cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Synchrotron-based investigation of nanoscaled water-splitting electrocatalysts for clean energy storage
Creators: name: Daly, Katelynn
Publisher: name: Science
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Electrocatalysts
subject: Metal oxide
subject: Amorphous materials
subject: Oxygen evolution reaction
subject: Water splitting
subject: Electrolysis
subject: Thin Films
subject: Nanomaterials
subject: Chemistry--Physical

description: The global need for sustainable and carbon-neutral energy storage methods has driven the exploration of various avenues; water splitting for hydrogen gas production is particularly promising. This electrochemical reaction is split into two half reactions: the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The OER is a major bottleneck for water splitting and requires potent catalysts to be driven at an appreciable rate. This thesis is aimed towards exploring and characterizing metal oxide-based materials as OER electrocatalysts. The benchmark RuOx is presented first, examining through electrochemical and spectroscopic analyses the importance of the synthetic route on structure and OER performance. It was found that while precursor choice has minimal impact on OER activity, the deposition method employed did. This is followed by an examination of first-row transition metal OER catalysts, 12 compositions of amorphous (Fe,Co,Ni)Ox thin films. Literature acknowledges the superior performance of binary materials to single-element oxides, and this synergistic effect is evaluated in this thesis through a combination of X-ray techniques as well as electrochemical methods. The amorphous nature of the catalyst materials were confirmed, and it was found that they are chemically homogeneous without phase separation. The electronic structure of the surface and bulk of the catalyst materials were found in Chapter 4 to be identical, and findings of pre- and post-operation analyses indicate surface and bulk mutual activity during OER operation. Soft X-ray analysis also allowed for insight into the enhancement of hybridization effects between (Fe,Co,Ni) metal 3d and oxygen 2p, evidenced by an O K-edge feature which could be used as an indicator and descriptor of OER activity. In-operando analyses in Chapter 5 investigated changes in oxidation state through XANES analysis and bond distances through EXAFS throughout operation, and results support that a dual-site mechanism for binary (Fe,Co,Ni)Ox OER catalysts is at play. The insights obtained from this research will provide valuable guidance in establishing design principles for future optimized OER catalyst materials, contributing to the advancement of sustainable energy solutions and leading towards a greener future.
title: The evolution of sub-monsoon systems in the Afro-Asian monsoon region during the Holocene
title: comparison of different transient climate model simulations
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Dallmeyer, Anne
name: Claussen, M.
name: Fischer, N.
name: Haberkorn, K.
name: Wagner, S.
name: Pfeiffer, M.
name: Jin, L.
name: Khon, Vyacheslav
name: Wang, Y.
name: Herzschuh, Ulrike
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 550 Geowissenschaften

description: The recently proposed global monsoon hypothesis interprets monsoon systems as part of one global-scale atmospheric overturning circulation, implying a connection between the regional monsoon systems and an in-phase behaviour of all northern hemispheric monsoons on annual timescales (Trenberth et al., 2000). Whether this concept can be applied to past climates and variability on longer timescales is still under debate, because the monsoon systems exhibit different regional characteristics such as different seasonality (i. e. onset, peak and withdrawal). To investigate the interconnection of different monsoon systems during the pre-industrial Holocene, five transient global climate model simulations have been analysed with respect to the rainfall trend and variability in different sub-domains of the Afro-Asian monsoon region. Our analysis suggests that on millennial timescales with varying orbital forcing, the monsoons do not behave as a tightly connected global system. According to the models, the Indian and North African monsoons are coupled, showing similar rainfall trend and moderate correlation in centennial rainfall variability in all models. The East Asian monsoon changes independently during the Holocene. The dissimilarities in the seasonality of the monsoon sub-systems lead to a stronger response of the North African and Indian monsoon systems to the Holocene insolation forcing than of the East Asian monsoon and affect the seasonal distribution of Holocene rainfall variations. Within the Indian and North African monsoon domain, precipitation solely changes during the summer months, showing a decreasing Holocene precipitation trend. In the East Asian monsoon region, the precipitation signal is determined by an increasing precipitation trend during spring and a decreasing precipitation change during summer, partly balancing each other. A synthesis of reconstructions and the model results do not reveal an impact of the different seasonality on the timing of the Holocene rainfall optimum in the different sub-monsoon systems. Rather they indicate locally inhomogeneous rainfall changes and show that single palaeo-records should not be used to characterise the rainfall change and monsoon evolution for entire monsoon sub-systems.
description: Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 587
Summarization and Matching of Density-Based Clusters in Streaming Environments
Creators: name: Yang, Di
name: Rundensteiner, Elke A.
name: Ward, Matthew O.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Databases (cs.DB)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Density-based cluster mining is known to serve a broad range of applications ranging from stock trade analysis to moving object monitoring. Although methods for efficient extraction of density-based clusters have been studied in the literature, the problem of summarizing and matching of such clusters with arbitrary shapes and complex cluster structures remains unsolved. Therefore, the goal of our work is to extend the state-of-art of density-based cluster mining in streams from cluster extraction only to now also support analysis and management of the extracted clusters. Our work solves three major technical challenges. First, we propose a novel multi-resolution cluster summarization method, called Skeletal Grid Summarization (SGS), which captures the key features of density-based clusters, covering both their external shape and internal cluster structures. Second, in order to summarize the extracted clusters in real-time, we present an integrated computation strategy C-SGS, which piggybacks the generation of cluster summarizations within the online clustering process. Lastly, we design a mechanism to efficiently execute cluster matching queries, which identify similar clusters for given cluster of analyst's interest from clusters extracted earlier in the stream history. Our experimental study using real streaming data shows the clear superiority of our proposed methods in both efficiency and effectiveness for cluster summarization and cluster matching queries to other potential alternatives.
description: VLDB2012
Applicability of Fitted and Published Biomass Equations for Larix Species in Northeastern China
Creators: name: Cao, Lei
name: Li, Haikui
name: Liu, Xiaotong
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Statistics
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: Science Policy

