Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Sensitivity'
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Clemente, Sánchez Ana. "Aesthetic Sensitivity." Doctoral thesis, TDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa), 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/673506.
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[eng] Aesthetic sensitivity is a central idea in the field of empirical aesthetics. The present research contributes a historical-critical review of its origin and development through the history of the discipline, a new theoretical approach aligned with current knowledge, novel methodological tools to investigate this and other relevant psychological constructs, and empirical evidence based on this conception that advances scientific understanding of sensory valuation.[spa] La sensibilidad estética es una idea central en el campo de la estética empírica. La presente investigación aporta una revisión histórico-crítica de su origen y desarrollo a través de la historia de la disciplina, un nuevo enfoque teórico de acuerdo con los conocimientos actuales, novedosas herramientas metodológicas para investigar éste y otros constructos psicológicos relevantes, y evidencia empírica basada en esta concepción que avanza la comprensión científica de la valoración sensorial.
[cat] La sensibilitat estètica és una idea central en el camp de l'estètica empírica. La present investigació aporta una revisió històric-crítica del seu origen i desenvolupament a través de la història de la disciplina, un nou enfocament teòric alineat amb els coneixements actuals, noves eines metodològiques per investigar aquest i altres constructes psicològics rellevants, i evidència empírica basada en aquesta concepció que avança la comprensió científica de la valoració sensorial.
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Holloway, Alan James. "High-sensitivity interferometry." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1991. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/32721.
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High-sensitivity interferometric techniques are considered for non-destructive testing applications. The methods enable quantitative measurement of optical path variations, resulting from dynamic changes within the test object.
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Welch, Jan. "Low sensitivity energetic materials." Diss., kostenfrei, 2008. http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8495/.
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McKane, W. Roland. "Insulin sensitivity in hypertriglyceridaemia." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.334470.
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Webster, Judith Margaret. "Insulin sensitivity in muscle." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260957.
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Torney, Keri Rebecca. "Cytokinin Sensitivity in Arabidopsis." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.624484.
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Narayanan, Soundararajan Hari. "Torque transducer sensitivity study." Thesis, KTH, Maskinkonstruktion (Inst.), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-183048.
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A torque transducer or a torque sensor is a device for measuring and recording the torque on a rotating system. Torque transducers usually employ strain gauges to measure the torsional moment applied to a rotating shaft.It is to be noted that for an ideal torque transducer, it should measure only the strain that is caused by a torque. Strain due to bending load should be compensated as per the Wheatstone bridge arrangement. However, because of geometrical tolerances and assembly errors, the compensation doesn’t occur and the measured strain is a resultant of bending loads and axial loads which are undesired to measure the torque associated with the system. An analytical formulation has been developed using Matlab and this thesis gives the generalized indication of the strain due to all the associated loads. The user shall also entire the region where the strain needs to be computed and this knowledge can be useful for placing the strain gauges in the shaft accordingly. Initially, the formulation is based on a standard Torque Transducer used at Atlas Copco and then, a generalized result has been developed. The theoretical formulation is verified using the ProEngineer Mechanica software. The end user shall enter the different loads (if any) along with the geometrical tolerance values and the output will be an indication of the strain at point, strain at a region and sensitivity. The main intention of the thesis is to create a better understanding of the strain associated with the twisting, bending and axial loads and also the geometrical imperfections. The user can also make a decision on the location of strain gauges on a shaft for maximum accuracy. Finally, the differences in error from different possible configurations are compared and a conclusion has been made based on factorial design pertaining to design of experiments.Momentgivare är små sensorer som används för att mäta och registrera vridmomentet på en roterande axel. Momentgivare baseras vanligtvis på trådtöjningsmätare för att mäta vridmomentetet kring axeln de är fixerade på. Det skall noteras att en ideal momentgivare endast bör mäta den yttöjning som uppkommer på grund av ett vridmoment. Den belastning som uppkommer på grund av axelns böjning kompenseras bort med hjälp av en Wheatstonebrygga. Men på grund av geometriska toleranser och monteringsfel kan kompensationen bli felaktig och då påverkas det uppmätta momentet även av böj och axialbelastningar vilket är oönskat. En analytisk modell har utvecklats med hjälp av Matlab och denna rapport undersöker de olika lastfallens bidrag till momentfelet. Användaren kan ange området där yttöjningen skall beräknas och utifrån de beräkningarna bestämma var trådtöjningsgivarna bör placeras. Inledningsvis är beräkningarna baserade på en av Atlas Copcos momentgivare och sedan har generaliserade resultat utvecklats. De teoretiska beräkningarna verifieras med hjälp av programmet ProEngineer Mechanica. Användaren kan ange vilka belastningar som axeln känner samt de geometriska toleransvärdena och modellen beräknar då ytspänningen för den valda regionen. Det huvudsakliga syftet med denna avhandling är att skapa en bättre förståelse av ytspänningen som uppkommer på grund av vridning, böjning och axiella belastningar och även geometriska imperfektioner. Modellen kan också användas för att göra beräkningar som visar var töjningsgivare bör placeras på axeln för maximal precision. Slutligen har de introducerade felet från de olika möjliga konfigurationerna jämförts och en slutsats har dragits baserat på faktorförsök.
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Wan, Din Wan Ibrahim. "Sensitivity analysis intolerance allocation." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.675480.
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In Computer Aided Design model the shape is usually defined as a boundary representation, a cell complex of faces, edges, and vertices. The boundary representation is generated from a system of geometric constraints, with parameters as degrees of freedom. The dimensions of the boundary representation are determined by the parameters in the CAD system used to model the part, and every single parametric perturbation may generate different changes in the part model shape and dimensions. Thus, one can compute dimensional sensitivity to parameter perturbations. A "Sensitivity Analysis" method is proposed to automatically quantify the dependencies of the Key Characteristic dimensions on each of the feature parameters in a CAD model. Once the sensitivities of the feature parameters to Key Characteristic dimensions have been determined the appropriate perturbations of each parameter to cause a desired change in critical dimension can be determined. This methodology is then applied to real applications of tolerancing in mechanical assembly models to show the efficiencies of this new developed strategy. The approach can identify where specific tolerances need to be applied to a Key Control Characteristic dimension, the range of part tolerances that could be used to achieve the desired Key Product Characteristic dimension tolerances, and also if existing part tolerances make it impossible to achieve the desired Key Product Characteristic dimension tolerances. This thesis provides an explanation of a novel automated tolerance allocation process for an assembly model based on the parametric CAD sensitivity method. The objective of this research is to expose the relationship between parameters sensitivity of CAD design in mechanical assembly product and tolerance design. This exposes potential new avenues of research in how to develop standard process and methodology for geometrical dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) in a digital design tools environment known as Digital MockUp (DMU).
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Munster, Drayton William. "Sensitivity Enhanced Model Reduction." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23169.
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In this study, we numerically explore methods of coupling sensitivity analysis to the reduced model in order to increase the accuracy of a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) basis across a wider range of parameters. Various techniques based on polynomial interpolation and basis alteration are compared. These techniques are performed on a 1-dimensional reaction-diffusion equation and 2-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations solved using the finite element method (FEM) as the full scale model. The expanded model formed by expanding the POD basis with the orthonormalized basis sensitivity vectors achieves the best mixture of accuracy and computational efficiency among the methods compared.Master of Science
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Gillett, Helen Rachel. "Studies of gluten sensitivity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/21260.
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Coeliac disease is defined as a permanent gluten sensitive enteropathy. The classical mucosal lesion is of villous atrophy, crypt hypertrophy and lymphocyte infiltration of the epithelium. It is now generally agreed that a spectrum of mucosal damage exits ranging from total villous atrophy to normal villous architecture with increased numbers of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). Gluten sensitivity can still be demonstrated in this minimal lesion, with the IEL count falling with withdrawal of gluten and rising again on gluten challenge. In the first part of this thesis I will present work validating computerised image analysis as a method for quantifying IEL in small bowel biopsy in order to identify individuals with minimal change given gluten sensitive pathology. Antibodies to the gliadin fraction of gluten and also to an as yet unidentified tissue antigen occur in coeliac disease. These antibodies are useful in the initial diagnosis of coeliac disease as well as in monitoring response to treatment and timing of biopsy following oral gluten challenge. They are also used in the screening of individuals who have a higher incidence of coeliac disease. In the next section of my thesis I will describe the development of a newly described assay for antiendomysium antibody both for research and also for the routine NHS clinical service in Lothian. Progress in the application of strict criteria for the diagnosis of gluten sensitivity has been hampered by the fact that currently the only evidence is based on clinical and pathological effects of gluten withdrawal and challenge which may take several months or years and requires multiple invasive small bowel biopsies. For this reason rectal challenge with gluten is being considered as a possible alliterative method for demonstrating gluten sensitivity. Currently this requires computerised image analysis of multiple rectal biopsies.
