A long-standing problem in cobordism theory has been to find convenient manifolds to represent cobordism classes. For example, in the late 1950's, Hirzebruch asked which complex cobordism classes can be represented by smooth connected algebraic varieties. This question is still open. Progress can be made on this and related problems by studying certain convenient connected algebraic varieties, namely smooth projective toric varieties. The primary focus of this dissertation is to determine which complex cobordism classes can be represented by smooth projective toric varieties. A complete answer is given up to dimension six, and a partial answer is described in dimension eight. In addition, the role of smooth projective toric varieties in the polynomial ring structure of complex cobordism is examined. More specifically, smooth projective toric varieties are constructed as polynomial ring generators in most dimensions, and evidence is presented suggesting that a smooth projective toric variety can be chosen as a polynomial generator in every dimension. Finally, toric varieties with an additional fiber bundle structure are used to study some manifolds in oriented cobordism. In particular, manifolds with certain fiber bundle structures are shown to all be cobordant to zero in the oriented cobordism ring.

抽樣調查是統計學很重要的一部份，抽樣方法恰當與否關係著調查結果的成敗，然而無反應卻是一個很棘手的問題。基於成本考量，一般都會假設其對估計結果不會造成太大的影響，然而事實證明，在很多時候無反應的確會影響到估計結果的準確度，準確度的高低必需與真實母體參數值做比較，我們較難取得真實母體的資訊，所以我們使用模擬的方式在不同情況下來證實使用二次訪問(也就是追蹤調查)其估計結果的準確度較一般訪問(不進行二次訪問)的準確度高出許多。這個結果在某些情況下是特別明顯的，當有反應者與無反應其所包含的資訊差異很大且無反應的比重較高時，一般訪問的估計結果偏誤情況會比二次訪問的估計結果偏誤嚴重。 針對無反應問題，許多學者提出一些補救的方法，例如加權法、插補法等等，然而至今沒有一個較明確且通用的方法可以有效改善無反應的偏誤問題，造成無反應的原因很多，我們只能針對這些可知的原因加以修正調查方式或內容；我們也不能假設有反應者與無反應者所代表的資訊會很相近，進而宣稱“可以只用有反應的樣本來估計母體參數並不會造成太大的偏誤”，我們只能從反應率方面著手來降低偏誤情況，提高反應率是我們可以努力的方向，從開始設計問卷到最後實施調查，中間很多環節都會直接或間接影響到反應率，我們只要針對這些環節多加考慮、規劃，盡可能免除會造成無反應的因素，相信對最後的反應率提高是很有幫助的。另一方面，追蹤訪問也是一個提高反應率的有效方法，針對第一次無反應的有效樣本再次進行重新訪問，如此也可以使偏誤降低，本研究著重在不同情況下進行二次訪問的效率探討及比較。

Protein nanofibres, commonly known as amyloid fibrils, are emerging as potential biological nanomaterials in a number of applications. Protein nanofibres are a highly ordered insoluble form of protein, which results when a normally soluble protein aggregates via a self-association process. However, researchers are currently faced with several challenges such as finding a cheap source of proteins that can be obtained without expensive purification and optimizing a scalable method of the manufacturing of protein nanofibres. This thesis has identified crude mixtures of fish lens crystallins as a cheap protein source and has optimized methods for large scale production of protein nanofibres of varying morphologies. Results show that by varying the conditions of fibre formation, individual protein fibres can be used as building blocks to form higher order structures. This ability to control the morphology and form higher ordered structures is a crucial step in bottom up assembly of bionanomaterials and opens possibilities for applications of protein nanofibres. The method of formation of protein nanofibres was optimized on a bench scale (1.5 mL Eppendorf tubes) and successfully scaled-up to 1 L volume. For larger scale-up volume (i.e. greater than 10 ml), internal surface area was important for the formation of protein nanofibres. The crude crystallin mixture prepared at 10 mg/mL was heated at 80oC in the presence of 10% v/v TFE at pH 3.8 for 24 hours and stored for an additional of 24 hours at room temperature for storage process. Aggregation and precipitation of proteins were observed as the protein solution was added to the pre-heated TFE. The resulting protein nanofibres were characterised using ThT dye binding, TEM and SEM. The TEM images show a network of long and criss-crossing protein nanofibres with individual fibres of approximately 10 to 20 nm in diameter and 0.5 to 1 μm long. These protein nanofibres were prepared in 1 mL centrifuge tubes and were left on the laboratory bench at room temperature. After 5 months, fresh TEM grids of the sample were prepared and visualized using TEM. Interestingly, TEM images show that a number of individual fibres had self-assembled in an intertwining fashion to form large bundles and higher order structures containing bundles of nanofibres up to 200 nm thick.