description: This study reviewed published biomass equations for Larix species in the literature and developed additive biomass equations (by nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression known as NSUR) and independent equations, respectively, based on DBH-only and DBH-H variables with the biomass data of 150 trees sampled in northeastern China. The applicability of fitted and published equations was comprehensively assessed with respect to Larix species, their provinces and origins when applied in northeastern China. The results showed that equations derived from the local study area did not always perform better than the published biomass equations in the literature. Tree-level equations performed slightly broader than stand-level equations. Nonlinear regression could provide higher applicability due to correction factors in the linear regression. Adding tree height as the second variable improved the applicability of stem and aboveground published equations. The applicability of original published equations was better for northeastern China for sites of similar latitude. When using published biomass equations, care should be taken to assess the uncertainty and applicability of biomass equations, which is important for the sustainable management of forested resources. Published information on biomass equations is especially necessary for forestry organizations that do not have the opportunity to develop their own equations.
Double scaling limit of the prismatic tensor model
Creators: name: Krajewski, T.
name: Muller, T.
name: Tanasa, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In S. Giombi, I. Klebanov, F. Popov, S. Prakash and G. Tarnopolsky, {\it Phys. Rev.} {\bf D} 98 (2018) 10, 105005, a prismatic tensor model was introduced. We study here the diagrammatics and the double scaling limit of this model, using the intermediate field method. We explicitly exhibit the next-to-leading order Feynman graphs in the $1/N$ expansion. Using appropriate combinatorial tools, we further study the general term of the $1/N$ expansion and we compute the $2-$point function in the double scaling limit.
description: 40 pages, many figures
Role of Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleoside diphosphate kinase in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis
Creators: name: Sun, Jim
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2012

description: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) evasion of the host immune response leads to its resilient persistence within the macrophage ultimately triggering active tuberculosis, a deadly infectious disease afflicting millions of people globally. To combat this disease, there is an urgent need to reveal the underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis by understanding how mycobacteria interact with the host macrophage. The work of this thesis contributes to this understanding through the identification of Mtb nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk) as a virulence factor that contributes to pathogenesis by interfering with key host small G-proteins essential for proper function of the innate immune response. Combining biochemical interaction assays with GTPase activation assays, this work demonstrated that Mtb Ndk interacts with host Rab5, Rab7, and Rac1 to inactivate their downstream signaling. The consequence of interfering with Rab5 and Rab7 signaling is a dramatic decrease in phagolysosome fusion of mycobacteria phagosomes, while inactivation of Rac1 led to NADPH oxidase assembly defect causing impaired reactive oxygen species production. Additional studies utilizing mycobacteria strains with knocked down Ndk further demonstrated its contribution to virulence. Indeed, strains with knocked down Ndk were substantially more prone to intracellular killing within the macrophage, which correlated with increased levels of phagolysosome fusion, raised levels of macrophage oxidative burst, and an increase in programmed cell death. Consistent with these findings, in vivo virulence of Mtb with knocked down Ndk was reduced significantly compared to wild type Mtb when monitoring mice survival. Altogether, the work of this thesis demonstrated that Mtb Ndk is a bona fide mycobacterial virulence factor that attenuates host innate immunity.
Explainable prediction of Parkinson’s disease in a large multimodal database
Creators: name: Camacho Camacho, Milton Ivan
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Parkinson's disease
subject: Magnetic resonance imaging
subject: Artificial intelligence
subject: Machine learning
subject: Deep learning
subject: Computer aided diagnosis
subject: Multimodal imaging
subject: Education--Health
subject: Bioinformatics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Radiology
subject: Artificial Intelligence
subject: Engineering--Biomedical
subject: Psychology--Clinical
subject: Computer Science

