480 research outputs found
An Investigation of Clinical Trial Supply Chains
No full textThis dissertation investigates production and inventory decisions made within clinical trial supply chains in order to reduce drug supply costs. By investigating the SEC filings of public companies, we find that drug supply costs frequently account for a significant portion of pharmaceutical companies’ R&D spending. To unlock value tied up in clinical trial supply chains, three unique aspects of clinical trial supply chains are explored and associated supply chain decisions are optimized. The first unique factor that differentiates the supply chains for clinical trials is the risk of failure, meaning that the investigational drug is proven unsafe or ineffective during human testing. Upon failure, any unused inventory is essentially wasted and needs to be destroyed. We ex-plore the effect of this failure on production planning decisions and find the planner’s decision to be a balancing act between waste and destruction costs versus production inefficiency. To optimally achieve this balance, we generalize the Wagner-Whitin model (W-W model) to incorporate the risk of failure. A second unique aspect of clinical trials is that demand can go from being quite unpredictable to fully predictable during the course of a trial. To take advantage of this demand learning, intratrial batches ca
How Might Adam Smith Pay Professors Today?
No full textAdam Smith’s proposal for paying professors was intended to induce increased faculty knowledge. If students have imperfect information about what they learn, and universities can only imperfectly measure the input of faculty time in student learning, publications may be used to measure faculty knowledge. If professors’ ability to publish is positively related to their ability to produce student learning, which universities can imperfectly measure, publications may be necessary to attract more able professors. Since research signals faculty knowledge, schools that do not value publications per se could require higher publication standards and pay higher wages than schools that value only publications.
Ensuring security and privacy in a personalized mobile environment
No full textServices in a mobile environment are based on the locations of mobile users. Personalization, based on the profiles of mobile users, significantly increases the value of such services. However, they pose significant security and privacy challenges; ensuring security and privacy for a personalized mobile environment in an efficient manner is the primary objective of this dissertation. Often, access control requirements in a mobile environment are based on the spatiotemporal attributes of mobile users, resources to be protected, profiles of users, or all of these. Evaluating an access request incurs significant overhead as it requires searching for the relevant moving objects that satisfy the query as well as the applicable security policies. In this dissertation, we have developed a unified index structure capable of indexing mobile objects, security policies and profiles, in a single index. This enables the efficient enforcement of access control. Another contribution is to extend the enforcement of access control to the case where instead of the exact location, only the approximate location of moving objects is maintained. To this end, the dissertation proposes an authorization model that takes the uncertainty of location measures into consideration for specifying and evaluating access control policies. Another pressing issue in delivering mobile services is protecting the privacy of users. In this dissertation, we have proposed a comprehensive family of anonymity models, based on k-anonymity, that incorporates location, direction, as well as profile information. We have also developed anonymization algorithms that can constrain both the generalization of the location as well as that of profiles and direction, while meeting the quality of service requirements. In addition, we have proposed a partitioning method that can limit tracking of the service requestor while continuously receiving a service, thus achieving enhanced level of both privacy and quality of service.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Heechang Shi
OVERCOMING POSITIVISM IN ECONOMICS: AMARTYA SEN'S PROJECT OF INFUSING ETHICS INTO ECONOMICS
No full textLogical Positivism, which arose in philosophy early in the twentieth century, proclaimed the sharp distinction between facts and values. Despite objections at the time, positivism was imported into economics in the 1930s. Over time, objections lessened; economics was transformed and ethical considerations were driven out of its core. In the 1950s, debates about positivism arose within the discipline which had exported it. According to the American philosopher Hilary Putnam, the fact/value distinction is now discredited in philosophy. If that is so, the methodological foundations of contemporary economics are also discredited. In this article I examine Amartya Sen’s moral science of economics. First, I will present his historical account of the connections between economics and ethics. Sen claims that there was a close connection between the two until positivism was imported. Second, I will sketch some of Sen’s ethical objections to modern economics, which is still suffering from positivism. Finally, I will lay out some of his ideas on how economics can be returned to an ethical path. Once the ground has been cleared of positivism, ethics can re-emerge in economics in various ways. One path has been marked out by Sen.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,