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Tovena, Lucia M. "Studies on polarity sensitivity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/21574.
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After a review of previous research, we explore a broader notion of sensitivity, where polarity is one of many facets, the others being connected with the nature of a given item. The discussion falls into two main parts. First we look at a cross-linguistic selection of temporal adverbials, and we study their distributions and interpretations with respect to factors such as aspectual variations and positive and negative contexts of occurrence. We analyse how the presence of negation in different parts of the sentence can cause variations in well-formedness or the temporal structure and breakdown/create cross-linguistic equivalence's within the group. The results of this cross-linguistic study also reveals the accidental negative polarity labelling of the English item and the stipulative status of licensing requirements. It appears that cases traditionally not covered by the label 'polarity sensitive' are expressions which are semantically close enough to fall into the same class, or that an item gets fragmented into parts belonging to different classes because of its articulated functioning. Despite the similarities, the Italian data, for instance, do not fit in the licensing/non-licensing partition defined on the English data. Then, we consider the English item any. In this case too, we detect a web of interactions, this time connected with its function as a quantifier and as an indefinite, as well as with positive and negative contexts of occurrence. Variations in reading are brought about by licensers, and we explore how the effect can be computed in a compositional way. They are also connected with the type of domain any quantifies over, a phenomenon common to indefinites in general, with specificity issues and with the type of statement in which any occurs. At the end of the thesis, we point to analogies between polarity sensitivity and other negation related phenomena such as negative concord marking.
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Underwood, William L. "Cultural awareness sensitivity training." Huntington, WV : [Marshall University Libraries], 2002. http://www.marshall.edu/etd/descript.asp?ref=187.
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Ekberg, Marie. "Sensitivity analysis of optimization : Examining sensitivity of bottleneck optimization to input data models." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för ingenjörsvetenskap, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-12624.
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The aim of this thesis is to examine optimization sensitivity in SCORE to the accuracy of particular input data models used in a simulation model of a production line. The purpose is to evaluate if it is sufficient to model input data using sample mean and default distributions instead of fitted distributions. An existing production line has been modeled for the simulation study. SCORE is based on maximizing any key performance measure of the production line while simultaneously minimizing the number of improvements necessary to achieve maximum performance. The sensitivity to the input models should become apparent the more changes required. The experiments concluded that the optimization struggles to obtain convergence when fitted distribution models were used. Configuring the input parameters to the optimization might yield better optimization result. The final conclusion is that the optimization is sensitive to what input data models are used in the simulation model.
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Nellkrans, Gabriel, and Seyfi Dogan. "Pay-performance sensitivity during financial distress : Did the financial crisis change payperformance sensitivity?" Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-255729.
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This study examines the existence of pay-performance sensitivity in total compensation and bonus during the financial crisis, using data between 2007-2010 from Swedish 196 listed firms. We perform panel data regression analysis of CEO compensation on financial performance measured as stock returns. Our results indicate that there is, although not significant, a weak positive relationship between CEO compensation and firm performance during 2007-2010. However during 2009-2010 in a market state defined as post-crisis we find weak negative pay-performance sensitivity at a significance level of 10 %. Nevertheless, as regards to the bonus paid to executives there was a significantly positive relationship relative bonus % and firm performance. These results contribute to our understanding of the pay-performance sensitivity in times of financial disturbance, highly relevant to the existing debate considering CEO compensation.
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Picazo, Jaque Claudia. "An approach to occasion-sensitivity." Doctoral thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/662889.
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The aim of this dissertation is to explore the hypothesis that language is occasion- sensitive. To hold that language is occasion-sensitive is to hold that the truth-conditions of most of our utterances depend on the occasion of use in a way that is not determined by meaning. In chapter 1, I reconstruct what I take to be Travis’ main arguments. Travis casts doubt on the existence of representations that are free of occasion-sensitivity by presenting a number of examples involving shifts in truth-value. In chapter 2, I set out to defend the claim that language is occasion-sensitive against minimalist and indexicalists replies to Travis’ arguments. In order to do so, I distinguish the Principle of Compositionality from what I call Semantic Propositionalism. Advocates of occasion-sensitivity reject only the latter. I argue that neither minimalist nor indexicalist accounts succeed in their defence of Semantic Propositionalism vis-à-vis Travis cases. Minimalists find themselves in an unstable position. In order to secure minimal propositions, they need to dismiss common reactions to Travis cases. But this casts doubt on the possibility of finding out what the literal satisfaction conditions of the expressions used in Travis cases are. Indexicalism tries to secure Semantic Propositionalism by claiming that some predicates are context-dependent. If they are to be a defence of Semantic Propositionalism, indexicalist theories must fulfill two conditions. First, they must provide a set of necessary and sufficient variables. Second, they must not have recourse to pragmatic interpretation. I argue that current proposals do not succeed in fulfilling both conditions. Chapter 3 addresses the question whether mental representations are occasion-sensitive. I focus on Fodor’s arguments and on Carston’s theory of ad hoc concepts. The productivity argument has it that the best explanation to the productivity of thought is compositionality, and mental representations being compositional prevents them from being underdetermined. The argument from equivocation is based on the idea that only a non-equivocal mental representation can resolve a linguistic equivocation. I argue that neither argument work. The productivity argument only establishes Meaning Compositionality, something compatible with (truth-conditional) Underdeterminacy. As to equivocation, the context of use can solve the equivocation in absence of a non-equivocal mental representation. I also argue that if Carston’s ad hoc concepts are created on line, then she cannot avail herself of the productivity argument. An additional aim of chapter 3 is to distinguish Type-Underdeterminacy from Token-Underdeterminacy. I argue that there are reasons to think that even tokens suffer from some Underdeterminacy in the sense that they only determine a partial function from states of a fairs to truth-values. Instead of relying on occasion-insensitive mental representation or having recourse to occasion-insensitive structured propositions, occasion-sensitivity calls for a non-standard notion of utterance content. The aim of chapter 4 is to provide such a notion. I hold that Austinian propositions, conceived as including a lekton and an activity, can do the work. To different activities correspond different criteria of applicability for words. Thus, adopting a situationalist framework, we can think of the truth-conditional content of an utterance as including not only the conventional meaning of the sentence uttered but also the activity against which it is evaluated. This notion of content is compatible with Token- Underdeterminacy. After having put forward this notion of utterance content, I discuss a potential problem for the approach. If activities are very finely individuated, as the possibility of creating complex Travis cases recommends, then sharing content across contexts will be diffcult to achieve. I argue that this problem can be solved by having Austinian propositions with different granularities, thus adopting a form of multi- propositionalism. In chapter 5 I address the question whether phenomenon that Travis has detected is compatible with standard semantic theories (in the sense of theories of truth-conditions). Semantic theories have been seen as an explanation of our ability to interpret speech. Advocates of occasion-sensitivity and similar pragmatic views are under pressure to show that their rejection of certain theories is compatible with a plausible account of our ability to grasp truth-conditions. I argue that occasion-sensitivity, and in particular the notion of truth-conditional content introduced in chapter 4, is compatible with there being systematic connections between activities and truth-conditions, which can be used to account for our ability to interpret speech.
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Tsirgielis, Constantina. "Rejection sensitivity in early adolescence." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/54187.