This dissertation consists of three essays evaluating topics in industrial organization. The first essay investigates a market structure or property regime in which a final good exists only by assembling multiple, monopoly-supplied components. In such dynamic settings, any sunk cost results in an outcome of hold-up, also known as tragedy of the anticommons. I design a model showing conditions for which two factors that reduce sunk cost, refunds and complementarities, mitigate hold-up. If the first component purchased has positive stand alone value or the first seller offers a full refund, hold-up is mitigated. My results suggest several policies that can mitigate inefficient outcomes in assembly problems, including legal requirements on full refunds, regulation on the purchasing order of components, and prohibition of price discrimination. The second essay applies Bayesian statistics to single-firm event studies used in securities litigation and antitrust investigations. Inference based on Bayesian analysis does not require an assumption of normality that potentially invalidates standard inference of classical single-firm event studies. I investigate ten events, five from actual securities litigation cases. Various Bayesian models, including replication of the frequentist approach, are examined. A flexible Bayesian model, replacing parametric likelihood functions with the empirical distribution function, also is explored. Our approach suggests an alternative, valid method for inference with easy implementation and interpretation. The third essay, motivated in the context of pharmaceutical advertising, analyzes demand rotations caused by an exogenously determined advertising parameter under Cournot oligopoly competition. We find that firms and consumers prefer extreme levels of advertising, but preferences for which extreme do not necessarily align. However, these differences can be alleviated with few or many firms in the market or cheap or expensive technologies. Therefore, advertising levels, regulated or not, might not serve consumers' best interests unless certain market attributes hold.

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Ugdymas vaiko gyvenime labai svarbus. Šio proceso tikslas – skatinti individą mokytis visą gyvenimą ir tobulėti kaip asmenybę. Ugdymo sėkmė, rezultatai gali priklausyti nuo daugelio veiksnių (pvz., nuo aplinkos įtakos, nuo vaiko pasirengino mokytis, brandos, asmeninių savybių ir t.t.). Ugdymą įtakoja įvairių veiksnių visuma, o tuo pačiu ir vaiko adaptaciją. Tyrimo objektas. Pirmokų adaptacijos mokykloje veiksniai. Tikslas – išanalizuoti veiksnius ir jų įtaką pirmokų adaptacijai mokykloje. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Atlikti teorinę adaptacijos įžvalgą moksleivių ugdymo procese; 2. Išryškinti pirmokų adaptaciją įtakojančius veiksnius; 3. Išryškinti pirmokų adaptaciją įtakojančius veiksnius. Darbo metodai: dokumentų analizė, mokslinės literatūros analizė, anketinės apklausos metodas, anketinės apklausos duomenų statistinė analizė. Teorinėje darbo dalyje aptarti adaptacijos prielaidas integruoti pirmokus į švietimo sistemą reglamentuojantys įvairūs dokumentai ir įstatymai, vaikų amžiaus ypatumai, brandumo mokyklai ir adaptacijos sampratos, adaptacijos ypatumai, veiksniai ir jų įtaka pirmokų adaptacijai mokykloje, išryškintos pagrindinės sąvokos. Tyrimas buvo atliktas 2009 m. sausio – vasario mėn. Respondentai – Utenos apskrities bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose dirbančių pradinio ugdymo programos dalykų mokytojai. Empirinio tyrimo metu paaiškėjo, kad mokyklos lankymo pradžia – reikšmingas laikotarpis pirmokams, jų tėvams (globėjams) ir patiems pedagogams. Mokytojų nuomone, būsimųjų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Education is very important in child‘s life. The aim of this process is to stimulate an individual to study all his life and to improve himself as personality. The success of education, the results can depend on number of factors (for example, influence of environment, child‘s preparation to study, maturity, personal characteristics, etc.). Education ir influenced by the whole complex of different factors and adaptation of the child too. The subject of research. Adaptation factors of the first – formers at schoo. The objective – to analyse the factors and their influence on adaptation of the first – formers at schoo. The goals of the research: 1. To carry out theoretical sagacity of pupils‘ adaptation during the process of education; 2. To reveal the factors which have influence on the adaptation of the first – formers; 3. To analyse a standpoint of primary school teachers concerning adaptation of the first – formers. The methods of the work: analysis of the documents, analysis of the scientific literature, method of questioning, statistical analysis of the questioning data. In the theoretical part of this work there are discussed different documents and laws which regulate preconditions of adapting the first – formers into the system of education, peculiarities of children age, maturity for school and conception of adaptation, peculiarities of adaptation, factors and their influence over the adaptation of the first – formers at school, the main concepts are revealed. The... [to full text]