description: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people all over the world. Accurate diagnosis is important to enable prompt interventions that can improve disease prognosis. However, the heterogeneity of PD renders an accurate diagnosis challenging, especially early in the disease phase when symptoms are known to be subtle. Thus, it is imperative to obtain reliable, non-invasive, in-vivo biomarkers for PD diagnosis. Within this context, the overarching aim of this work is to develop accurate explainable deep learning models trained from a large multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) database to classify PD and healthy controls and capable of identifying structural changes associated with PD. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis are: (1) to investigate the use of T1-weighted brain MRI as a biomarker of macro-structural changes associated with PD; (2) to investigate a combination of T1-weighted and diffusion tensor MRI as a fusion of micro- and macro-structural brain morphology and its relationship with PD. To achieve these objectives, one of the largest multi-center imaging databases of over 2,000 PD and control subjects was pooled and preprocessed as the first step. Second, an explainable deep learning model was developed to accurately classify PD patients while revealing important brain regions. Third, a multimodal explainable deep learning model was trained enabling a more in-depth understanding of the interplay between the micro- and macro-structural properties of specific brain regions and the disease. The results of this work offer an important insight into structural brain changes as non-invasive, in-vivo biomarkers of PD through an in-depth analysis of associated brain regions using large multicenter data. Deep learning models are proposed to provide generalizable and robust PD classification resulting in a 0.87 and 0.89 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the best unimodal and multimodal approaches, respectively. Lastly, explainability methods identified brain regions in line with current knowledge of the disease providing further evidence for the clinical utility of the developed methods. This work presents relevant findings and novel methodologies that could aid improving PD diagnosis and the acceptance of computer-aided diagnosis systems targeting PD.
Publication - Polio Eradication Strategies - Health Equity.pdf
Creators: name: GEORGE, NSIKAKABASI
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 111706 Epidemiology
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Diseases
subject: 111717 Primary Health Care

description: Nigeria was declared being declared polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in June 19, 2020 and subsequently, the African Region received certification for being polio0free on August 25, 2020. This historic gain was not without challenges and struggles to birth its fruition. The Kano State Ministry of Health was able to overcome the challenges and ensure this feat with the implementation of effective strategies. This article explores these strategies and recommends their integration among countries’ health systems to achieve positive gains and the global goals.
Entanglement witness and multipartite quantum state discrimination
Creators: name: Ha, Donghoon
name: Kim, Jeong San
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider multipartite quantum state discrimination and show that the minimum-error discrimination by separable measurements is closely related to the concept of entanglement witness. Based on the properties of entanglement witness, we establish some necessary and/or sufficient conditions on minimum-error discrimination by separable measurements. We also provide some conditions on the upper bound of the maximum success probability over all possible separable measurements. Our results are illustrated by examples of multidimensional multipartite quantum states. Finally, we provide a systematic way in terms of the entanglement witness to construct multipartite quantum state ensembles showing nonlocality in state discrimination.
description: 13 pages, 1 figure. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2212.10799
Afterglows after Swift
Creators: name: Godet, O.
name: Mochkovitch, R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Since their discovery by the Beppo-SAX satellite in 1997, gamma-ray burst afterglows have attracted an ever-growing interest. They have allowed redshift measurements that have confirmed that gamma-ray bursts are located at cosmological distances. Their study covers a huge range both in time (from one minute to several months after the trigger) and energy (from the GeV to radio domains). The purpose of this review is first to give a short historical account of afterglow research and describe the main observational results with a special attention to the early afterglow revealed by Swift. We then present the standard afterglow model as it has been developed in the pre-Swift era and show how it is challenged by the recent Swift and Fermi results. We finally discuss different options (within the standard framework or implying a change of paradigm) that have been proposed to solve the current problems.
description: 16 pages
Characterizing Hydrological Balance and Hydrochemistry of a Chronosequence of Newly Formed Wetlands within the Athabasca Oil Sands Region using Isotopic and Geochemical Tracers
Creators: name: Wendlandt, Michael Edwin
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Isotope hydrology
subject: Newly formed wetlands
subject: Reclamation
subject: Radon
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Hydrology