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Repeated rejection experiences may encourage a hypersensitivity to rejection stimuli and cues, defined as rejection sensitivity (RS): a dispositional pattern of responding in relationships with defensive expectations of rejection (Downey et al., 1998). Rejection sensitive youth perceive signs of rejection in situations others would consider neutral or ambiguous. Hypersensitivity to social rejection increases anxiety in social interactions where rejection is possible and leads to withdrawal, feelings of loneliness, social anxiety (SA), and depression. RS therefore can be considered a mechanism to explain the development of internalizing disorders such as SA. SA youth are also hypersensitive to cues of rejection, and tend to withdraw from their peer groups to avoid possible rejection, which leads to loneliness, depression, interpersonal problems, and increased SA (Sameroff & MacKenzie, 2003). Previous research reviewed the impact of RS on youth’s social and emotional wellbeing and have identified SA as a potential outcome of RS (Bowker et al., 2011, Marston et al., 2010, McDonald et al., 2010). There is limited research investigating the bidirectional relationship between RS-Anxiety and SA. Self-report data from grade 6 and 7 students (n=128) at a large, urban school district were collected. The goal of this research study was to 1) identify the relationship between RS-anxiety and SA, 2) determine if there are gender differences on the RS-Anxiety, and SA measures 3) investigate whether emotional symptoms influenced the relationship between RS-Anxiety and SA and 3) determine whether RS-Anxiety and SA predict peer problems in youth. Analyses performed include a bivariate correlational analysis, two-tailed independent samples t-test, a mediation analysis, and a hierarchical multiple regression. Results from the analyses revealed that there is a positive correlation between RS-Anxiety and SA, and emotional symptoms significantly mediated that relationship. SA also significantly predicted peer problems in RS-Anxious youth. However, no gender difference was found on the SA or RS-Anxiety measures.Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
Graduate
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Poveda, David. "Sensitivity analysis of capital projects." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/27990.
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This thesis presents a very generalized model useful in the economic evaluation of capital projects. Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return are used as the performance measures. A theoretical framework to perform sensitivity analysis including bivariate analysis and sensitivity to functional forms is presented.
During the development of the model, emphasis is given to the financial mechanisms available to fund large capital projects. Also, mathematical functions that can be used to represent cash flow profiles generated in each project phase are introduced. These profiles are applicable to a number of project types including oil and gas, mining, real estate and chemical process projects.
Finally, a computer program has been developed which treats most of the theoretical concepts explored in this thesis, and an example of its application is presented. This program constitutes a useful teaching tool.Applied Science, Faculty of
Civil Engineering, Department of
Graduate
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Slevin, Karen Aoife. "Dietary fat and insulin sensitivity." Thesis, University of Surrey, 2000. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/843068/.
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Insulin resistance is associated with a number of metabolic abnormalities that increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Dietary fat has been linked with insulin resistance, with alterations in the quality as opposed to the quantity of dietary fat now thought be more important in instigating improvements in insulin resistance. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of alterations in the dietary fat intakes of middle-aged men (n = 32) on the insulin sensitivity of glucose disposal and postprandial lipid metabolism and to explore the mechanistic links between these insulin responsive pathways. Three separate dietary interventions were conducted; the first involved an increase in the intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fat, the second a decrease in saturated fat and an increase in carbohydrate and the third a decrease in saturated fat and an increase in monounsaturated fat intake. Compliance was monitored by the measurement of red blood cell phospholipid fatty acid composition, postprandial lipid metabolism was measured over 9 hours following a high-fat breakfast (80 g fat), and insulin resistance was measured using the short insulin tolerance test. The results of the study showed that while insulin sensitivity was inversely correlated with red blood cell saturated fatty acid concentration at baseline, the insulin sensitivity of glucose disposal was unaffected by any of the dietary interventions conducted. In measurements of postprandial lipaemia, improvements were observed following the low-saturated fat / high-monounsaturated fat diet and the n-3 polyunsaturated enriched diet, however the low-saturated fat/ high-carbohydrate diet was associated with a worsening of postprandial lipaemia through an increase in the concentrations of triglyceride-rich-lipoproteins. Changes in fasting biochemical measurements were most evident in the low-saturated / high-monounsaturated diet, with an 11 % reduction in total cholesterol and a 15.4 % reduction in fasting triglycerides. There were no observed changes in the activity levels or the gene expression of lipoprotein lipase. There was an unexpected positive association between the degree of insulin sensitivity and the extent of postprandial lipaemia, indicating that the link between these pathways is complex and warrants further investigation. Overall this work supports the view that dietary guidelines should be directed towards a change in the composition of fat, to a lower saturated fat intake, a higher monounsaturated fat intake and a lower n-6 : n-3 ratio through an increase in the intake of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
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Faria, Jairo Rocha de. "Second order topological sensitivity analysis." Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, 2008. http://www.lncc.br/tdmc/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=141.
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The topological derivative provides the sensitivity of a given shape functional with respect to an infinitesimal non-smooth domain pertubation (insertion of hole or inclusion, for instance). Classically, this derivative comes from the second term of the topological asymptotic expansion, dealing only with inifinitesimal pertubations. However, for pratical applications, we need to insert pertubations of finite sizes.Therefore, we consider other terms in the expansion, leading to the concept of higher-order topological derivatives. In a particular, we observe that the topological-shape sensitivity method can be naturally extended to calculate these new terms, resulting in a systematic methodology to obtain higher-order topological derivatives. In order to present these ideas, initially we apply this technique in some problems with exact solution, where the topological asymptotic expansion is obtained until third order. Later, we calculate first as well as second order topological derivative for the total potential energy associated to the Laplace equation in two-dimensional domain pertubed with the insertion of a hole, considering homogeneous Neumann or Dirichlet boundary conditions, or an inclusion with thermal conductivity coefficient value different from the bulk material. With these results, we present some numerical experiments showing the influence of the second order topological derivative in the topological asymptotic expansion, which has two main features:it allows us to deal with pertubations of finite sizes and provides a better descent direction in optimization and reconstruction algorithms.A derivada topológica fornece a sensibilidade de uma dada função custo quando uma pertubação não suave e infinitesimal (furo ou inclusão, por exemplo) é introduzida. Classicamente, esta derivada vem do segundo termo da expansão assintótica topológica considerando-se apenas pertubações infinitesimais. No entanto, em aplicações práticas, é necessário considerar pertubação de tamanho finito. Motivado por este fato, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo fundamental introduzir o conceito de derivadas topológicas de ordem superiores, o que permite considerar mais termos na expansão assintótica topológica. Em particular, observa-se que o topological-shape sensitivity method pode ser naturalmente estendido para o cálculo destes novos termos, resultando em uma metodologia sistemática de análise de sensibilidade topológica de ordem superior. Para se apresentar essas idéias, inicialmente essa técnica é verificada através de alguns problemas que admitem solução exata, onde se calcula explicitamente a expansão assintótica topológica até terceira ordem. Posteriormente, considera-se a equação de Laplace bidimensional, cujo domínio é topologicamente pertubado pela introdução de um furo com condição de contorno de Neumann ou de Dirichlet homogêneas, ou ainda de uma inclusão com propriedade física distinta do meio. Nesse caso, são calculadas explicitamente as derivadas topológicas de primeira e segunda ordens. Com os resultados obtidos em todos os casos, estuda-se a influência dos termos de ordem superiores na expansão assintótica topológica, através de experimentos numéricos. Em particular, observa-se que esses novos termos, além de permitir considerar pertubações de tamanho finito, desempenham ainda um importante papel tanto como fator de correção da expansão assintótica topológica, quanto como direção de descida em processos de otimização. Finalmente, cabe mencionar que a metodologia desenvolvida neste trabalho apresenta um grande potencial para aplicação na otimização e em algoritimos de reconstrução.
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Muteba, Itone. "Research on nickel alloy sensitivity." Title page, Contents and Abstract only, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09DM/09dmm992.pdf.
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"April 1999." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-51). Aims to collect information about the numbers of dental workers who are sensitive or allergic to nickel and to help identify signs which might predict those people who are most likely to be sensitive to nickel. Uses a standard patch test to identify sensitive subjects.
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Ghim, Mimi M. "Spatial contrast sensitivity of birds." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/65.
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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2003.Thesis research directed by: Psychology. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Witzgall, Zachary F. "Parametric sensitivity analysis of microscrews." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2006. https://eidr.wvu.edu/etd/documentdata.eTD?documentid=4892.
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Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2006.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 73 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 52-53).
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Pengiran, Tengah Dayangku Siti Nur Ashikin. "The neurology of gluten sensitivity." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2013. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13347/.