This paper extends recent research studying biases in venture capitalist's decision-making. We contribute to this literature by analyzing biases arising due to similarity between a venture capitalist and members of a venture team. We summarize the psychological foundations of such similarity effects and derive a set of hypotheses regarding the impact of similarity on the assessement of team quality. Using data from a conjoint experiment with 51 respondents, we find that venture capitalists tend to favor teams that are similar to themselves w.r.t. the type of training and professional experience. Our results have important implications for academics and practitioners alike. (authors' abstract)

Background: While the provision of adequate nutrition support in critically ill patients has been shown to have an impact on short-term clinical outcomes, relatively little is known about subsequent long-term outcomes. We aimed to examine the association between nutritional adequacy and long-term outcomes including survival and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in critically ill patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. Methods: The study was conducted as a retrospective cohort study on data collected prospectively in the context of a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) in critically ill patients. Randomized patients who stayed in the intensive care unit (ICU) and were mechanically ventilated for >8 days were eligible for the study, but only six-month survivors were considered for the assessment of HRQoL. Nutritional adequacy was obtained from the average proportion of prescribed calories received during the first eight days of mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Survival status and HRQoL as assessed using Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) were obtained prospectively as part of the RCT protocol at three-months and six-months post ICU admission. Results: Of the 1223 patients enrolled in the randomized controlled trial, 475 met the inclusion criteria for this study. At six-month follow-up, 302 of the 475 patients were alive. Among critically ill patients with >8 days of mechanical ventilation in the ICU, survival time in those who received low nutritional adequacy was significantly shorter than for those who received high nutritional adequacy after adjusting for important covariates. Among six-month survivors, clinically meaningful and statistical significant associations between increase in scores of Physical Functioning (PF) and Role Physical domains (RP) of the SF-36 and 25% increase in nutritional adequacy were observed at three-months follow-up. No significant associations were observed at six-months. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that nutritional adequacy received as early as the first week in the ICU seems beneficial to longer survival time and faster physical recovery post ICU discharge in critically ill patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to provide stronger assessment of the causal impact of nutrition therapy on long-term outcomes. / Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-28 21:31:40.064

This thesis is based on my Make-Up Photography Project inspired by the interview of Thai sex workers about their dreams. Each woman’s dream was interpreted and translated into make up design before painted on the models, five Scripps college students, who happened to share similar passion and personality. All models were photographed individually in a regular portraiture style with their make up. The images were then edited in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, which incorporated the interview Thai Sex worker’s translated interview and the model’s response to the collaboration together in five complete 32.75 by 22 inches photographs.

The leit motif of this thesis is that binding of visual features is a process that begins with input of stimulation and ends with the emergence of an object in working memory so that it can be further manipulated for higher cognitive processes. The primary focus was on the binding process from 0 to 2500 ms, with stimuli defined by location, colour, and shape. The initial experiments explored the relative role of topdown and bottom-up factors. Task relevance was compared by asking participants to detect swaps in bindings of two features whilst the third was either unchanged, or made irrelevant by randomization from study to test, in a change detection task. The experiments also studied the differences among the three defining features across experiments where each feature was randomized, whilst the binding between the other two was tested. Results showed that though features were processed to different time scales, they were treated in the same way by Visual Working Memory processes. Relevant features were consolidated and irrelevant features were inhibited. Later experiments confirmed that consolidation was aided by iconic memory and the inhibitory process was primarily a post-perceptual active inhibition.