description: Wetlands account for approximately 65% of the land area of the oil sands surface mining region, many of which have been lost due to resource extraction. Mined areas are reclaimed using saline-sodic materials present in both surficial geology and residual tailings, affecting wetlands constructed or naturally (“opportunistically”) forming within reclaimed landscapes. Newly-forming wetlands’ hydrological properties and ecological trajectories are poorly known. As part of the Boreal Wetland Reclamation Assessment Program, a chronosequence study design was used to infer the trends in water balance and geochemistry of 80 wetlands aged 2 to 40 years and varying in hydroperiod, salinity, and degree of riparian disturbance. Half of the wetlands were in reclamation landscapes of oil sands lease areas. The other half, located outside of the mining lease, which were considered ‘reference’ comparators. The region’s low-relief and wetland-dominated landscapes rendered traditional hydrological methods difficult to implement, so stable isotopes and geochemical tracers were used to infer the water balances. Isotope hydrological balances measured as Evaporation: Inputs ratio (E/I) varied significantly among wetlands on the two types of landscapes. Ratios for wetlands found on-lease were significantly higher (0.08-1.23) than those found off-lease (0.01- 0.46). Radon concentration (a proxy for groundwater inputs) in surface water of wetlands showed no significant difference between disturbance type and age. Analysis of hydrochemical facies revealed that NaCl and Mixed-water types dominated on-lease wetland waters, while in off-lease wetlands, Ca/MgHCO3 water type was dominant. Total dissolved solids concentrations were significantly higher in on-lease wetlands (2239 ± 1437 mg/L) than off-lease wetlands (766 ± 484 mg/L). ANCOVA analysis indicated that the largest effects on both TDS and Na:Ca ratios were landscape type and E/I(18O), while age played a less significant role. In contrast, Cl:HCO3 ratios were only influenced significantly by wetland age. Thus, surficial geology and evaporation effects seem to drive the large differences between wetlands found on and off lease; wetland age may play a role in decreased salinity found on and off the mining landscape. These findings may provide a useful comparative metric for reclamation success in landscapes possessing similar hydrological and hydrochemical facies.
title: Multi-threaded ASP solving with clasp
Creators: name: Gebser, Martin
name: Kaufmann, Benjamin
name: Schaub, Torsten
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 004 Datenverarbeitung; Informatik

description: We present the new multi-threaded version of the state-of-the-art answer set solver clasp. We detail its component and communication architecture and illustrate how they support the principal functionalities of clasp. Also, we provide some insights into the data representation used for different constraint types handled by clasp. All this is accompanied by an extensive experimental analysis of the major features related to multi-threading in clasp.
description: Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 586
A blueprint for a Digital-Analog Variational Quantum Eigensolver using Rydberg atom arrays
Creators: name: Michel, Antoine
name: Grijalva, Sebastian
name: Henriet, Loïc
name: Domain, Christophe
name: Browaeys, Antoine
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We address the task of estimating the ground-state energy of Hamiltonians coming from chemistry. We study numerically the behavior of a digital-analog variational quantum eigensolver for the H2, LiH and BeH2 molecules, and we observe that one can estimate the energy to a few percent points of error leveraging on learning the atom register positions with respect to selected features of the molecular Hamiltonian and then an iterative pulse shaping optimization, where each step performs a derandomization energy estimation.
description: 13 pages, 8 figures
Classical curves via one-vertex maps
Creators: name: Weaver, Anthony
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 14J50, 14H57, 11G32

description: One-vertex maps (a type of dessin d'enfant) give a uniform characterization of certain well-known algebraic curves, including those of Klein, Wiman, Accola-Maclachlan and Kulkarni. The characterization depends on a new classification of one-vertex (dually, one-face or unicellular) maps according to the size of the group of map automorphisms. We use an equivalence relation appropriate for studying the faithful action of the absolute Galois group on dessins, although we do not pursue that line of inquiry here.
description: Forthcoming in Geometriae Dedicata
Nivel de integración económica del MERCOSUR y su relevancia regional
Creators: name: Moreno Fierro, Karol Estefania
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 160607 International Relations
subject: FOS: Political science

description: El Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) es definido como un proceso de integración regional a nivel latinoamericano, por lo que, es relevante analizar su importancia en el escenario internacional moderno, para determinar su rol como agente integrador.
An Unexpected Monetary Reward Enhances Endurance Exercise Performance but Results in Similar Isometric Neuromuscular Performance Fatigability Compared to a Non-Reward Session.
Creators: name: Trpcic, Mackenzie
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Cycling
subject: Exercise
subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Motivation
subject: Physiology