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Classical coeliac disease (CD) is a well-defined syndrome of small bowel villous atrophy associated with abdominal pain, malabsorption, and weight loss as a result of gluten-sensitivity, reversed rapidly by gluten exclusion diet. Disease associations include dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), Addison’s disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, autoimmune thyroid disease and a variety of neurological disorders. This thesis aims to investigate the hypothesis of the existence of a gluten sensitive neurological disease CD with coexistent neurological dysfunction is only rarely reported in a neurological setting. 23 cases were reported from the British Neurological Surveillance Unit (BNSU) over 24 months and 13 locally over 31 months. 18 sets of notes (50%) were reviewed. These patients comprise a heterogeneous group of neurological disorders including epilepsy, myelopathy, axonal neuropathy and migraine. Neurological disorders in patients with confirmed gluten sensitivity may occur simply by chance. In a cohort of 801 CD patients, 54 neurological disorders were identified in 177 patients including stroke (2.9%), migraine (2.7%), epilepsy (2.6%) and carpal tunnel syndrome (2.0%). More detailed investigation of 35 patients with DH and 53 patients with CD, confirmed a low prevalence of idiopathic neurological abnormalities (DH 11%; CD 25%). Analysis of sera from these patients did not identify the presence of anti-neuronal antibodies. A novel anti-spinal antibody was identified in over 50% of the subjects with DH but this requires further characterisation. It has been postulated that patients with idiopathic neurological disease and anti-gliadin antibody (AGA) seropositivity are gluten sensitive. However, AGA lacks disease specificity being found in 10% of healthy blood donors. Screening of 49 unselected multiple sclerosis cases found IgG AGA in 12% of patients and 13% of blood donors confirming that AGA (especially IgG isotype) can be a non-specific finding. AGA, other food antibodies and tissue transglutaminase antibody (TTG) were measured in patients with idiopathic ataxia (20), hereditary ataxia (7) and idiopathic peripheral neuropathy (32). None of the cases was positive for IgA TTG making occult CD unlikely. Cerebellar ataxia with positive AGA (so-called ‘gluten ataxia’) was rare (4 cases in 2 years from a population of 2 million). All food antibodies tested (AGA, hen’s egg albumen, and cow’s milk lactoglobulin), particularly IgG, were a common finding in both ataxia and peripheral neuropathy groups. This study found no evidence for gluten neurotoxicity. Serological tests, particularly AGA, need to be interpreted with caution. Further study is required regarding the nature of the association between neurological illness and gluten sensitivity.
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鄧國良 and Kwok-leong Tang. "Sensitivity analysis of bootstrap methods." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1993. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31977479.
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Gudziol, Hilmar, Michael Schubert, and Thomas Hummel. "Decreased Trigeminal Sensitivity in Anosmia." Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2014. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-134604.
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The present study aimed to investigate intranasal trigeminal sensitivity in a large sample of patients with anosmia due to different etiologies. We investigated the trigeminal detection threshold for formic acid in healthy controls (n = 96) and patients with anosmia due to head trauma (n = 18) or sinonasal disease (n = 54). Anosmics exhibited higher thresholds compared with normosmics (p < 0.001). In addition, thresholds were found to be higher in patients with posttraumatic anosmia compared to anosmics with sinonasal disease (p < 0.001). The data indicate that (1) loss of olfactory sensitivity in humans may be associated with a decreased sensitivity towards trigeminal stimuli and (2) alteration of intranasal trigeminal function is stronger in patients with posttraumatic anosmia compared to patients with sinonasal disease. This may have implications for the medicolegal investigation of anosmic patients where trigeminal stimuli are frequently used to assess the patient’s response biasDieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich
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Fitzke, Frederick William. "Spatial properties of scotopic sensitivity." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.338167.
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Standfuss, S. "Sensitivity study of HLFC nacelles." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.427135.
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Fang, Xinding S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Sensitivity analysis of fracture scattering." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59789.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-42).
We use a 2-D finite difference method to numerically calculate the seismic response of a single finite fracture in a homogeneous media. In our experiments, we use a point explosive source and ignore the free surface effect, so the fracture scattering wave field contains two parts: P-to-P scattering and P-to-S scattering. We vary the fracture compliance within a range considered appropriate for field observations, 10-12 m/Pa to 10-9 m/Pa, and investigate the variation of the scattering pattern of a single fracture as a function of normal and tangential fracture compliance. We show that P-to-P and P-to-S fracture scattering patterns are sensitive to the ratio of normal to tangential fracture compliance and different incident angle, while radiation pattern amplitudes scale as the square of the compliance. We find that, for a vertical fracture system, if the source is located at the surface, most of the energy scattered by a fracture propagates downwards, specifically, the P-to-P scattering energy propagates down and forward while the P-to-S scattering energy propagates down and backward. Therefore, most of the fracture scattered waves observed on the surface are, first scattered by fractures, and then reflected back to the surface by reflectors below the fracture zone, so the fracture scattered waves have complex ray paths and are contaminated by the reflectivity of matrix reflectors.
by Xinding Fang.
S.M.
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O'Donnell, Ryan William 1979. "Computational applications of noise sensitivity." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29354.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-171).
This thesis is concerned with the study of the noise sensitivity of boolean functions and its applications in theoretical computer science. Noise sensitivity is defined as follows: Let f be a boolean function and let ... be a parameter. Suppose a uniformly random string x is picked, and y is formed by flipping each bit of x independently with probability e. Then the noise sensitivity of f at e is defined to be the probability that f(x) and f(y) differ. In this thesis we investigate the noise sensitivity of various classes of boolean functions, including majorities and recursive majorities, boolean threshold functions, and monotone functions. Following this we give new complexity-theoretic and algorithmic applications of noise sensitivity: * Regarding computational hardness amplification, we prove a general direct product theorem that tightly characterizes the hardness of a composite function g 9 f in terms of an assumed hardness of f and the noise sensitivity of g. The theorem lets us prove a new result about the hardness on average of NP: If NP is (1 - poly(n))-hard for circuits of polynomial size, then it is in fact (1/2 + o(1))-hard for circuits of polynomial size. * In the field of computational learning theory, we show that any class whose functions have low noise sensitivity is efficiently learnable. Using our noise sensitivity estimates for functions of boolean halfspaces we obtain new polynomial and quasipolynomial time algorithms for learning intersections, thresholds, and other functions of halfspaces.
(cont.) From noise sensitivity considerations we also give a polynomial time algorithm for learning polynomial-sized DNFs under the "Random Walk" model; we also give the first algorithm that learns the class of "junta" functions with efficiency better than that of the brute force algorithm. * Finally, we introduce a new collective coin-flipping problem whose study is equivalent to the study of "higher moments" of the noise sensitivity problem. We prove several results about this extension, and find optimal or near-optimal choices for the coin-flipping function for all asymptotic limits of the parameters. Our techniques include a novel application of the reverse Bonami-Beckner inequality.
by Ryan William O'Donnell.
Ph.D.
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Yeates, Laura Catherine. "Biochemical studies of cytokinin sensitivity." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.627620.
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Gudziol, Hilmar, Michael Schubert, and Thomas Hummel. "Decreased Trigeminal Sensitivity in Anosmia." Karger, 2001. https://tud.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A27580.
Full textAbstract:
The present study aimed to investigate intranasal trigeminal sensitivity in a large sample of patients with anosmia due to different etiologies. We investigated the trigeminal detection threshold for formic acid in healthy controls (n = 96) and patients with anosmia due to head trauma (n = 18) or sinonasal disease (n = 54). Anosmics exhibited higher thresholds compared with normosmics (p < 0.001). In addition, thresholds were found to be higher in patients with posttraumatic anosmia compared to anosmics with sinonasal disease (p < 0.001). The data indicate that (1) loss of olfactory sensitivity in humans may be associated with a decreased sensitivity towards trigeminal stimuli and (2) alteration of intranasal trigeminal function is stronger in patients with posttraumatic anosmia compared to patients with sinonasal disease. This may have implications for the medicolegal investigation of anosmic patients where trigeminal stimuli are frequently used to assess the patient’s response bias.Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.
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Masinde, Brian. "Birds' Flight Range. : Sensitivity Analysis." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-166248.
