VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Matching lives--Reducing the waiting time in kidney paired donation [electronic resource]

Kidney transplant is a life-saving therapy for end stage renal disease, and directed living donation is one of the main sources of graft. However, it is often unavailable because the willing living donor is blood type or tissue type incompatible with the patient. Kidney Paired Donation (KPD) facilitates the exchanges among incompatible living donor-patient pairs to create opportunities for transplants. In this research, I focus on the waiting time in the KPD system. The large number of highly sensitized (hard-to-match) patients accumulated in the KPD system have considerably longer waiting time than the others, and have led to a sparsely connected compatibility graph. I show that this can negatively impact the chances for the otherwise easy-to-match patients. To address this issue, I constructed a model for the KPD system based on historical data, and examined the policy of assigning priorities using the structural knowledge of the compatibility graph. I demonstrated through simulation that when the hard-to-match pairs receive priorities their waiting time can be significantly reduced. Moreover, the prioritization of the hard-to-match pairs does not necessarily disadvantage the rest of the population. In fact, the overall waiting time can be reduced. Furthermore, using a model with uncertain match offer rejections, I quantified the imperfect information's impact on the system waiting time, and showed a need for improvement on the current implementation of KPD. Finally, I studied the prohibition clause in National Organ Transplant Act (42 U.S.C.§274e) that led to today's commonly practiced ban on human organ selling/purchasing. In doing so I pointed out that the original prohibition leaves room for interpretation, specifically regarding the validity of a contract regulating organ transplant: contrary to some's belief, it is possible that such a contract is valid and enforceable under NOTA.

Keywords: Management Science and Engineering.
Advisor: Howard Ronald A. (Ronald Arthur)
Melcher Marc (Marc Lee) advisor. Thesis advisor
Shachter Ross D. advisor. Thesis advisor
Material and Semiotic Dimensions of Instrument Design: How the Classical Harp’s Form Persists

Why do certain artifacts retain their designs despite compelling reasons to change? What happens when aesthetic, symbolic, and physical needs conflict? In a world where design theory and practice emphasize functionalism, the harp is a technological product whose stubborn anti-functionalism manifests in its enduring reputation of romance, femininity, and high culture. Past research in sociology and STS shows that artifacts are not just practical, but also symbolize status. My research addresses the intersection of the classical harp as a physical musical instrument and as a semiotic artifact laden with cultural meanings, bringing together diverse bodies of Science and Technology Studies (STS), sociology, and design research. More broadly, this interdisciplinary inquiry seeks to understand the complex mechanisms through which cultural meaning and technological development are intertwined, and thus contribute to knowledge about design and innovation processes. Through 28 semi-structured interviews, field observations at two European harp manufacturers, and archival research, I explore how priorities of harpists, along with three other relevant social groups (harp makers, medical professionals, and the audience) influence the design of harps. I develop a diagram which maps, in loose chronology, how the experience of a harpist intersects with the experiences of harp makers, medical professionals, and the public/audience. The diagram is also based upon harpists’ experiences with pain as they develop personal relationships with their harps. Finally, I outline three criteria to define a larger class of objects (beyond musical instruments) in which harps and objects like ballet pointe shoes can be classified. This framework can help illuminate understanding of these objects’ problem areas, their cultural meanings, and the knowledge essential for redesigning them. These artifacts, abbreviated as HEET, fuse elements of High culture, are used Every day, and are Engaging Technologies.

Keywords:  Department of Science
Science Technology and Society
Stanford University
harp
science and technology studies
design
ergonomics
interview
archival research
high culture
SCOT theory
innovation
instrument
music
sociology
semiotics
European
pain
injury
redesign
ethnography
Thesis
Advisor: Mullaney Thomas S.
Phukan Indira
Sato Kyoko
Math + Making: Exploring The Potential of Digital Fabrication to Improve Mathematics Education in Middle School FabLabs

Drawing from theories such as Piaget’s Constructivism and Papert’s Constructionism, I explore the intersection between mathematics and hands-on experiential learning via making using digital fabrication in this thesis. On one hand, this paper highlights the Maker Movement, a growing national and international phenomenon that embodies tinkering, inventing and innovation in local communities. On the other hand, this paper emphasizes middle school students’ mediocre performance in mathematics and science in the United States, the lack of understanding in what a career in technology and engineering means, the eventual disheartened attitude to pursue a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), and the probable lack of talent in the STEM industry in the near future. To address these problems, I have narrowed my research focus to mathematics education at the middle school level, and how the introduction of digital fabrication into traditional mathematics lessons could be a game changer in student and teacher engagement in the classroom. Hence, this led to my research question: To what extent is and can mathematics be integrated into middle school students’ design and engineering experiences with digital fabrication in the FabLab?
This paper investigates how “making” has entered the education sector, specifically focussing on lessons in current Fabrication Laboratories (FabLabs) in two middle schools in northern California. I interviewed middle school FabLab teachers and conducted empirical observations to examine the amount of mathematics used, explicitly and implicitly, in the FabLab environment. Digital fabrication in classrooms is still a nascent field, and there are missed opportunities and gaps that we can fill to improve the FabLab to foster deeper learning.