description: Extrinsic motivation via monetary reward incentivizes behavior. Data on how an incentivization encourages participants to push beyond their perceived limit are equivocal. This study aimed to determine if physically active, healthy, young adults could be influenced by an unexpected monetary reward to extend their time-to-task failure (TTF) cycling performance. Participants completed a control and reward TTF session in the heavy intensity domain of exercise (HVYTTF), and 1 min after, a TTF in the extreme domain (EXTTTF). The reward session involved an unexpected incentive offered 1 min before expected task failure during the HVYTTF. Neuromuscular (NM) assessments before and after the TTFs and the EXTTTF performance itself were used to evaluate performance fatigability. The unexpected incentive significantly increased the HVYTTF (46+/-16 min, 53+/-22 min; p =0.01) and reduced the EXTTTF (68+/-17 s, 57+/-17 s; p =0.03). Isometric NM assessments showed no condition effect or interactions. Significant time effects from baseline compared to post-HVYTTF and post-EXTTTF existed, respectively, for: i) IMVC: control, 601N, 414N, 413N (p <0.001); reward, 616N, 418N, 415N (p <0.001); ii) Db10:100: control, 0.99, 0.73, 0.70 (p <0.001); reward, 1.00, 0.74, 0.72 (p <0.001); and iii) Qtwpot: control, 177N, 109N, 110N (p <0.001); reward, 174N, 110N, 99N (p <0.001). VA showed no time effect from baseline to post-HVYTTF and post-EXTTTF: control, 90%, 90%, 87%; reward, 89%, 86%, 84%, respectively. These findings indicate that a monetary reward that increased the HVYTTF resulted in a reduced EXTTTF. The reduced performance during the dynamic task was not captured by isometric NM assessments.
title: Schools as acculturative and developmental contexts for youth of immigrant and refugee background
Creators: name: Schachner, Maja K.
name: Juang, Linda
name: Moffitt, Ursula
name: van de Vijver, Fons J. R.
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 150 Psychologie

description: Schools are important for the academic and socio-emotional development, as well as acculturation of immigrant-and refugee-background youth. We highlight individual differences which shape their unique experiences, while considering three levels of the school context in terms of how they may affect adaptation outcomes: (1) interindividual interactions in the classroom (such as peer relations, student-teacher relations, teacher beliefs, and teaching practices), (2) characteristics of the classroom or school (such as ethnic composition and diversity climate), and (3) relevant school-and nation-level policies (such as diversity policies and school tracking). Given the complexity of the topic, there is a need for more research taking an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective to address migration related issues in the school context. Teacher beliefs and the normative climate in schools seem particularly promising points for intervention, which may be easier to change than structural aspects of the school context. More inclusive schools are also an important step toward more peaceful interethnic relations in diverse societies.
Calculating lexicase selection probabilities is NP-Hard
Creators: name: Dolson, Emily
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Neural and Evolutionary Computing (cs.NE)
subject: Computational Complexity (cs.CC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: F.2

description: Calculating the probability of an individual solution being selected under lexicase selection is an important problem in attempts to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of lexicase selection, a state-of-the art parent selection algorithm in evolutionary computation. Discovering a fast solution to this problem would also have implications for efforts to develop practical improvements to lexicase selection. Here, I prove that this problem, which I name lex-prob, is NP-Hard. I achieve this proof by reducing SAT, a well-known NP-Complete problem, to lex-prob in polynomial time. This reduction involves an intermediate step in which a popular variant of lexicase selection, epsilon-lexicase selection, is reduced to standard lexicase selection. This proof has important practical implications for anyone needing a fast way of calculating the probabilities of individual solutions being selected under lexicase selection. Doing so in polynomial time would be incredibly challenging, if not all-together impossible. Thus, finding approximation algorithms or practical optimizations for speeding up the brute-force solution is likely more worthwhile. This result also has deeper theoretical implications about the relationship between epsilon-lexicase selection and lexicase selection and the relationship between lex-prob and other NP-Hard problems.
Applicability of fitted and published biomass equations for Larix species in northeastern China
Creators: name: Cao, Lei
name: Li, Haikui
name: Liu, Xiaotong
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Statistics
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: Science Policy

description: This study reviewed published biomass equations for Larix species in the literature and developed additive biomass equations (by nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression known as NSUR) and independent equations, respectively, based on DBH-only and DBH-H variables with the biomass data of 150 trees sampled in northeastern China. The applicability of fitted and published equations was comprehensively assessed with respect to Larix species, their provinces and origins when applied in northeastern China. The results showed that equations derived from the local study area did not always perform better than the published biomass equations in the literature. Tree-level equations performed slightly broader than stand-level equations. Nonlinear regression could provide higher applicability due to correction factors in the linear regression. Adding tree height as the second variable improved the applicability of stem and aboveground published equations. The applicability of original published equations was better for northeastern China for sites of similar latitude. When using published biomass equations, care should be taken to assess the uncertainty and applicability of biomass equations, which is important for the sustainable management of forested resources. Published information on biomass equations is especially necessary for forestry organizations that do not have the opportunity to develop their own equations.
title: Extended and continuous decline in effective population size results in low genomic diversity in the world's rarest hyena species, the brown hyena
Creators: name: Westbury, Michael V.
name: Hartmann, Stefanie
name: Barlow, Axel
name: Wiesel, Ingrid
name: Leo, Viyanna
name: Welch, Rebecca
name: Parker, Daniel M.
name: Sicks, Florian
name: Ludwig, Arne
name: Dalen, Love
name: Hofreiter, Michael
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie