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’Flight’ is a program that uses flight mechanics to estimate the flight range of birds. This program, used by ornithologists, is only available for Windows OS. It requires manual imputation of body measurements and constants (one observation at a time) and this is time-consuming. Therefore, the first task is to implement the methods in R, a programming language that runs on various platforms. The resulting package named flying, has three advantages; first, it can estimate flight range of multiple bird observations, second, it makes it easier to experiment with different settings (e.g. constants) in comparison to Flight and third, it is open-source making contribution relatively easy. Uncertainty and global sen- sitivity analyses are carried out on body measurements separately and with various con- stants. In doing so, the most influential body variables and constants are discovered. This task would have been near impossible to undertake using ’Flight’. A comparison is made amongst the results from a crude partitioning method, generalized additive model, gradi- ent boosting machines and quasi-Monte Carlo method. All of these are based on Sobol’s method for variance decomposition. The results show that fat mass drives the simulations with other inputs playing a secondary role (for example mechanical conversion efficiency and body drag coefficient).
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Foster, James Jonathan. "Functions of animal polarization sensitivity." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2016. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.685152.
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Jangani, Maryam. "Novel modulators of glucocorticoid sensitivity." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2012. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/novel-modulators-of-glucocorticoid-sensitivity(6c463259-031b-4514-ac93-98585cc939b0).html.
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Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert diverse effects on multiple cell types and tissues. The variability in GC sensitivity can give rise to disease states hence the importance of GC sensitivity modulators. GCs act through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a ligand-activated nuclear hormone receptor (NR), which interacts with the DNA to regulate gene transcription depending on the chromatin structure. GR itself modulates chromatin through epigenetic modification of histone residues. In the present study, novel modulators of GC sensitivity, altering GR-mediated gene expression through dynamic or epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, are identified and explored. Metastasis-related methyltransferase1 (Merm1/WBSCR22), is a histone methyltransferase, previously shown to methylate histone H3 Lysine 9 (H3K9), a repressive methyl mark, to inhibit target gene transcription. Our GR reporter transient transfections assays showed that Merm1 potentiated GR transactivation through its methyltransferase and SAM domains. Merm1 knockdown significantly impaired both GR transactivation, and transrepression of endogenous genes, including GILZ. The ChIP assay analysis confirmed that both GR and Merm1 bound the GILZ promoter and Merm1 regulated ligand-induced GR recruitment. Merm1 regulated tri-methylation of H3K4 (H3K4me3) and di-methylation of H3K79 (H3K79me2). At the GILZ locus, GR induced H3K4me3 and inhibited H3K79me2. Merm1 regulated both of these and also maintained basal H3K79me2. The GR-induced H3K4me3 followed by loss of H3K79me2 showed that these events were driven by H3K4 methylation. In conclusion, Merm1 regulates chromatin structure to affect GR recruitment, and mediates GR actions of transcription by histone methylation. In the second part of the thesis, the biological consequence of temporal dynamics of GC delivery to target cell gene expression and apoptosis has been investigated. For this purpose a flow-through culture system was designed and modified for pulsatile and continuous delivery of GC to HeLa cells and primary T cells. Pulsatile cortisol caused a significant reduction in cell survival compared to continuous exposure of the same cumulative dose in HeLa population. This was due to increased apoptosis. Transcription factor (TF) binding site analysis of the microarray data identified CCAAT-displacement protein (CDP) as a common TF binding site in the differentially regulated target genes. Mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV) gene is regulated by CDP and is also GC responsive. MMTV-Luc was also differentially regulated between pulsatile and continuous cortisol. In primary T cells, GILZ and FKBP5 genes were more highly induced with continuous than with the same equivalent concentration given in pulses. In conclusion, cortisol oscillations exert important effects on target cell gene expression, and phenotype. In summary, GC sensitivity is modulated via different mechanisms. Our data illustrate a novel regulatory mechanism whereby GR activity is altered through histone modifications and chromatin remodelling. In addition, GC oscillations provide frequency modulation to GR-mediate gene expression with a resulting differential pattern of gene transcription and cellular response.
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Yang, Nan. "Mechanisms of altered glucocorticoid sensitivity." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/mechanisms-of-altered-glucocorticoid-sensitivity(586d4a0c-8f30-43f8-8a07-b6ebddf99eb5).html.
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Glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most potent, and widely used anti-inflammatory agents known. Despite their wide therapeutic use over many years much remains unclear about how GCs mediate their broad spectrum of cellular effects. The reasons why some patients fail to respond to GCs are also poorly understood. GCs mediate their cellular effects through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) which is a ligand activated transcription factor. After binding GC, GR translocates to the nucleus to modulate transcription either by direct DNA binding (transactivation), or by tethering to other DNA bound transcription factors such as AP1 and NF-kB (transrepression). My findings show that raised cellular cholesterol selectively attenuates GC sensitivity. GR transactivation of MT1X and FKBP5 were impaired, but not GR transrepression of IL-6 or IL-8. The impaired MT1X induction was rapidly reversed by washout into regular medium for 4 hours. The underlying mechanism was not a direct effect on GR expression or localisation, but was due to increased AP1 activity as a consequence of JNK pathway activation. Hypoxic culture also selectively reduced cellular GC sensitivity. My results implicated this was not due to altered activity or localisation of GR, but was through altered DNA binding. To explore genome wide changes in GR binding, I developed ChIP-sequencing protocols and identified 595 highly-specific GR binding sites. Motif analysis demonstrated a template specific switch with cooperative binding with GR and KLF4 in normoxia and GR and FOXC1 in hypoxia.Results present in this thesis identify two novel mechanisms operating within the local tissue microenvironment to modify GC sensitivity, which may be operational in inflammatory disease.
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Tang, Kwok-leong. "Sensitivity analysis of bootstrap methods." [Hong Kong] : University of Hong Kong, 1993. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B13793792.
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Simionescu, Mona Iona. "Assertion : the context sensitivity dilemma." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15543.
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It looks as though many philosophers assume that the intuitive variability of proper assertion with practical stakes motivates the following dilemma: either (1) we embrace a knowledge norm of assertion (KNA), and are forced into a view that takes knowledge, or ‘knowledge' to be sensitive to practical stakes, or (2) we stick to our classical invariantist (CI) guns, but then KNA goes out the window and we get practical sensitivity in the normativity of assertion. Let us dub this The Sensitivity Dilemma. This dissertation aims to bring this implicitly assumed dilemma to centre stage in order to then take a step back. It is argued here that the Sensitivity Dilemma is a false dilemma: a biconditional knowledge norm of assertion, I argue, is perfectly compatible with Classical Invariantism. And, more ambitiously, the dissertation aims to offer independent reason to believe that, if Classical Invariantism and KNA are true, shiftiness in assertability is exactly what we should expect. To this effect, I put forth a functionalist rationale for KNA, in a classical invariantist framework. I argue that not only are the data at hand friendly to CI and KNA, but, if we look at the main epistemic function of assertion, KNA readily follows. I begin by arguing that the Sensitivity Dilemma rests on deontic equivocation. To this effect, Chapter #1 draws an important distinction between epistemic norms and mere norms with epistemic content. In the light of this distinction, I argue that a knowledge norm for assertion need not imply context sensitivity of either knowledge/knowledge attribution or proper assertion. Now, say that it turns out that the knowledge norm of assertion, in its biconditional form, is perfectly compatible with the shiftiness data. Does that also mean that KNA is correct? The answer, of course, is ‘no'. After all, empirical adequacy is shared by several of the competing views on the market. We need further reasons to believe KNA is the correct account. Chapter #2 looks at several extant attempts to provide a rationale for KNA, and finds them wanting. In Chapter #3, I offer an alternative answer to the rationale question: assertion, I argue, is governed by a particular epistemic norm in virtue of serving a particular epistemic function. More precisely, according to the proposed account, a biconditional knowledge norm of assertion drops right out of the assertion's epistemic function of generating testimonial knowledge. Chapters #4 and #5 defend, in turn, the necessity and sufficiency directions of KNA against the classical objections in the literature. I argue that: (1) The necessity claim involved in KNA scores better than weaker norms when it comes to both accommodating linguistic data and explaining how a speaker can be blameless, yet in breach of the norm, and (2) The sufficiency direction of KNA survives the intuitive need for more than knowledge in cases put forth by Jessica Brown and Jennifer Lackey, since the latter is not sourced the epistemic norm governing assertion, but in further norms with epistemic content stepping n and raising the bar. Last but not least, in Chapter #6 I argue that several theoretical virtues, such as simplicity and prior plausibility, favour my functionalist account over extant competing explanations of the shiftiness data.
