cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Image Registration Based Measures of Regional Lung Ventilation from Dynamic Spiral CT with Xe-CT
Creators: name: Ding, Kai
name: Cao, Kunlin
name: Fuld, Matthew K.
name: Du, Kaifang
name: Christensen, Gary E.
name: Hoffman, Eric A.
name: Reinhardt, Joseph M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Medical Physics (physics.med-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Purpose: Regional lung volume change as a function of lung inflation serves as an index of parenchymal and airway status as well as an index of regional ventilation and can be used to detect pathologic changes over time. In this article, we propose a new regional measure of lung mechanics --- the specific air volume change by corrected Jacobian. Methods: 4DCT and Xe-CT data sets from four adult sheep are used in this study. Nonlinear, 3D image registration is applied to register an image acquired near end inspiration to an image acquired near end expiration. Approximately 200 annotated anatomical points are used as landmarks to evaluate registration accuracy. Three different registration-based measures of regional lung mechanics are derived and compared: the specific air volume change calculated from the Jacobian (SAJ); the specific air volume change calculated by the corrected Jacobian (SACJ); and the specific air volume change by intensity change (SAI). Results: After registration, the mean registration error is on the order of 1 mm. For cubical ROIs in cubes with size 20 mm $\times$ 20 mm $\times$ 20 mm, the SAJ and SACJ measures show significantly higher correlation (linear regression, average $r^2=0.75$ and $r^2=0.82$) with the Xe-CT based measure of specific ventilation (sV) than the SAI measure. For ROIs in slabs along the ventral-dorsal vertical direction with size of 150 mm $\times$ 8 mm $\times$ 40 mm, the SAJ, SACJ, and SAI all show high correlation (linear regression, average $r^2=0.88$, $r^2=0.92$ and $r^2=0.87$) with the Xe-CT based sV without significant differences when comparing between the three methods. Conclusion: Given a deformation field by an image registration algorithm, significant differences between the SAJ, SACJ, and SAI measures were found at a regional level compared to the Xe-CT sV in four sheep that were studied.
ac Stark shift and multiphoton-like resonances in low-frequency driven optical lattices
Creators: name: Arlinghaus, Stephan
name: Holthaus, Martin
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We suggest that Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices subjected to ac forcing with a smooth envelope may provide detailed experimental access to multiphoton-like transitions between ac-Stark-shifted Bloch bands. Such transitions correspond to resonances described theoretically by avoided quasienergy crossings. We show that the width of such anticrossings can be inferred from measurements involving asymmetric pulses. We also introduce a pulse tracking strategy for locating the particular driving amplitudes for which resonances occur. Our numerical calculations refer to a currently existing experimental set-up [Haller et al., PRL 104, 200403 (2010)].
description: 5 pages, 6 figures
Open Research Skills Workshops - GitHub basics
Creators: name: Emma, Karoune
name: Lancelotti, Carla
name: Ruiz-Pérez, Javier
name: García-Granero, Juan José
name: Madella, Marco
name: Kerfant, Celine
name: Dunseth, Zachary
name: Maria Gabriela Musaubach Also known as  M. Gabriela Musaubach, María Musaubach
name: Bates, Jennifer
name: Dabengwa, Abraham
name: Ge, Yong
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Open science, phytolith research, GitHub

description: This is the third workshop on GitHub basics in a series of workshop about Open Research Skills. This workshop covers: - Introduction to Github and its uses - Demonstration on using GitHub  - basic repo set up and editing List of training workshops in Open Research Skills: 24th February 2023 - Open access publishing 24th March 2023 - Using repositories 21st April 2023 - GitHub basics 28th April 2023 - GitHub collaborative workflows 26th May 2023 - Standard vocabularies and ontologies 30th June 2023 - FAIR data Project overview: Our project aims to upskill participants in open research skills to increase the quality and reusability of phytolith research and related disciplines such as archaeology, palaeosciences and plant sciences. We will run six hands-on training workshops on open access publishing and research outputs, using repositories, ontologies and standard vocabularies, implementation of FAIR Guidelines for phytolith research, and two workshops on Github basic and advanced skills. The materials from all workshops will be archived as self-study courses on our website (https://open-phytoliths.netlify.app/). We will also provide translation during workshops and training materials into multiple languages.
AlphaB-crystallin and neutrophil activation
Creators: name: Lichtenberger, Trisha Michelle
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: alphaB-crystallin
subject: neutrophils
subject: Dendritic cells
subject: interleukin-10
subject: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

