de dados sobre o programa. Os testes são corrigidos pelo professor/instrutor, professor assistente/mentor, ou por dois monitores, alunos do curso que estão em unidades mais avançadas. Pretendeuse, neste estudo, aplicar uma disciplina de Princípios de Análise do Comportamento com alunos brasileiros para avaliar o CAPSI. Participaram 77 alunos, sendo 62 vinculados a uma mesma instituição de ensino e os demais de outro estado brasileiro. Para 33 desses alunos, o curso inicialmente foi apresentado como obrigatório e fez parte da grade curricular de um curso de especialização em Análise do Comportamento no contexto clínico. Foram dadas também videoconferências sobre os conteúdos trabalhados. Foram analisados: desistências; desempenho nas avaliações de unidade e nos exames; dificuldade das avaliações de unidades; atividade de monitoria; desempenho dos corretores, envolvendo precisão, qualidade e tipo de feedback; efeito das correções e avaliação do curso pelos alunos concluintes. O número de concluintes foi menor do que o mencionado na literatura sobre o CAPSI, porém os demais resultados são bastante semelhantes. As notas dos concluintes foram altas e as principais vantagens e desvantagens relatadas pelos concluintes são consistentes com a literatura da área

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carolina Moreira do Couto.pdf: 5874411 bytes, checksum: bf2b162f644f4c2c316dff6ccabd1dc5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Distance learning is a teaching modality that contains specifics characteristics, a way to create a space to generate, to promote and to implement where the students can learn. In distance learning the space and time are not shared, the tasks usually are done thru different technologies. A learn technology that has been applied in distance learning is the CAPSI (Computer Aided Personalized System of Instruction), developed in Canada and based on the rules of Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), proposed by Keller in 1968. The main characteristics of the PSI are: individual time, material broken down in small units, final goals established in advance, mastery is mandatory in each unit, emphasis on written material, immediate feedback, proctors. The courses in CAPSI are divided in study units, where the student, following their own rhythmus, systematically apply for an evaluation for each unit and just move to a new unit when gets the maximum core. The system makes tests and exams available to the student, records students performances and progress, and manages aspects of the course, such as sending tests for correction. This study evaluated the experience of a distance learning course using the CAPSI system with Brazilian students. 117 students were enrolled in a course on Behavior Analysis, but only 47 started the course and were approved on Test Unit 1 (about the system functionalities). It was analyzed: desistance; performance on test units and exams; use of the Moodle s environment and an evaluation of the course by the students. Results showed a larger number of dropouts when comparing with the literature about CAPSI. The scores of the students that were exposed to a bigger number of activities were high and the main advantages and vanities related by the students are consistent with the literature. It has been discussed the relationship between the desistance and the no obligation on finish the course and the desistance and the own organization for the work / A Educação a Distância é uma modalidade de ensino com características especificas, isto é, uma maneira particular de criar um espaço para gerar, promover e implementar situações em que os alunos aprendam. Nela o espaço e o tempo não são compartilhados, os trabalhos geralmente são mediados por tecnologias. Uma tecnologia de ensino que vem sendo utilizada em cursos a distância é o Capsi (Computer aided Personalized System of Instruction- Sistema personalizado de ensino com o uso de computadores), desenvolvido no Canadá e baseado nos fundamentos do Sistema Personalizado de Ensino (PSI), proposto por Keller em 1968. O PSI tem como características principais: ritmo individualizado, material dividido em pequenas unidades, objetivos finais previamente estabelecidos, exigência de maestria em cada unidade, ênfase no material escrito, feedback imediato, participação de monitores. Os cursos no sistema CAPSI são divididos em unidades de estudo, o aluno segue seu próprio ritmo, sistematicamente se submete a avaliações de unidade e só progride para novas unidades quando demonstra excelência. Os testes de unidades e exames intermediários são disponibilizados pelo sistema que também registra os pontos em cada teste respondido e a trajetória completa do aluno no curso. Neste estudo avaliou-se a experiência de um curso a distância utilizando o sistema CAPSI com alunos brasileiros. Inscreveram-se voluntariamente em um curso de Análise do Comportamento 117 alunos, do quais 47 iniciaram o curso e foram aprovados no Teste 1 (sobre o funcionamento do sistema). Foram analisados: desistências, desempenho nas avaliações de unidade e nos exames, utilização do ambiente Moodle, e avaliação do curso pelos alunos concluintes. Os resultados mostraram que o número de concluintes foi menor do que o mencionado na literatura sobre o CAPSI. As notas dos alunos que se expuseram ao maior número de atividades foram altas e as principais vantagens e desvantagens relatadas pelos concluintes são consistentes com a literatura da área. Discute-se a relação entre desistência e não obrigatoriedade de fazer o curso e entre desistência e organização para o trabalho

No description available.

隨著部落格的文章越來多，如何在大量的部落格文章中有效的幫助使用者找到需要的文章就變成一個非常重要的問題。因此，本研究結合部落格搜尋和個人化搜尋的技術，提出針對搜尋部落格文章的個人化部落格搜尋。其中，主要包含了兩種個人化部落格搜尋的方法。首先，延伸一般個人化搜尋的方式針對部落格的環境加以修正，提出了內文個人化部落格搜尋。透過分析和搜尋系統使用者相關的部落格文章內文，讓使用者可以更快的在部落格中找到需要的文章。接著，我們提出創新的社交個人化部落格搜尋，藉由分析使用者和其他部落客之間的社交行為，來達到個人化的目的。最後，在實驗中可以發現，個人化部落格搜尋明顯的提升了部落格搜尋的準確度和滿意度。 / As the quantity of articles increased rapidly, how to help the users to find the blog articles effectively becomes an important issue. Therefore, this study combines the traditional blog search and personalized search techniques, and proposes a way to search blog by personal information. This study mainly contains two methods of personalized blog search. First, the general way of personalized search environment for blogs to be amended, the content based personalized blog search. By analyzing and searching the system-related blog article text of the users, this study can make users quickly figure out the articles they need. We propose a social based personalized blog search, by analyzing the social behavior between users and other bloggers, to achieve personal goals. Finally, the result of the experiments has shown that both ways obviously improved search accuracy and satisfaction.