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Higgins, Katherine L. "Anxiety Sensitivity and Relationship Patterns." W&M ScholarWorks, 2003. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539626421.
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Ferré, Hernandez Isabelle. "Sensory Processing Sensitivity : En valideringsstudie." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Psykologiska institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-169862.
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Sensory processing sensitivity is believed to be a personality trait in up to 20% of individuals, including other species than humans. The trait is associated with higher levels of unpleasant arousal, a higher sensitivity to sensory input, empathy and a deeper level of informational processing in the brain. Sensory processing sensitivity is measured using the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), which has been evaluated in several languages. Aron & Aron (1997) who first created the scale found that it was unidimensional, however further research suggests that it consists rather of two or three dimensions. In this study (N= 1024) a Swedish version of the HSPS is evaluated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and results support earlier findings of the scale being multidimensional. Regressions between the dimensions of SPS and outcome variables Managerial Support, Creativity and Percieved Stress show that one of SPS dimensions is a strong predictor for percieved stress, and another dimension is a strong predictor for creativity.
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PUGNALONI, SOFIA. "Taste sensitivity in cancer patient." Doctoral thesis, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11566/274088.
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Le modificazioni della sensibilità gustativa dovute alla chemioterapia possono contribuire all'elevata prevalenza della malnutrizione nei pazienti oncologici. La diagnosi di disgeusia è importante per la prognosi dei pazienti.
L'obiettivo di questa tesi è quello di contribuire a prevenire e/o ridurre le alterazioni del gusto e la malnutrizione aprendo prospettive future che considerano la valutazione precoce delle alterazioni del gusto per una migliore gestione dell’alimentazione del paziente. Nello studio I, 35 pazienti oncologici sottoposti a chemioterapia sono stati confrontati con controlli sani (N=32). Il test della sensibilità gustativa è stato utilizzato per determinare l’alterazione del gusto. Sono state valutate concentrazioni diverse per ciascuno dei 4 gusti base (salato, dolce, acido, amaro) e sono stati valutati anche il gusto del grasso e dell’acqua. Nello studio II, abbiamo confrontato i pazienti affetti da cancro al seno (N=17) e i pazienti affetti da cancro gastrointestinale (N=15) al basale (T0) e dopo il trattamento. Anche il gusto umami è stato valutato. Sono stati analizzati l’intake calorico e la composizione corporea.
È stata riscontrata una differenza significativa nella sensibilità al gusto tra i pazienti rispetto al gruppo di controllo. Nello studio II il gusto che tutti i pazienti erano in grado di discriminare al basale era amaro, mentre quello che era più difficile da identificare correttamente era l'umami. Dopo il trattamento, i gusti che hanno subito i cambiamenti più rilevanti erano l’amaro e l’acido (che sono aumentati nella maggior parte dei pazienti), il gusto dolce (che è diminuito nella maggior parte dei pazienti) e l'umami (che è stato quello che è diminuito di più nella maggior parte dei pazienti). In particolare, vi era una correlazione statisticamente significativa tra la perdita di percezione dell’umami e una maggiore sensibilità all'acido.
Poiché le alterazioni nella sensibilità gustativa influenzano le preferenze alimentari e l'appetito, una valutazione potrebbe essere utile per modificare la composizione della dieta in modo da garantire l'apporto nutrizionale necessario. Sono necessari ulteriori studi per chiarire il carattere, la frequenza e la durata delle modifiche del gusto e le loro implicazioni per la salute.Taste changes due to chemotherapy may contribute to the high prevalence of malnutrition in cancer patients. The diagnosis of dysgeusia is important in the prognosis of patients. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to preventing and/or reducing taste alterations and malnutrition by opening future perspectives that consider early evaluation of alterations in taste for better management of future food behavior alterations of the patient. In the Study I, 35 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy were compared to healthy controls (n = 32). Taste function test was used to determine taste sensitivity. Different concentrations for each of the 4 basic tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter) and also fat and water tastes were evaluated. In the Study II, we compared Breast Cancer patients (N=17) and Gastrointestinal Cancer patients (N=15) at baseline (T0) and after treatment. Also umami taste was evaluated. Dietary intake and body composition were analyzed. A significant difference in taste sensitivity among patients compared to the control group was found. In the Study II the taste that all patients were able to discriminate at baseline was bitter whereas the one that was more difficult to identify properly was umami. After treatment, the tastes that experienced the most relevant changes were bitter and sour tastes (that increased in most patients), sweet taste (that decreased in most patients) and umami (which was the one that decreased the most in the majority of patients). In particular we found that there was a statistically significant correlation between loss of umami perception and increased sensitivity to sour. Since alterations in taste sensitivity influence food preferences and appetite, an evaluation of taste sensitivity could be useful to modify diet composition in such a way as to guarantee the necessary nutritional intake. More research is needed to clarify the character, frequency, and duration of taste modifications and their healthy implications.
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McDonald, Graham. "A framework for technology-assisted sensitivity review : using sensitivity classification to prioritise documents for review." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2019. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/41076/.
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More than a hundred countries implement freedom of information laws. In the UK, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) states that the government's documents must be made freely available, or opened, to the public. Moreover, all central UK government departments' documents that have a historic value, for example the minutes from significant meetings, must be transferred to the The National Archives (TNA) within twenty years of the document's creation. However, government documents can contain sensitive information, such as personal information or information that would likely damage the international relations of the UK if it was opened to the public. Therefore, all government documents that are to be publicly archived must be sensitivity reviewed to identify and redact the sensitive information, or close the document until the information is no longer sensitive. Historically, government documents have been stored in a structured file-plan that can reliably inform a sensitivity reviewer about the subject-matter and the likely sensitivities in the documents. However, the lack of structure in digital document collections and the volume of digital documents that are to be sensitivity reviewed mean that the traditional manual sensitivity review process is not practical for digital sensitivity review. In this thesis, we argue that the automatic classification of documents that contain sensitive information, sensitivity classification, can be deployed to assist government departments and human reviewers to sensitivity review born-digital government documents. However, classifying sensitive information is a complex task, since sensitivity is context-dependent. For example, identifying if information is sensitive or not can require a human to judge on the likely effect of releasing the information into the public domain. Moreover, sensitivity is not necessarily topic-oriented, i.e., it is usually dependent on a combination of what is being said and about whom. Furthermore, the vocabulary and entities that are associated to particular types of sensitive information, e.g., confidential information, can vary greatly between different collections. We propose to address sensitivity classification as a text classification task. Moreover, through a thorough empirical evaluation, we show that text classification is effective for sensitivity classification and can be improved by identifying the vocabulary, syntactic and semantic document features that are reliable indicators of sensitive or non-sensitive text. Furthermore, we propose to reduce the number of documents that have to be reviewed to learn an effective sensitivity classifier through an active learning strategy in which a sensitivity reviewer redacts any sensitive text in a document as they review it, to construct a representation of the sensitivities in a collection. With this in mind, we propose a novel framework for technology-assisted sensitivity review that can prioritise the most appropriate documents to be reviewed at specific stages of the review process. Furthermore, our framework can provide the reviewers with useful information to assist them in making their reviewing decisions. Our framework consists of four components, namely the Document Representation, Document Prioritisation, Feedback Integration and Learned Predictions components, that can be instantiated to learn from the reviewers' feedback about the sensitivities in a collection or provide assistance to reviewers at different stages of the review. In particular, firstly, the Document Representation component encodes the document features that can be reliable indicators of the sensitivities in a collection. Secondly, the Document Prioritisation component identifies the documents that should be prioritised for review at a particular stage of the reviewing process, for example to provide the sensitivity classifier with information about the sensitivities in the collection or to focus the available reviewing resources on the documents that are the most likely to be released to the public. Thirdly, the Feedback Integration component integrates explicit feedback from a reviewer to construct a representation of the sensitivities in a collection and identify the features of a reviewer's interactions with the framework that indicate the amount of time that is required to sensitivity review a specific document. Finally, the Learned Predictions component combines the information that has been generated by the other three components and, as the final step in each iteration of the sensitivity review process, the Learned Predictions component is responsible for making accurate sensitivity classification and expected reviewing time predictions for the documents that have not yet been sensitivity reviewed. In this thesis, we identify two realistic digital sensitivity review scenarios as user models and conduct two user studies to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed framework for assisting digital sensitivity review. Firstly, in the limited review user model, which addresses a scenario in which there are insufficient reviewing resources available to sensitivity review all of the documents in a collection, we show that our proposed framework can increase the number of documents that can be reviewed and released to the public with the available reviewing resources. Secondly, in the exhaustive review user model, which addresses a scenario in which all of the documents in a collection will be manually sensitivity reviewed, we show that providing the reviewers with useful information about the documents in the collection that contain sensitive information can increase the reviewers' accuracy, reviewing speed and agreement. This is the first thesis to investigate automatically classifying FOIA sensitive information to assist digital sensitivity review. The central contributions of this thesis are our proposed framework for technology-assisted sensitivity review and our sensitivity classification approaches. Our contributions are validated using a collection of government documents that are sensitivity reviewed by expert sensitivity reviewers to identify two FOIA sensitivities, namely international relations and personal information. The thesis draws insights from a thorough evaluation and analysis of our proposed framework and sensitivity classifier. Our results demonstrate that our proposed framework is a viable technology for assisting digital sensitivity review.