Competing models of socially constructed economic man : differentiating Defoe's Crusoe from the Robinson of neoclassical economics
No full textDaniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe has seldom been read as an explicitly political text. When it has, it appears that the central character was designed to warn the early eighteenth-century reader against political challenges to the existing economic order. Insofar as Defoe’s Crusoe stands for "economic man", he is a reflection of historically-produced assumptions about the need for social conformity, not the embodiment of any genuinely essential economic characteristics. This insight is used to compare Defoe’s conception of economic man with that of the neoclassical Robinson Crusoe economy. On the most important of the ostensibly generic principles espoused by neoclassical theorists, their "Robinson" has no parallels with Defoe’s Crusoe. Despite the shared name, two quite distinct social constructions serve two equally distinct pedagogical purposes. Defoe’s Crusoe extols the virtues of passive middle-class sobriety for effective social organisation; the neoclassical Robinson champions the establishment of markets for the sake of productive efficiency
Transient liquid-phase infiltration of a powder-metal skeleton
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-114).This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Transient Liquid-Phase Infiltration (TLI) is a new method for densifying a powder-metal skeleton that produces a final part of homogeneous composition without significant dimensional change, unlike traditional infiltration and full-density sintering. Fabrication of direct metal parts with complex geometry is possible using TLI in conjunction with Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) processes such as Three-Dimensional Printing, which produce net-shape skeletons of powdered metal directly from CAD models. The infiltrant used in TLI is typically composed of the skeleton material plus a melting point depressant in order to facilitate homogenization after the liquid metal fills the void space. Parts over 20 cm tall with final compositions of Ni-4wt%Si and Ni-40wt%Cu were made by TLI from powder skeletons of pure nickel. Tensile tests after HIP treatment compared favorably with cast material of the same composition. A basic understanding of the materials system requirements for TLI and the role of various parameters was developed using nickel-silicon and nickel-copper as test cases. Upon introduction of the liquid infiltrant to the skeleton, the melting point depressant begins to diffuse into the skeleton causing isothermal solidification of the infiltrant. This solidification chokes theflow of liquid and can limit the infiltration distance.(cont.) The rate of diffusional solidification was measured via quenching experiments, compared to theory and simulations, and subsequently used to define the change in permeability of the skeleton. For various skeletons of powder sizes ranging from 60 to 300 tm, the infiltration rate was measured via mass increase and compared to the flow model. The predicted horizontal infiltration freeze-off limits were proportional to the square root of d3[gamma]/[mu]D[Beta]2 where d is the average powder diameter, [gamma] and [mu] are the infiltrant surface tension and viscosity, D is the solid diffusivity, and [beta] is a function of the solidus and liquidus concentrations. These relations can be used for selection of processing parameters and for development of new material systems.by Adam Michael Lorenz.Ph.D
Towards Christian fellowship in a Black church: Administratively implementing the ministry of liberation, 1974
No full textThe purpose of the project was to encourage and increase the level of Christian Fellowship (Koinonia) and involvement in the Trinity African Episcopal Methodist Church, Atlanta. The church is situated in what was a transitional community. It is now approximately 98% black in the South West section of the city. The project consisted of five (5) consecutive weeks of student input. It involved 24 - 42 members, divided into three (3) groups. Group A, the control group, attended the worship services and took the questionnaire. Group B, the target group, attended the worship services, attended the input sessions, and took the questionnaire. Group C, the super target group, participated in all of the above activities, in addition to engaging in encounter sessions with the student. The worship services were the traditional order of worship of the A. M. E. Church with an emphasis on fellowship, i.e., the call to worship, the scriptures, the prayers, the hymns, and sermons. Five (5) sermons were preached focusing on the need for fellowship, what it is, and how it can be accomplished and maintained. The input sessions were weekly, one to one hour and a half (1-1.1/2) sessions consisting of study sessions, discussions, group interaction, prayers, and the sharing of a repast. The encounter sessions with the student consisted of frank dialogue between the student and participants in Group C. The overall hypothesis was that as a result of the worship and preaching services the participants would show an increase on all positive statements the questionnaire; and that Groups B and C would show more of a significant change than Group A, and Group C would show more of a significant change than either of the other two groups. While there was some positive movement by all of the groups, there was not enough of significant changes to merit any real attention. This does not mean that the project was a failure. For in the ensuing months following the project there was an increase in persons joining the congregation, expressed appreciation for the church by