title: Biosensing by Learning: Cancer Detection as Iterative optimization.

authors: Chen, Yifan

subjects: Algorithms

abstract: We propose a novel cancer detection procedure (CDP) based on an iterative optimization method. The global minimum of a tumor-induced biological cost function indicates the tumor location, the domain of the cost function is the tissue region at high risk of malignancy, and the time-variant guess input is a swarm of externally controllable and trackable nanorobots for tumor sensing. We consider the spatial distrib-ution of fibrin as the cost function; the fibrin is formed during the coagulation cascade activated by tumor-targeted signalling modules (nanoparticles) and recruits clot-targeted receiving modules (nanorobots) towards the site of disease. Subsequently, the CDP can be interpreted from the iterative optimization perspective: the guess input (i.e., a swarm of nanorobots) is continuously updated according to the gradient of the cost function in order to find the optimum (i.e., cancer) by moving through the domain (i.e., tissue under screening). Along this line of thought, we consider the gradient descent (GD) iterative method, and propose the GD-inspired CDP, which takes into account the realistic in vivo propagation scenario of nanorobots. Finally, we present numerical examples to demonstrate the features of the GD-inspired CDP.

text: Biosensing by Learning: Cancer Detection as Iterative optimization. We propose a novel cancer detection procedure (CDP) based on an iterative optimization method. The global minimum of a tumor-induced biological cost function indicates the tumor location, the domain of the cost function is the tissue region at high risk of malignancy, and the time-variant guess input is a swarm of externally controllable and trackable nanorobots for tumor sensing. We consider the spatial distrib-ution of fibrin as the cost function; the fibrin is formed during the coagulation cascade activated by tumor-targeted signalling modules (nanoparticles) and recruits clot-targeted receiving modules (nanorobots) towards the site of disease. Subsequently, the CDP can be interpreted from the iterative optimization perspective: the guess input (i.e., a swarm of nanorobots) is continuously updated according to the gradient of the cost function in order to find the optimum (i.e., cancer) by moving through the domain (i.e., tissue under screening). Along this line of thought, we consider the gradient descent (GD) iterative method, and propose the GD-inspired CDP, which takes into account the realistic in vivo propagation scenario of nanorobots. Finally, we present numerical examples to demonstrate the features of the GD-inspired CDP.

year: 2018

title: Browsing a digital library: A new approach for the New Zealand digital library

authors: McKay, Dana

subjects: computer science

abstract: Browsing is part of the information seeking process, used when information needs are ill-defined or unspecific. Browsing and searching are often interleaved during information seeking to accommodate changing awareness of information needs. Digital Libraries often support full-text search, but are not so helpful in supporting browsing. Described here is a novel browsing system created for the Greenstone software used by the New Zealand Digital Library that supports users in a more natural approach to the information seeking process. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.

text: Browsing a digital library: A new approach for the New Zealand digital library Browsing is part of the information seeking process, used when information needs are ill-defined or unspecific. Browsing and searching are often interleaved during information seeking to accommodate changing awareness of information needs. Digital Libraries often support full-text search, but are not so helpful in supporting browsing. Described here is a novel browsing system created for the Greenstone software used by the New Zealand Digital Library that supports users in a more natural approach to the information seeking process. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.

year: 2003

title: Eke panuku, eke tangaroa! How Black Ferns 7s athletes navigate Instagram and inspire the next generation in Aotearoa