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Trembath, Mark. "Reducing sensitivity to outgroup critics : applying the common ingroup identity model to the intergroup sensitivity effect /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe16835.pdf.
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Teixeira, Renata. "Network sensitivity to intradomain routing changes." Diss., Connected to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2005. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3179285.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005.Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 5, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references ( p. 162-169).
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Bhaskaran, Harish. "Nanomechanical resonators towards single spin sensitivity." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/3877.
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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.Thesis research directed by: Mechanical Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Jessa, Munira. "Visual Sensitivity of Dynamic Graphical Displays." Thesis, University of Waterloo, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/894.
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Advanced display design, such as Ecological Interface Design (EID), makes extensive use of complex graphical objects. Research has shown that by following EID methodologies, supervisory operators have better performance with the EID displays (Pawlak and Vicente, 1996). However, past research does not consider the visual aspects of the graphical objects used in EID. Of particular interest is how different design decisions of graphical objects affect the performance of the objects used within that design. This thesis examines the visual sensitivity of dynamic graphical objects by examining features that make certain graphical objects visually superior for certain monitoring tasks. Previous research into the visual aspects of supervisory control with respect to emergent features, psychophysics and attention were considered in the investigation of the visual sensitivities of the dynamic graphical objects used. Research into static graphical objects, combined with prior work on emergent features has been merged to find emergent features that best show changes in dynamic graphical objects for the monitoring tasks investigated. It was found that for simple dynamic objects such as bars and polygon objects, a line changing in angle was the most noticeable emergent feature to show a departure from ?normal? state. For complex graphical objects, those target-indicator displays that mimic a ?bull?s eye? when at the target value should be used for displays that show observers when a target value has been reached. Abrupt changes in shape should be used in trend meters to show when variables or processes have changed direction. Finally, ?solid objects? that make use of vertical lines and shading should be used for comparison meters that compare two values and keep them in a particular ratio. These findings provide guidance for designers of dynamic advanced graphical displays by encouraging the consideration of visual aspects of graphical objects, as well as prescribing graphical objects that should be used in the types of tasks investigated.
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Aziz, Imran. "Does non-coeliac gluten sensitivity exist?" Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2016. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/13119/.
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Introduction: Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten-sensitive enteropathy which affects 1% of the population. The treatment for CD is a strict lifelong gluten-free diet (GFD). IgE-wheat allergy is another gluten-related disorder affecting 0.1-1% of children, although most will have outgrown the condition by adulthood. However, recent media reports suggest increasing popularity and consumption of a GFD even in the absence of CD or IgE-wheat allergy. This has led to the evolution of a newly-defined clinical entity termed non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). The aim of this thesis was to determine the existence and characteristics of NCGS. Methods: We ascertained whether there has been a change in awareness of gluten-related disorders amongst the general public and chefs in Sheffield, United Kingdom. The population prevalence of self-reported gluten-sensitivity and the use of a GFD were also determined, as well as the characteristics and diagnostic outcomes in those patients referred to adult secondary-care gastroenterology practice. Finally, we evaluated whether a GFD is being used independently by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and also if a GFD can be used to treat patients with diarrhoea-predominant irritable-bowel syndrome (D-IBS) previously naïve to the effects of gluten. Results: i) There has been a dramatic rise in both the publics’ and chefs’ awareness of gluten-related disorders over a ten-year period. ii) On questioning 1002 community adults, 13% self-reported gluten-sensitivity with 3.7% consuming a GFD yet only 0.8% having a doctor-diagnosis of CD. Subjects self-reporting gluten-sensitivity were predominantly young to middle-aged women and had a greater prevalence of IBS. Further, a combination of intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms were described in relation to gluten ingestion; these include abdominal pain/discomfort, bloating and altered bowel habit (consistent with the criteria used to define IBS), as well as fatigue, headaches, depression, skin rash, and joint pains. On evaluating 200 patients referred to secondary-care with self-reported gluten sensitivity, 7% were found to have CD with the remaining 93% classed as self-reported NCGS. Analysis of those with NCGS suggested that 98.5% could be dietary-related IBS. However, 1.5% were found to have IBD with such patients having demonstrated alarm symptoms and/or abnormal systemic inflammatory markers that necessitated colonic investigations. iii) We then separately established that patients with IBD who self-report NCGS are more likely to have severe or stricturing disease compared to IBD patients who do not report gluten sensitivity. iv) Finally, in D-IBS patients previously naïve to the effects of gluten a six-week trial of a GFD led to clinical improvement in 71% of cases. Furthermore, 72% opted to continue with a GFD thereafter and at 18-month mean follow-up were still taking the diet, maintained symptom improvement, and demonstrated similar anthropometric/biochemical status relative to baseline. We identified that the benefits of a GFD in D-IBS subjects may differ according to the presence or absence of HLA-DQ2/8 genotype. Conclusion: We have demonstrated that self-reported NCGS does exist. The condition is associated with IBS, although it can rarely be present in IBD. A GFD can be a treatment option in D-IBS patients previously naïve to the effects of gluten. This body of work has significantly contributed towards our understanding of NCGS. However, as with most research projects it has instigated further questions that require exploration.
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Hodgins, Sandra Leella Margaret. "Wave hindcast sensitivity to wind forcing." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26295.
Full textAbstract:
Efficient planning and safe operation of marine vessels and coastal structures require good understanding of wave properties, usually expressed in statistical terras. In the absence of very long direct measurement records, spectral wave hindcasting is routinely used to derive design and operating criteria. The method involves solution of a time-dependent energy balance equation including spatial propagation, growth due to local wind, non-linear transfers between frequency components and dissipation processes. The most important source of errors in a careful hindcast is the input wind which is normally derived from historical surface pressure data. Since spectral wave models generate a sea-state that is almost in balance with local winds, wind sea is largely independent of the preceding storm history. Swell energy, on the other hand, propagates freely at off-wind angles perpetuating any errors that occurred in its generation. Shallow water near-shore zones are usually modelled with a small-area, nested subgrid that receives boundary data from the surrounding large-area model. Since the wave energy solution within the submodel can be dominated by the boundary conditions, errors in the large-area model must be minimized.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the sensitivity of hindcast wave fields to prescribed errors in the evolution of the wind patterns. Using a radially symmetric model of surface pressure, five parameters were used to define storm evolution: storm trajectory, minimum central low pressure, rate of storm intensification, advection rate and storm size. Sensitivity analyses of each parameter were used to obtain the likely maximum attributable variation in the significant wave height field. On this basis, and considering wind sea only, the three most important parameters are (1) trajectory, (2) minimum central pressure and (3) advection rate. With careful wind field re-construction, wave hindcasts of specific events can be performed to acceptable engineering standards for extreme value analysis. However, for the present, climatological (continuous multi-year) wave databases constructed by spectral hindcasting will be too inaccurate to warrant their cost. The most promising advance for wave hindcasting (and forecasting) is the possibility of acquiring high-resolution wind and wave data with satellite sensors to eliminate the need for inherently inaccurate surface pressure data.Applied Science, Faculty of
Civil Engineering, Department of
Graduate
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Walker, Brian Robert. "Tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids in hypertension." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/27022.
