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This thesis utilized a linear analytical approach to explore the damage tolerance or residual strength as a function of increasing damage in traditional single and hybrid-grid IsoTruss® structures. Residual strength was studied for structures subjected to axial compression, torsion and flexural bending, independently. Carbon/epoxy material properties were applied in all load cases, and fiberglass/epoxy material properties were also applied in the flexural bending case. Prior to imposing damage conditions, the IsoTruss® structures were parametrically optimized to achieve the highest strength-to-weight ratios. Typical compression strut, driveshaft, and utility pole specifications governed the design strength dimensions and boundary conditions. Damage growth was achieved by removing members from IsoTruss® structures progressively about the circumference in a symmetrical manner. The sequence of member removal, beginning with primary or secondary members, was examined, and is described as primary and secondary analyses. ABAQUS finite element analysis was employed to quantify the residual strength of each IsoTruss® configuration. Reduction in residual strength trends are compared to net section strength, which assumes a linear relationship between damage size and residual strength. Results indicate that the 6-node IsoTruss® configuration is the most damage tolerant structure in the sense that the 6-node configuration deviates the least from the net section strength. As more nodes are added, IsoTruss® structures behave more like a composite tube, exhibiting a brittle behavior characterized by an increase in strength reduction for a given damage size. Bending results reveal that carbon fiber IsoTruss® structures are more damage tolerant under primary bending conditions than fiberglass poles. On the other hand, fiberglass IsoTruss® poles prove to be more damage tolerant under secondary bending conditions than carbon fiber structures. Most importantly, however, hybrid-grid IsoTruss® poles are definitively more optimal structures than single-grid poles in terms of both strength-to-weight ratio and damage tolerance. The results and conclusions from this thesis provide benchmark capacities for mechanically manufactured IsoTruss® structures. Also included in this thesis is documentation of a special program written to analyze IsoTruss® structures.

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Background: This narrative study explores the experiences of social scientists in medical education research (MER) units housed in Canadian medical schools. Although MER has been gaining recognition as an important area of research to facilitate the translation of medical education into medical practice, the need for social science research in MER remains poorly understood. Moreover, available literature on the career progression of researchers in MER – with regards to factors like academic promotion, funding opportunities, and job satisfaction – have been largely limited to clinician or biomedical researchers. Purpose: To explore the experiences of social scientists in medical education research (MER) units housed in Canadian medical schools through the research question: How do social scientists experience the evolution of their careers into MER? Research Design: Narrative study. Data Collection and Analysis: This study involved semi-structured interviews with six faculty members of MER units in three medical departments in Canada. Findings: My analysis revealed the following themes: 1) challenges are systematic in nature but rewards tend to be interpersonal; 2) the development of MER units have helped improve social scientists’ experiences in MER; 3) interdisciplinary and interprofessional interactions act as both the greatest challenge and reward of a social scientist’s career in MER; 4) social scientists’ perceived experiences in MER are influenced by their perceived impact on institutional change; and 5) social scientists in MER retain and advocate for their identity as social scientists, but individual differences exist in the perceived gratification of advocacy work.

Syftet med vår undersökning var att synliggöra studenternas upplevelse av handledningen under den verksamhetsförlagda tiden i utbildningen. Vi problematiserade hur handledningen leder till en progression som möjliggör att studenterna kan uppnå lärandemålen under sin praktik. Detta gjorde vi genom att studera handledarteorier samt Malmö högskolas syfte med den verksamhetsförlagda tiden. Vi använde oss av en webbaserad enkätundersökning för informationsinsamlingen och analyserade resultatet efter de valda teorierna. I resultatet uppgav de tillfrågade studenterna en positiv bild av sin progression men vi anser i vår slutsats att handledningen till stor del inte getts på ett sätt som är förenligt med styrdokument och de handledningsteorier vi studerat.

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vilken progression som sker med elevernas kunskap inom fyra delområden i biologi. Progressionen har undersökts från årskurs nio till avslutade kurser i naturkunskap på gymnasiet. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av enkäter där eleverna har fått besvara öppna frågor kring fotosyntes, växthuseffekt, matspjälkning och genetik. Svaren kategoriserades utifrån tidigare forskning. Resultatet pekar mot en marginell progression i frågorna kring fotosyntes, växthuseffekt och genetik samt en stagnation kring frågan om matspjälkning. Vi har också undersökt varifrån eleverna själva anser att de fått sin kunskap ifrån gällande de valda ämnesområdena. Här pekar resultaten på att skolan anses vara en viktig källa till elevernas kunskap.