Keywords:  Graduate School of Education
digital fabrication
mathematics education
FabLab
middle school
Stanford
Graduate School of Education
honors
thesis
Thesis
Advisor: Blikstein Paulo
Willinsky John
Naim Kamran
MathBuddy: Buddy up, tackle math

Math has been shown to be a strong predictor of later academic and career achievement. However, there exists a gender gap in math achievement. Around the time girls enter middle school, both their achievement and engagement in math declines. Eventually, girls begin to opt out of higher-level math in high school, and thus, hindering opportunities to pursue certain technical fields such as engineering and computer science.

Many factors affect young girls’ engagement in math. As math concepts become more abstract, it becomes harder to connect concepts with computations. Instructional practices that focus on memorization and speed computation alienate learners that are already struggling. Additionally, girls suffer from math anxiety that is aggravated by various social factors, such as lack of female role models, parental pressures, and competition from male classmates.

In order to regain confidence in their ability to do math and continue to pursue it, adolescent girls need to rediscover their passion for the subject. MathBuddy is a social game where a young girl interacts with a female avatar also learning math whose ability is slightly lower than the learner’s. Through guided activities, the learner tutors the avatar in math. In doing so, the learner engages higher-level cognitive skills such as analysis and evaluation. By teaching the avatar, the learner activates the protégé effect and becomes more engaged with math and reinforces her own math learning.

Keywords: stanford gse
learning design and technology
ldt
math
math anxiety
math learning
growth mindset
protege effect
teachable agent
k12
Thesis
Mathematical modeling for public health policy in resource limited settings [electronic resource]

The goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to present a data driven policy making approach in three different settings. In the first setting, we look at using data to inform policies to supply supplementary food aid for undernourished children in Guatemala. We fit a trivariate model of weight-for-age z score (WAZ), height-for-age z score (HAZ) and diarrhea status to data from an observational study of supplemen- tary feeding in 17 Guatemalan communities. We estimate how the effect of supplementary food on WAZ, HAZ and diarrhea status varies with a child's age. We find that the effect of supplementary food on all 3 metrics decreases linearly with age from 6 to 20 mo and has little effect after 20 mo. We derive 2 food allocation policies that myopically (i.e., looking ahead 2 mo) minimize either the underweight or stunting severity -- i.e., the sum of squared WAZ or HAZ scores for all children with WAZ or HAZ < 0. A simulation study based on the statistical model predicts that in a low-dose (100 kCal/day) supplementary feeding setting in Guatemala, allocating food primarily to 6-12 mo infants can reduce the severity of underweight and stunting. In the second setting, we look at analyzing how targeting interventions to the most under- nourished would perform in reducing the malaria burden amongst children in sub-Saharan Africa. We construct a malaria model with superinfection and heterogeneous susceptibility, where a portion of this susceptibility is due to undernutrition (as measured by weight-for-age z scores); so as to isolate the impact of supplementary food on malaria from the influence of confounding factors, we estimate the portion of the total susceptibility that is due to undernutrition from a large randomized trial of supplementary feeding. A simulation study based on the malaria model suggests that targeting insecticide-treated bed nets to undernutritioned children leads to fewer malaria deaths than the random distribution of bed nets in the hypoendemic and mesoendemic settings. In the third setting, we look to quantify Tuberculosis (TB) transmission risk within and outside cells using high-resolution social contact data of prisoner in a large prison in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. We then develop and parameterize a model of TB natural history and transmission to evaluate the impact of TB control interventions in prisons on TB incidence amongst the prisoners. A simulation study using this model suggests that any single intervention (improved case detection, decrowding or active case detection) would be insufficient to bring the TB incidence back to the TB incidence levels of the early 2000s but a combination of interventions would be necessary. The results of these studies demonstrate that mathematical modeling can be a powerful tool in understanding the interplaying factors behind the policy in question and help policy makers make informed decisions.