authors: Keet, Thandiwe Maia

subjects: Gender

abstract: This thesis considers the role of Instagram in the lives of players on the New Zealand Black Ferns 7s rugby team, and audience engagement with players’ social media accounts. Using a mana wāhine methodology, this study explores how Black Ferns 7s players utilize and navigate Instagram, through mixed-methods enquiry, including a social media analysis of 8 players’ accounts, interviews with 3 Black Ferns 7s players, and talanoa sessions with members of the women’s rugby community in the Bay of Plenty, supplemented by input from Black Ferns players and fans via direct messages on Instagram. The quantitative social media analysis identified 4 key themes in players’ Instagram posts: achievement, team & rugby, life outside rugby, and culture & vulnerability. The analysis reveals that players post the most regarding their “team & rugby”, generating an “athlete first” self- representation. It finds a statistically significant difference in the thematic content of Instagram posts based on squad seniority and the number of followers a player has. Followers were found to engage most with posts regarding “achievement”, and the least with posts regarding “culture and vulnerability”.
The interviews elaborate upon these quantitative differences by highlighting why athletes specifically use Instagram, insights into Black Ferns aspirational team dynamics, and the importance of a player’s life outside of rugby. The thematic analysis also reveals the digital economic and collective labour involved in producing social media content as a member of this team, and what it means to be culturally “authentic” online in Aotearoa. It reveals the unique elements generated by the team-sport context of this study, including intra-team differences in social media usage. Furthermore, hauora, Indigenous role modeling, and Tall Poppy Syndrome emerge as factors particularly unique to the cultural context within which this study takes place. The discussions culminate in the establishment of a layered understanding of the external, internal, and individual factors which shape Instagram posting habits, and the features which most significantly impact why audiences follow the curated displays Black Ferns 7s athletes provide online.
This project contributes to international literature on sportswomen’s use of social media, demonstrating the powerful ways that players support one another in what, when, and how they post, and the importance of cultural identity in Māori and Pasifika players’ social media engagement. It further reveals the importance of team culture in shaping individual players’ social media and audience engagement. This thesis also highlights the significance of sporting and cultural histories and intersectional identities in digital self-representation and fan engagement with sportswomen’s social media usage.

text: Eke panuku, eke tangaroa! How Black Ferns 7s athletes navigate Instagram and inspire the next generation in Aotearoa This thesis considers the role of Instagram in the lives of players on the New Zealand Black Ferns 7s rugby team, and audience engagement with players’ social media accounts. Using a mana wāhine methodology, this study explores how Black Ferns 7s players utilize and navigate Instagram, through mixed-methods enquiry, including a social media analysis of 8 players’ accounts, interviews with 3 Black Ferns 7s players, and talanoa sessions with members of the women’s rugby community in the Bay of Plenty, supplemented by input from Black Ferns players and fans via direct messages on Instagram. The quantitative social media analysis identified 4 key themes in players’ Instagram posts: achievement, team & rugby, life outside rugby, and culture & vulnerability. The analysis reveals that players post the most regarding their “team & rugby”, generating an “athlete first” self- representation. It finds a statistically significant difference in the thematic content of Instagram posts based on squad seniority and the number of followers a player has. Followers were found to engage most with posts regarding “achievement”, and the least with posts regarding “culture and vulnerability”.
The interviews elaborate upon these quantitative differences by highlighting why athletes specifically use Instagram, insights into Black Ferns aspirational team dynamics, and the importance of a player’s life outside of rugby. The thematic analysis also reveals the digital economic and collective labour involved in producing social media content as a member of this team, and what it means to be culturally “authentic” online in Aotearoa. It reveals the unique elements generated by the team-sport context of this study, including intra-team differences in social media usage. Furthermore, hauora, Indigenous role modeling, and Tall Poppy Syndrome emerge as factors particularly unique to the cultural context within which this study takes place. The discussions culminate in the establishment of a layered understanding of the external, internal, and individual factors which shape Instagram posting habits, and the features which most significantly impact why audiences follow the curated displays Black Ferns 7s athletes provide online.
This project contributes to international literature on sportswomen’s use of social media, demonstrating the powerful ways that players support one another in what, when, and how they post, and the importance of cultural identity in Māori and Pasifika players’ social media engagement. It further reveals the importance of team culture in shaping individual players’ social media and audience engagement. This thesis also highlights the significance of sporting and cultural histories and intersectional identities in digital self-representation and fan engagement with sportswomen’s social media usage.

year: 2022