Avec la quantité croissante du contenu pédagogique produit chaque jour par les utilisateurs, il devient très difficile pour les apprenants de trouver les ressources les plus adaptées à leurs besoins. Les systèmes de recommandation sont utilisés dans les plateformes éducatives pour résoudre le problème de surcharge d'information. Ils sont conçus pour fournir des ressources pertinentes à un apprenant en utilisant certaines informations sur les utilisateurs et les ressources. Le présent travail s'inscrit dans le contexte des systèmes de recommandation des ressources pédagogiques, en particulier les systèmes qui utilisent des informations sociales. Nous avons défini une approche de recommandation de ressources éducatives en se basant sur les résultats de recherche dans le domaine des systèmes de recommandation, des réseaux sociaux et des environnements informatiques pour l’apprentissage humain. Nous nous appuyons sur les relations sociales entre apprenants pour améliorer la précision des recommandations. Notre proposition est basée sur des modèles formels qui calculent la similarité entre les utilisateurs d'un environnement d'apprentissage pour générer trois types de recommandation, à savoir la recommandation des 1) ressources populaires, 2) ressources utiles et 3) ressources récemment consultées. Nous avons développé une plateforme d'apprentissage, appelée Icraa, qui intègre nos modèles de recommandation. La plateforme Icraa est un environnement d’apprentissage social qui permet aux apprenants de télécharger, de visualiser et d’évaluer les ressources éducatives. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons les résultats d'une expérimentation menée pendant deux ans qui a impliqué un groupe de 372 apprenants d'Icraa dans un contexte éducatif réel. L'objectif de cette expérimentation est de mesurer la pertinence, la qualité et l'utilité des ressources recommandées. Cette étude nous a permis d'analyser les retours des utilisateurs concernant les trois types de recommandations. Cette analyse a été basée sur les traces des utilisateurs enregistrées avec Icraa et sur un questionnaire. Nous avons également effectué une analyse hors ligne en utilisant un jeu de données afin de comparer notre approche avec quatre algorithmes de référence. / With the increasing amount of educational content produced daily by users, it becomes very difficult for learners to find the resources that are best suited to their needs. Recommendation systems are used in educational platforms to solve the problem of information overload. They are designed to provide relevant resources to a learner using some information about users and resources. The present work fits in the context of recommender systems for educational resources, especially systems that use social information. We have defined an educational resource recommendation approach based on research findings in the area of recommender systems, social networks, and Technology-Enhanced Learning. We rely on social relations between learners to improve the accuracy of recommendations. Our proposal is based on formal models that calculate the similarity between users of a learning environment to generate three types of recommendation, namely the recommendation of 1) popular resources; 2) useful resources; and 3) resources recently consulted. We have developed a learning platform, called Icraa, which integrates our recommendation models. The Icraa platform is a social learning environment that allows learners to download, view and evaluate educational resources. In this thesis, we present the results of an experiment conducted for almost two years on a group of 372 learners of Icraa in a real educational context. The objective of this experiment is to measure the relevance, quality and usefulness of the recommended resources. This study allowed us to analyze the user’s feedback on the three types of recommendations. This analysis is based on the users’ traces which was saved with Icraa and on a questionnaire. We have also performed an offline analysis using a dataset to compare our approach with four base line algorithms.

Abstract Background “Traditional digital advertising has become wallpaper. It doesn’t improve anyone’s experience on a site and readers, myself included, pretty much look past it” stated by Jason Hill, Global Head of Media Strategies (Adage.com, 2019). Marketing managers attempt and fail in adapting traditional marketing strategies to the unfamiliar digital landscape. Traditional techniques e.g. banner ads appear as intrusive and unwanted according to consumers. Brands have in response strategically changed its communication to a rather subtle approach that aims to be non-intrusive. Aforesaid strategy is referred to as native advertising. Native advertising however is not unproblematic as said approach may be exploited to be deceptive, intrusive and secretive, brand whom implements such a strategy may be rewarded with short term positives. However the long term effects of said strategy prove negatives in various aspects of the brand. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to explain how the conceptualization of native ads influence users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. Method The conducted study implemented a deductive approach to research, including an explanatory purpose as previously elaborated upon. The study is further characterized as a cross-sectional design in which the researchers aimed to test the conceptualization of non-intrusive native advertising. The researchers further conducted a self administrated questionnaire with a total of 158 respondents. The data was cleaned in SPSS and further tested for reliability, validity and hypothesis testing. Conclusion The findings of the conducted study concludes that personalized advertising positively contributes to users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. On the other hand, contextual relevance, 1 transparency, emotional appeal and informational appeal were rejected as such variables were not statistically significant in explaining non-intrusiveness. Therefore, the researchers rejected hypothesis H1, H2, H3, H4 and therefore rejected previous research stating that these variables contributes to users’ feeling of non-intrusiveness. However H5 was accepted, therefore theories that suggests that personalization according to one’s interest, previous interactions and real-time data to influence users feeling of non-intrusiveness were confirmed.