Advisor: Wein Lawrence primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Andrews Jason Randolph advisor. Thesis advisor
Gerritsen Margot (Margot G.) advisor. Thesis advisor
me+

According to CBS news, Millennials are reporting higher levels of clinical anxiety, stress, and depression than any other generation at the same age. To better understand the issue, I did a number of empathy interviews with my recently graduated friends, and I found that every single one of my 6 interviewed friends reported feeling unhappy, bored, lonely, and unfilled. When they were asked for more information about these negative emotions, they revealed that they felt them most strongly during nights and weekends - during down time. They reported also that these feelings stem from ‘not having anything to do outside of work’ and not knowing many people in their city.
I propose that these young adults need to learn how to be productive and fulfilled during down time. The solution - named me+ - therefore helps young adults find activities that they will enjoy during their down time - hobbies are curated for each user and a game plan is provided for entry into that hobby. In this way, young adults are given a structure for investing in their identity and finding purpose outside of work.
During initial development, I tested various algorithms for curating personalized hobbies, and tried various strategies to get users to actually adopt new hobbies. To determine if the solution was successful, I observed how many users reported enjoying the use of me+, how many successfully start a hobby, and how many wanted to continue with this hobby. I also did interviews to determine if the user’s experience during her down times from work improved, and what that did for her overall sense of identity.
I learnt from testing and interviews that some users really enjoyed using the solution and those users are not deterred very much by price/location but that the opposite is also true for those users who do not enjoy using the solution. I also found that the users who enjoyed the solution successfully started hobbies and intended to continue them, noting that they were surprised about these options they previously did not know of and empowered by the knowledge that they could now go out and start doing something new.

Keywords: me+
Ashlee Reynolds
Stanford University
Stanford School of Education
LDT
Learning Design and Technology
Thesis
Measurement of ultrafast structural rearrangements in hybrid perovskites [electronic resource]

Currently, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have become one of the hottest research focuses due to their diverse and technologically important optoelectronic properties. For example, methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3), the most popular three-dimensional (3D) hybrid perovskite in this field, has gained great prominence since 2009 as a new prototype material for next generation high-efficiency thin film solar cells with very low cost. Besides photovoltaic applications, tunable broadband white-light emission relevant to solid-state lighting has also been demonstrated in two-dimensional (2D) lead-halide hybrid perovskites. In both cases, light-induced structural rearrangements are proposed to be the microscopic origin behind these novel functionalities, with little direct experimental evidence presented so far. Probing the functionality-relevant ultrafast structural responses in hybrid perovskites is the main focus of this thesis.

Keywords: Materials Science and Engineering.
Advisor: Lindenberg Aaron Michael primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Karunadasa Hemamala
McGehee Michael
Mechanical regulation of tight junction organization and function in epithelial cells [electronic resource]

Cell-cell junctions play a critical role in development and maintaining tissue homeostasis in adult tissues. Cell junctions establish and maintain adhesion, form barriers within cellular membranes and between cells, and are known to regulate many cellular processes. The tight junction is the most apical junction in epithelial cells and is responsible for establishing polarity, forming a barrier for both the diffusion of proteins and paracellular permeability, and regulating cell proliferation. For my thesis work I have dedicated my research to investigating the effect of acute external mechanical forces on the structure and function of tight junctions to regulate paracellular permeability. The organization of tight junction strands, which is a network of tight junction polymers that encircle the entire cell, is one structure that is known to provide insights on barrier function. Additionally, I have investigated the molecular organization of the tight junction, which contains several scaffold proteins, which may bind and regulate to signaling proteins in addition to linking tight junctions to the actin cytoskeleton. Tight junctions are dynamic and respond to mechanical forces through various regulating the composition of proteins at junctions.

Keywords: Biology.
Advisor: Nelson William primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Kopito Ron Rieger
O'Brien Lucy
Weis William I. advisor. Thesis advisor
Mechanical strain induces E-cadherin dependent activation of Yap1 and ß-catenin to drive cell cycle re-entry [electronic resource]