description: Hyenas (family Hyaenidae), as the sister group to cats (family Felidae), represent a deeply diverging branch within the cat-like carnivores (Feliformia). With an estimated population size of <10,000 individuals worldwide, the brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) represents the rarest of the four extant hyena species and has been listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Here, we report a high-coverage genome from a captive bred brown hyena and both mitochondrial and low-coverage nuclear genomes of 14 wild-caught brown hyena individuals from across southern Africa. We find that brown hyena harbor extremely low genetic diversity on both the mitochondrial and nuclear level, most likely resulting from a continuous and ongoing decline in effective population size that started similar to 1 Ma and dramatically accelerated towards the end of the Pleistocene. Despite the strikingly low genetic diversity, we find no evidence of inbreeding within the captive bred individual and reveal phylogeographic structure, suggesting the existence of several potential subpopulations within the species.
description: Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 589
High-Performance and Scalable Agent-Based Simulation with BioDynaMo
Creators: name: Breitwieser, Lukas
name: Hesam, Ahmad
name: Rademakers, Fons
name: Luna, Juan Gómez
name: Mutlu, Onur
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing (cs.DC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Agent-based modeling plays an essential role in gaining insights into biology, sociology, economics, and other fields. However, many existing agent-based simulation platforms are not suitable for large-scale studies due to the low performance of the underlying simulation engines. To overcome this limitation, we present a novel high-performance simulation engine. We identify three key challenges for which we present the following solutions. First, to maximize parallelization, we present an optimized grid to search for neighbors and parallelize the merging of thread-local results. Second, we reduce the memory access latency with a NUMA-aware agent iterator, agent sorting with a space-filling curve, and a custom heap memory allocator. Third, we present a mechanism to omit the collision force calculation under certain conditions. Our evaluation shows an order of magnitude improvement over Biocellion, three orders of magnitude speedup over Cortex3D and NetLogo, and the ability to simulate 1.72 billion agents on a single server. Supplementary Materials, including instructions to reproduce the results, are available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6463816
description: Accepted to PPoPP '23: The 28th ACM SIGPLAN Annual Symposium on Principles and Practice of Parallel Programming
title: Effects of fluid flow, cooling and deformation as recorded by 40Ar/39Ar, Rb–Sr and zircon fission track ages in very low- to low-grade metamorphic rocks in Avalonian SE Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Creators: name: Willner, Arne P.
name: Barr, Sandra M.
name: Glodny, Johannes
name: Massonne, Hans-Joachim
name: Sudo, Masafumi
name: Thomson, Stuart N.
name: Van Staal, Cees R.
name: White, Chris E.
Publisher: name: Universität Potsdam
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 550 Geowissenschaften

description: 40Ar/39Ar in situ UV laser ablation of white mica, Rb–Sr mineral isochrons and zircon fission track dating were applied to determine ages of very low- to low-grade metamorphic processes at 3.5±0.4 kbar, 280±30°C in the Avalonian Mira terrane of SE Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia). The Mira terrane comprises Neoproterozoic volcanic-arc rocks overlain by Cambrian sedimentary rocks. Crystallization of metamorphic white mica was dated in six metavolcanic samples by 40Ar/39Ar spot age peaks between 396±3 and 363±14 Ma. Rb–Sr systematics of minerals and mineral aggregates yielded two isochrons at 389±7 Ma and 365±8 Ma, corroborating equilibrium conditions during very low- to low-grade metamorphism. The dated white mica is oriented parallel to foliations produced by sinistral strike-slip faulting and/or folding related to the Middle–Late Devonian transpressive assembly of Avalonian terranes during convergence and emplacement of the neighbouring Meguma terrane. Exhumation occurred earlier in the NW Mira terrane than in the SE. Transpression was related to the closure of the Rheic Ocean between Gondwana and Laurussia by NW-directed convergence. The 40Ar/39Ar spot age spectra also display relict age peaks at 477–465 Ma, 439 Ma and 420–428 Ma attributed to deformation and fluid access, possibly related to the collision of Avalonia with composite Laurentia or to earlier Ordovician–Silurian rifting. Fission track ages of zircon from Mira terrane samples range between 242±18 and 225±21 Ma and reflect late Palaeozoic reburial and reheating close to previous peak metamorphic temperatures under fluid-absent conditions during rifting prior to opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean.
description: Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe, 584
Exploring English Language Learning Experiences of Adult Chinese Immigrants
Creators: name: Pang, Jinping
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: LINC
subject: Adult Chinese immigrants
subject: transition theory
subject: 4S System
subject: adult learning and education
subject: Education