members who participated in the project, increased attendance at most of the church functions, and a much better enthusiasm regarding the local church and the Church in general. For this I am grateful to the Lord. The first-half of this final report consists of the writer's reflections on the Black Church as a unique religious institution; The calling to the Black church to address itself to the historical mission of the Black church and the mission of the Church; the writer's theory of ministry; and a survey of the meaning of Liberation and Koinonia from biblical, theological, and sociological perspectives. The second-half of the report focuses on the actual project involving the writer's understanding of liberation and Koinonia and an amalgamation of the two. Charts, graphs and tables have been inserted to aid the reader in ascertaining the mathematical breakdown of the growth-decline of the project participants. The final chapter focuses on the future aspects of the writer's ministry, goals for the church as well as for the writer
Biographical Sketch of Bogdan Hamera and Characteristics of his Works in the Socialist Realism Period (1911–1974)
No full textThe article is dedicated to the writer Bogdan Hamera (1911–1974) and his three works from the socialist realism period. The first, “Na przykład Plewa”, was a model example of a new type of literature that was promoted by the communists. Due to this success, he remained a significant figure in Polish literature in the first half of the 1950s. The article presents the significant moments in Hamera’s life. The most important elements of the books were presented, as well as their reception by the communist censorship. Attempts were made to answer the question of the author experiences’ influence on the shape of the works, their content and the importance of his role in the literature of socialist realism
In Melchior Wańkowicz’s Archives. Albums of photographs from the collection of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw
No full textAutorka opisuje archiwum Melchiora Wańkowicza, przekazane przez jego córkę do Muzeum Literatury im. Adama Mickiewicza w Warszawie w 1974 roku. Badaczka koncentruje się na fotografiach, które reporter w dużej mierze wykonywał sam. W albumach, ułożonych przez niego lub jego żonę, autorka poszukuje informacji na temat prawdziwego charakteru „ojca reportażu polskiego” i jego losów, które zatarła nieco jego legenda. Zestawienie wybranych zdjęć z wypowiedziami pisarza i zajmujących się nim badaczy pozwala postrzegać je jako rodzaj swoistej ilustracji i dokumentacji życia pisarza. Autorka wskazuje szerokie możliwości wykorzystania wskazanych fotografii i albumów w pracach biografów i badaczy twórczości pisarza, a także historyków, zainteresowanych burzliwym okresem w historii Polski, który Wańkowicz utrwalił nie tylko w literackich reportażach, ale i w fotografiach.The author presents and describes the archives of Melchior Wańkowicz, donated by his daughter to the Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature in Warsaw, in 1974. The researcher focuses on photographs, that the reporter mostly took himself. In the albums, arranged by him or his wife, the author seeks information on the true character of the “father of Polish reportage” and his life, which has been blurred by his great legend. The comparison of selected photos with the statements of the writer and the researchers of his works, allows to see the pictures as some kind of illustration and documentation of the writer’s life. The author indicates the wide possibilities of using the photographs and albums in the work of biographers or researchers of the writer’s work, as well as historians, interested in the turbulent period in Polish history, which Wańkowicz consolidated not only in his reports, but also in photographs
"Joining the End to the Beginning" Divine Providence and the Interpretation of Scripture in the Teaching of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
No full textIn this dissertation, the author argues that Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in the second century, reads the scriptures as the living proclamation of the Creator by which he creates and forms human flesh and blood. The scriptural narrative originates in God’s creation of all things ex nihilo and traces the movement of humanity toward its eschatological perfection in the incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ. Thus, the author argues that, for Irenaeus, the scriptures are as anthropological as they are theological. The biblical narrative possesses a continuity that is rooted in the substance of the human body. The very body that was created out of the dust in Adam, preserved from the flood in Noah, catechized by the law in Abraham and Moses, and became accustomed to the Spirit in the prophets is assumed by the Son of God from the Virgin Mary, crucified on the tree of the cross, and raised from the grave. The author maintains that Irenaeus views the scriptures as a single narrative describing precisely that flesh and blood given at the eucharistic altar in the fellowship of the church. Irenaeus reads the scriptures, not only in an intimate relationship with the creation of all things in the beginning and their recapitulation in Christ, but also in accord with an ecclesial dimension. The biblical narrative describes the identity of the baptized, who are joined to the body of Jesus through the baptismal and eucharistic life of the church. From this perspective, the author insists that the meaning of the scriptures, for the second century bishop, is not merely rational, moral or mystical, but truly ontological
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