Mechanical strain regulates the development, organization and function of multicellular tissues, but mechanisms linking mechanical strain and cell-cell junction proteins to cellular responses are poorly understood. We showed that mechanical strain applied to quiescent epithelial cells induced rapid cell cycle re-entry, mediated by independent nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity of first Yap1 and then β-catenin. Inhibition of Yap1- and β-catenin-mediated transcription blocked cell cycle re-entry and progression through G1 into S phase, respectively. Maintenance of quiescence, Yap1 nuclear exclusion and β-catenin transcriptional responses to mechanical strain required E-cadherin extracellular engagement. Our results indicate that activation of Yap1 and β-catenin is a master regulator of mechanical strain-induced cell proliferation, and cadherins are signaling centers required for cellular responses to externally applied force. While both mechanical force and Wnt Signaling activate β-catenin-mediated transcription to promote proliferation, it is unknown whether mechanical force and Wnt signaling act independently or synergize to activate β-catenin signaling and cell division. We showed that mechanical strain induced Src-dependent phosphorylation of Y654 β-catenin and β-catenin accumulation, increasing β-catenin-mediated transcription. Under these conditions, however, cells accumulated in S/G2 but did not divide. Blocking β-catenin degradation through Casein Kinase I inhibition or Wnt3A addition increased β-catenin-mediated transcription and strain-induced accumulation of S/G2 cells. Significantly, only the combination of mechanical strain and Wnt/β-catenin activation triggered S/G2 cells to divide. These results indicate that strain-induced Src phosphorylation of β-catenin and Wnt-dependent β-catenin stabilization can synergize to increase β-catenin-mediated transcription to a level required for mitosis. Thus local Wnt signaling may fine-tune the effects of global mechanical strain to restrict cell divisions and maintain tissue homeostasis.

Advisor: Nelson William primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Ferrell James Ellsworth advisor. Thesis advisor
Nusse Roel
Pruitt Beth advisor. Thesis advisor
Weis William I. advisor. Thesis advisor
Mechanisms of brain trauma with injury detection and prevention implications [electronic resource]

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is recognized as a major public health threat. Concern for mTBI is heightened due to mounting evidence that it may produce debilitating long-term effects, particularly in athletes. In sports, health measures to better detect and prevent mTBI are limited because we haven't figured out how and why certain brain structures are injured during head impacts. In this thesis, I present a mechanism of trauma to the corpus callosum, a critical structure for communication in the brain, and its implications for injury detection and prevention. From novel measurements of human head motion during sports impacts, including the first direct and complete rotation measurements of a human mild traumatic brain injury, I present four key findings. First, I observe that head rotation measurements are actually more predictive of injury risk than the translational counterparts used in government and other regulatory safety standards. Second, I show that particular directions of head rotation can cause corpus callosum trauma by driving motion of a rigid membrane above it. Third, I characterize the brain's tolerance to rotational velocity and show high levels can be sustained in a low-acceleration regime. Finally, I show how current helmet safety standards use a model of head rotation that cannot reproduce the conditions likeliest to cause mTBI. These findings can motivate more targeted, and thereby more effective, approaches to detecting, preventing, treating and ultimately mitigating the societal burden of mTBI.

Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Camarillo David primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Delp Scott primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Levenston Marc Elliot advisor. Thesis advisor
Mediating the crusader past in the U.S. and the Middle East after 9/11 [electronic resource]

In this dissertation, I trace some interlocking dynamics of how numerous accounts of the events of 9/11 and their aftermath invoked the Crusader past. The Crusade metaphor, applied in different ways across media, often proved highly powerful for those attempting to contextualize U.S. and Middle Eastern conflict after 9/11. Probing the use of the Crusades in the post-9/11 era across genres and media, this study asks how, and to what effects, metaphors of past violence like the Crusades are created, received, and remediated in the U.S. and in the Middle East in ways that invoke historical or practical orientations towards the past. By examining an array of narratives, my study shows more broadly how stories of the distant past are remediated as living metaphors of the "practical past" for individuals and groups trying to explain contemporary events. In each case study, I ask how, and to what effect for their audience, stories of the practical past travel under new conditions of contemporary multimedia environments. My project in this way focuses on how we may best trace and evaluate the consequences of cultural and political narratives as they employ metaphors of the past across new platforms of communication that create novel ways of engaging with transmedia narratives and endowing audiences with a sense of interpretive agency. By investigating narratives and metaphors as crucial modes of communication in the personal and social formation of identity, I explore how figurative language is mediated to contextualize and respond to events like 9/11 (e.g. calling it our contemporary, "new Crusade"). Given the shifting landscape of social and political communication, I use case studies that outline some ways in which traditional narratives, as well as new media at platforms, encourage "passive" audiences or consumers to become active interpreters, media spreaders, or "read/write" creators. Given the role of new social media, my project addresses both the positive outcome of this trajectory (e.g. greater political and civic participation) as well as its potential dangers, especially the strategic invocation of past violence to justify contemporary conflict or future acts of violence and terrorism.

Advisor: Turner Fred primary advisor. Thesis advisor
Eshel Amir advisor. Thesis advisor
Wineburg Samuel S. advisor. Thesis advisor