Thesis advisor: Paul Cichello / The COVID-19 pandemic impacted nearly every aspect of societies around the world when it struck in 2020. Food insecurity increased in almost all countries, even those with well-developed economies and safety nets, and education for all ages was drastically affected by social distancing guidelines and a concern for the safety of students and faculty alike. Using data from the 2019 and 2020 cross-sections of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I evaluated the impact of an automatic increase in food assistance benefits in the United States during March 2020 on grade progression rates for students who were affected by the benefit increase. I find statistically insignificant results regarding the effect of this increase on grade progression rates, but a significant positive effect of being in the post-Covid period on these rates. These results could reflect the fact that school districts around the country broadly loosened the academic requirements for grade progression. Future research could evaluate the effect of food stamp benefits on the quality of education, and seek to overcome the limitations of the model used for this analysis. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

Genetic splice variants have become of central interest in recent years, as they play an important role in different cancers. Little is known about splice variants in melanoma. Here, we analyzed a genome-wide transcriptomic dataset of benign melanocytic nevi and primary melanomas (n = 80) for the expression of specific splice variants. Using kallisto, a map for differentially expressed splice variants in melanoma vs. benign melanocytic nevi was generated. Among the top genes with differentially expressed splice variants were Ras-related in brain 6B (RAB6B), a member of the RAS family of GTPases, Macrophage Scavenger Receptor 1 (MSR1), Collagen Type XI Alpha 2 Chain (COLL11A2), and LY6/PLAUR Domain Containing 1 (LYPD1). The Gene Ontology terms of differentially expressed splice variants showed no enrichment for functional gene sets of melanoma vs. nevus lesions, but between type 1 (pigmentation type) and type 2 (immune response type) melanocytic lesions. A number of genes such as Checkpoint Kinase 1 (CHEK1) showed an association of mutational patterns and occurrence of splice variants in melanoma. Moreover, mutations in genes of the splicing machinery were common in both benign nevi and melanomas, suggesting a common mechanism starting early in melanoma development. Mutations in some of these genes of the splicing machinery, such as Serine and Arginine Rich Splicing Factor A3 and B3 (SF3A3, SF3B3), were significantly enriched in melanomas as compared to benign nevi. Taken together, a map of splice variants in melanoma is presented that shows a multitude of differentially expressed splice genes between benign nevi and primary melanomas. The underlying mechanisms may involve mutations in genes of the splicing machinery.

Yes / Techniques for facial age progression and regression have many applications and a myriad of challenges. As such, automatic aged or de-aged face generation has become an important subject of study in recent times. Over the past decade or so, researchers have been working on developing face processing mechanisms to tackle the challenge of generating realistic aged faces for applications related to smart systems. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to try and address this problem. We use template faces based on the formulation of an average face of a given ethnicity and for a given age. Thus, given a face image, the target aged image for that face is generated by applying it to the relevant template face image. The resulting image is controlled by two parameters corresponding to the texture and the shape of the face. To validate our approach, we compute the similarity between aged images and the corresponding ground truth via face recognition. To do this, we have utilised a pre-trained convolutional neural network based on the VGG-face model for feature extraction, and we then use well-known classifiers to compare the features. We have utilised two datasets, namely the FEI and the Morph II, to test, verify and validate our approach. Our experimental results do suggest that the proposed approach achieves accuracy, efficiency and possess flexibility when it comes to facial age progression or regression.

No / Age progression that involves the reconstruction of facial appearance with a natural ageing effect has several applications. These include the search for missing people and identification of fugitives. The majority of age progression methods reported in the literature are data driven. Hence, such methods learn from training data and utilise statistical models such as 3D morphable models and active appearance models (AAM). Principal component analysis (PCA) which is a vital part of these models has an unfortunate drawback of averaging out texture details. Therefore, they work as a low pass filter and as such many of the face skin deformations and minor details become faded. Interestingly, recent work in 2D and 3D animation has shown that patches of the human face are somewhat similar when compared in isolation. Thus, researchers have proposed generating novel faces by compositing small face patches, usually from large image databases. Following these ideas, we propose a novel age progression model which synthesises aged faces using a hybrid of these two techniques. First, an invertible model of age synthesis is developed using AAM and sparse partial least squares regression (sPLS). Then the texture details of the face are enhanced using the patch-based synthesis approach. Our results show that the hybrid algorithm produces both unique and realistic images. Furthermore, our method demonstrates that the identity and ageing effects of subjects can be more emphasised.