description: Adult Chinese immigrants face many challenges in transition experiences when moving to Canada. Good English language proficiency is essential for integration into Canadian society as it determines educational and employment opportunities. Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programs are government-funded programs that support immigrants in improving their English language levels and in understanding Canadian culture. The purpose of this research is to have an in-depth understanding of adult Chinese immigrants’ transition experiences in Canada to help policymakers and instructors more effectively understand and support this demographic in their transition experiences. I employ a qualitative and descriptive single case study to explore and describe this aspect through the lens of the 4S System of transition theory, which consists of Self, Situation, Strategies, and Support. Employing semi-structured interviews, four participants were selected for the research through a purposeful sampling method. The gathered data was then analyzed through the lens of the 4S System, which incorporates the themes of transitions, inner strengths, strategies, and support. The research results found that participants’ inner strengths, such as optimism, supported them in dealing with transitions. Research results also showed the importance of a strong support system, such as government, institutions, community, friends, and family in helping Chinese immigrants deal with transitions.
MOESM1 of Mapping the evidence on health equity considerations in economic evaluations of health interventions: a scoping review protocol
Creators: name: Besar Saâ€™aid, Hafizah
name: Mathew, Sharon
name: Richardson, Marina
name: Bielecki, Joanna
name: Sander, Beate
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: Medicine
Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
Information Systems not elsewhere classified
Computational Biology

description: Additional file 1. PRISMA-P Checklist. (docx 37kb)
Pullout evaluation of sawbone experiment in different types of pedicle screws combined with bone cement augmentation for severe osteoporotic spine
Creators: name: Yang, Shih-Chieh
name: Liu, Pao-Hsin
name: Tu, Yuan-Kun
Publisher: name: Institute of Machine Design and Operation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław
Year: 2018
Subjects: osteoporosis, pullout strength, Bone cement augmentation, Cannulated pedicle screw, Sawbone

description: Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics; 02/2018; ISSN 1509-409X
Holographic entanglement entropy and mutual information in deformed field theories at finite temperature
Creators: name: Ebrahim, Hajar
name: Ahmadpour, Monireh
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper we have studied the effect of deformation and temperature on holographic entanglement entropy and mutual information between two subsystems in a deformed field theory at finite temperature. The $T{\overline{T}}$ deformation operator in field theory introduces a cut-off in the dual gravity background. We define different regimes of parameters and calculate the entanglement entropy and mutual information analytically. We observe that temperature and deformation parameter have similar effects on entanglement entropy and mutual information. They both lead to decrease in mutual information or somehow the correlation between the two subsystems. Interestingly we observe the emergence of correction terms in entanglement entropy and mutual information that are universal and do not depend on the scale of the non-local operator.
description: 27 pages, 4 figures
Validation of the Exoplanet Kepler-21b using PAVO/CHARA Long-Baseline Interferometry
Creators: name: Huber, Daniel
name: Ireland, Michael J.
name: Bedding, Timothy R.
name: Howell, Steve B.
name: Maestro, Vicente
name: Mérand, Antoine
name: Tuthill, Peter G.
name: White, Timothy R.
name: Farrington, Christopher D.
name: Goldfinger, P. J.
name: McAlister, Harold A.
name: Schaefer, Gail H.
name: Sturmann, Judit
name: Sturmann, Laszlo
name: Brummelaar, Theo A. ten
name: Turner, Nils H.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present long-baseline interferometry of the Kepler exoplanet host star HD179070 (Kepler-21) using the PAVO beam combiner at the CHARA Array. The visibility data are consistent with a single star and exclude stellar companions at separations ~1-1000 mas (~ 0.1-113 AU) and contrasts < 3.5 magnitudes. This result supports the validation of the 1.6 R_{earth} exoplanet Kepler-21b by Howell et al. (2012) and complements the constraints set by adaptive optics imaging, speckle interferometry, and radial velocity observations to rule out false-positives due to stellar companions. We conclude that long-baseline interferometry has strong potential to validate transiting extrasolar planets, particularly for future projects aimed at brighter stars and for host stars where radial velocity follow-up is not available.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters; v2: minor changes added in proof
The assessment of the relationships between body posture indices and the Y-Balance Test results in the adolescents
Creators: name: Walaszek, Robert W.
name: Chwała, Wiesław
name: Walaszek, Katarzyna
name: Burdacki, Marcin
Publisher: name: Institute of Machine Design and Operation, Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław
Year: 2018
Subjects: postural stability, body posture, Y-Balance Test, photogrammetric method