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11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase catalyses the conversion of cortisol to inactive cortisone. In kidney, the enzyme confers aldosterone-specificity on mineralocorticoid receptors by preventing their occupancy by cortisol. The expression of 11β-dehydrogenase in many extra-renal sites suggests that it has a wide role in modulating cortisol sensitivity. When renal 11β-dehydrogenase is defective (as occurs in congenital deficiency and after inhibition of the enzyme by liquorice or carbenoxolone) cortisol-dependent mineralocorticoid excess and hypertension ensue. In this thesis I address the hypotheses that: (i) in addition to its role in the kidney, 11β-dehydrogenase modulates the cortisol sensitivity in vascular smooth muscle; (ii) 11β-dehydrogenase is regulated physiologically by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; and (iii) deficiency of 11β-dehydrogenase, associated with increased cortisol sensitivity either in kidney or in blood vessels, contributes to pathophysiology in other forms of hypertension, specifically ectopic ACTH syndrome and essential hypertension. I show that 11β-dehydrogenase immunoreactivity and mRNA are localised to vascular smooth muscle cells in the rat, and bioactivity is greater in resistance vessels than conduit arteries. In support of a diverse role for the enzyme in modulating vascular tone I demonstrate: (i) potentiation of vasoconstrictor sensitivity of cortisol - and thereby to noradrenaline - in the forearm and dermis of men given enzyme inhibitors or congenitally deficient in 11β-dehydrogenase; and (ii) attentuation of noradrenaline reactivity by glucocorticoids in rat aorta which is increased following in vitro carbenoxolone administration. By studying in vitro affinities of rat vascular 11β-dehydrogenase for its cofactors I demonstrate its similarity to the hepatic isoform of the enzyme, and distinguish it from that in kidney. Moreover, vascular but not renal 11β-dehydrogeanse is induced by in vivo administration of glucorticoids. By contrast, ACTH is without effect on 11β-dehydrogenase activity in adrenalectomised rats, but inhibits the peripheral conversion of cortisol to cortisone in man. By selective venous catheterisation studies I confirm that the major site for this conversion is the kidney. Thus ACTH, in addition to stimulating cortisol synthesis, may stimulate the secretion of an 11β-dehydrogenase inhibitor from the adrenal, and thereby increase renal sensitivity to cortisol.
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Meadows, Denis William, and D. Meadows@mailbox gu edu au. "Mothers' Sensitivity to Infants' Communicative Acts." Griffith University. School of Cognition, Language and Special Education, 2001. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20030226.164131.
Full textAbstract:
This series of studies investigated the sensitivity of mothers towards the behaviour of their preverbal infants. More specifically, the investigation examined the consistency with which mothers identified what they considered to be communicative acts by their infants aged 6, 9, and 12 months, and the contingency and appropriateness of their maternal responses. The ability of other female adults to identify the same infant acts as communicative as the mothers was also investigated. In Studies one and two, 35 infants and their mothers were videotaped in a laboratory setting. Three weeks after the videotaping session, the mothers were asked to view a five-minute section and code the stream of infant behaviour into periods when they believed that their infant was engaging in communicative behaviours ('on' events) and periods when they considered that the infants were not ('off' events). This process was repeated three months after the first coding. At each coding session the mothers coded the videotape twice. Each mother's coded records were compared, in pairs, within and across coding sessions and the observed levels of agreement were calculated. A randomization procedure using 1000 iterations of the whole 'on' and 'off' events was used to determine the meaningfulness of the observed level of agreement between pairs of codings by providing distributions of chance levels of agreement with which the observed levels could be compared. Levels of agreement that exceeded chance values (p equals or is less than .05) were taken as evidence of consistency of maternal response. Consistency in the identification of communicative acts by other female adults (OAs) was investigated using a sample of 12 of the videotapes. Each videotape was coded by three separate OAs. The significance of the observed levels of agreement between the mother's coding and those of the OAs was determined using the randomization procedure. The results indicated that at each infant age, mothers were able to identify consistently their infant's communicatively salient behaviours, even over inter-coding intervals of three months. Further, both OAs and mothers identified the same infant behaviours as communicative. The third study investigated the abilities of a different sample of mothers and infants to describe the topography and meaning of their infants' behaviours during the 'on' events. Mothers' descriptions of their infants' behaviour during the 'on' events were also used to describe changes in the criteria that they used to identify infant behaviours as communicatively salient. Results indicated that the complexity of the criteria that the mothers used changed across infant age. First, mothers of younger infants were more likely, than mothers of older infants, to describe a single infant behaviour as being communicatively salient. The latter were more likely to identify two or three co-occurring infant behaviours as salient. Second, when more than one infant behaviour was identified in an 'on' event, the mothers of the older infants were more likely than the mothers of younger infants to state that all of the behaviours that they identified were communicatively important. These findings were interpreted to mean that mothers of older infants required more complex constellations of behaviour during the 'on' events in order to identify those behaviours as communicative. Study 4 investigated the contingency and appropriateness of the mothers' responses to the segments of their infants' behaviour that they identified as being communicative. Across infant age, findings indicated that the mothers' verbal responses to their infants were contingent upon whether they considered that their infants were engaged in communicatively salient behaviours. During periods of infant behaviour that the mothers identified as being communicative, mothers talked significantly more to their infants than they did when their infant's behaviour was considered to be non-communicative. Further, mothers' verbal responses were interpreted as being appropriate in two ways. First, during the 'on' events, changes occurred over infant age in the balance between the use of utterances designed to attract and maintain the attention of the infant (Attentional Directives) and those designed to provide comment on infant behaviour (Feedback). This shift is in keeping with widely reported changes in infant behaviour as children grow older (i.e., older infants' play a greater role in initiating and maintaining episodes of interaction). Second, during periods when the mothers considered that their infants were not communicating ('off' events) they rarely used 'Feedback' verbal responses. During 'off' events, mothers maintained high levels of 'Attentional Directive' talk, irrespective of infant age. Taken collectively, these studies provide evidence that supports the view that mothers are sensitive to what they consider to be communicative behaviours by their infants in terms of the consistency, contingency and appropriateness of their behaviour. The unique features of this investigation, the generality of the findings and the implications for future research are discussed in the final chapter.
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Little, Daniel R. "Sensitivity to correlation in probabilistic environments." University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0013.
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Natural categories seem to be comprised of clustered stimuli that contain a myriad of correlated features; birds, for example, tend to fly, have wings, lay eggs, and make nests. Nonetheless, the evidence that people use these correlations during intentional category learning is overwhelmingly negative (Murphy, 2002). People do, however, show evidence of correlational sensitivity during other types of category learning tasks (e.g., feature prediction). The usual explanation is that intentional category learning tasks promote rule use, which discards the correlated feature information; whereas, other types of category learning tasks promote exemplar storage, which preserves correlated feature information. However, all of the intentional category learning tasks employed to examine correlational sensitivity to date have only used deterministic mappings of stimuli to categories (i.e., each stimulus belongs to only one category). The current thesis is concerned primarily with the effects introducing the probabilistic assignment of stimuli to categories on the acquisition of different types of correlational knowledge. If correlational knowledge depends on whether or not people selectively attend to the correlation then probabilistic reinforcement, which is predicted to increase attention shifting (Kruschke & Johansen, 1999), should lead to increased correlational sensitivity. The first paper of this thesis confirms that selective attention provides a way to explain the presence or absence of correlational knowledge in different tasks. However, selective attention models have been unable to account for tasks in which people use the correlation between a non-relevant cue and regions of the category space to switch between the application of multiple rules. This phenomenon, known as knowledge partitioning, is explored in the second paper of this thesis. This thesis also extends the empirical implications of the first two papers to existing research (see included paper 3) and also provides recommendations of how utilize this conceptualization of knowledge for practitioners in the applied setting (see included paper 4). Finally, in addition to increasing attention shifting, probabilistic feedback is also assumed to result in an attenuation of learning over time (Kruschke & Johansen, 1999); the fifth paper in this thesis provides empirical confirmation that people attenuate learning in response to unavoidable error.