description: Acta of Bioengineering and Biomechanics; 02/2018; ISSN 1509-409X
Ferussina Grateloup 1827
Creators: name: Tang, Jin
name: Zhang, Gongaote
name: Guo, Junqi
name: Luo, Lingxuan
name: Jiang, Jiamei
name: Pan, Hongbo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Architaenioglossa
Cyclophoridae
Ferussina

description: Genus Ferussina Grateloup, 1827
 Ferussina GRATELOUP, 1827: 5.
 Type species: Ferussina anostomaeformis Grateloup, 1827, by monotypy.
description: Published as part of Tang, Jin, Zhang, Gongaote, Guo, Junqi, Luo, Lingxuan, Jiang, Jiamei & Pan, Hongbo, 2023, Ferussina Petofiana Sp. N. (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Cyclophoridae), The Oldest Representative Of Its Subfamily From The Late Cretaceous Of Romania, pp. 337-352 in Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 69 (4) on page 342, DOI: 10.17109/AZH.69.4.337.2023http://zoobank.org/6836FC88-636F-412E-850C-26F8C1A6294B, http://zenodo.org/record/10272168
A quantum interferometer for quartets in superconducting three-terminal Josephson junctions
Creators: name: Mélin, Régis
name: Feinberg, Denis
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: An interferometric device is proposed in order to analyze the quartet mode in biased three-terminal Josephson junctions (TTJs), and to provide experimental evidence for emergence of a single stationary phase, the so-called quartet phase. In such a quartet-Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (quartet-SQUID), the flux sensitivity exhibits period ${hc}/{4e}$, which is the fingerprint of a transient intermediate state involving two entangled Cooper pairs. The quartet-SQUID provides two informations: an amplitude that measures a total ``quartet critical current'', and a phase lapse coming from the superposition of the following two current components: the quartet supercurrent that is odd in the quartet phase, and the phase-sensitive multiple Andreev reflection (phase-MAR) quasiparticle current, that is even in the quartet phase. This makes a TTJ a generically "$θ$-junction". Evidence for phase-MARs plays against conservative scenarii involving synchronization of AC Josephson currents, based on ``adiabatic'' phase dynamics and RSJ-like models.
description: 6 pages, 2 figures, revised manuscript (minor modifications)
A Life Course and Socio-Ecological Evaluation of Gambling Behaviours Among Older Adults
Creators: name: Gorenko, Julie Ann
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: gambling
subject: problem gambling
subject: older adults
subject: PGSI
subject: life course
subject: Psychology--Clinical

description: Background: Problem gambling measures require evaluation for age equivalence in older adults. Accurate measurement is necessary for understanding factors related to later-life gambling, including unique circumstances that may increase vulnerability to problem gambling (e.g., life events, worsening health, changing social contexts). Research with older gamblers that incorporates the intersection between individual, social, and social life course factors is limited. Methods: Utilizing older adult samples from existing longitudinal datasets, three studies examined: (1) the psychometric properties of the commonly used Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) using classical test theory approaches; (2) if responses to PGSI items differ by age, gender, and problem gambling severity using Rasch modeling; and (3) the between- and within-person influence of life events on gambling frequency and PGSI scores, accounting for individual and social factors using multilevel modeling. Results: Study 1 found that the PGSI had a single-factor structure, which was invariant between genders; good internal consistency; and concurrent validity with overall gambling frequency, and frequency of electronic gaming machine (EGM) use, bingo, and instant win tickets. In Study 2, all but three PGSI items demonstrated appropriate fit to the Rasch model; the PGSI does not appear to differentiate older persons across the problem gambling severity continuum (may not identify less severe problems in older gamblers); and there were differences in item functioning between older and younger adults. Study 3 showed that PGSI scores decreased in older age; were higher in women; were positively related to stressful life events on average, and this relationship was modulated by age (impact of stressful events on problem gambling decreased with higher age); and social support was protective against problem gambling on average. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that the PGSI measures a single construct in older adults; however, the PGSI functions differently in older adults and may not detect less severe levels of problem gambling. Future research should identify or develop the most accurate problem gambling measures for older gamblers. Despite problem gambling severity appearing to decrease with age, efforts are needed to reduce problem gambling risk in older adults that have lower social support and who experience stressful life events.