description: As the most abundant immune cells in the human body, neutrophils are often the first cell type to come in contact with invading microbes. These granulocytes flock to the site of infection or injury during the acute phase of inflammation where they provide many anti-microbial effector mechanisms that are tightly regulated. These cells also contribute to the inflammatory environment by directing the responses of other immune cell populations through cytokine and chemokine secretion as well as communication via direct contact 1,2. If left unregulated during sterile injury or auto-inflammation, neutrophils can be harmful to the host and exacerbate the inflammatory response. This study aimed to elucidate mechanisms to regulate neutrophil response to stimulation. AlphaB-crystallin (αBC) is a small heat shock protein that possesses protective functions including anti-inflammatory capabilities 3. This crystallin is the highest upregulated gene in active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions 4 and studies have shown that αBC treatment of EAE animals (a model of MS) reduced clinical disease and suppressed T cell activation 5. I hypothesized that αBC plays a protective role in EAE by down-regulating the pro-inflammatory response of neutrophils. Under stimulatory conditions in vitro, treatment with αBC induced neutrophils to secrete increased amounts of IL-10 and MMP-8 as well as returned the generation of reactive oxygen species toward unprimed levels. Further, when grown together with dendritic cells (DCs), prior αBC treatment of stimulated neutrophils reduced the production of IL-12p40 by DCs. Although neutrophils were upregulated and hypersensitive in response to the induction of the EAE model, treatment with αBC did not alter the phenotype of these cells during the disease course. Neutrophils treated with αBC in vitro exibit an altered reponse to stimulation that ultimately reduces the stimulation of DCs. This mechanism does not appear to play a role during EAE since BC treatment did not translate to a suppression of neutrophils in the MS disease model. Since EAE is a T cell driven disease, it is possible that BC treatment of neutrophils may be more impactful in other diseases where these granulocytes play a prominent role such as rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythmatosis.
The Gender Gap in Political Knowledge in Canada
Creators: name: Giles, Janine Lee
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Political Science
subject: FOS: Political science
subject: Political behaviour
subject: Gender
subject: Political Knowledge

description: Since the 1990s, Canadian federal election studies show that women and men do not hold equal amounts of campaign knowledge. The political science literature suggests that changed gender roles, increased feminist socialization, and improved socio-economic resources over time should have eliminated the gender differences over time. Acquiring and maintaining political knowledge, however, is a complex phenomenon. I argue that the gender gap can be explained by taking into account women and men’s individual and aggregate-level political resources, personal motivations, cognitive engagement in electoral campaigns, and their roles as mothers and fathers. First, I test the conventional explanations of the gender gap. Using the 1997 to 2008 Canadian Election Studies, I examine the impact of the individual-level socio-economic status, gender role change, and individual political motivation on women and men’s knowledge of campaign facts. Even with these factors included in the model, the gender gap in knowledge of party leaders remained ten points in favour of men and for party promises eight points in favour of men. Two alternative explanations of the gap are then tested. First, I examine the gender gap during the five-week Canadian federal election campaign. Flooded by political coverage in media, political advertising and political discussion, the impact of gender changes across the campaign. I find that the rate change in providing correct responses is different for women and men during federal elections campaigns, which suggests that women engage later in the campaign compared to men. The gendered rate change in providing correct responses does not change the overall gender gap, however. Second, I test the impact of political resources at the local level on the gender gap in campaign knowledge using the 2006 Canadian Census. The analysis shows that compared to men, women’s knowledge of the party leaders is positively affected by the employment rate at the constituency level. Local education rates, on the other hand, have an impact on neither women nor men’s knowledge of party leaders. Women living in areas with the highest employment rate provided correct responses five percentage points higher than women living in areas with the lowest rate of employment on average.
Introduction to stochastic models of transportation flows. Part I
Creators: name: Malyshev, V. A.
name: Zamyatin, A. A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Probability (math.PR)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 82C70

description: We consider here probabilistic models of transportation flows. The main goal of this introduction is rather not to present various techniques for problem solving but to present some intuition to invent adequate and natural models having visual simplicity and simple (but rigorous) formulation, the main objects being cars not abstract flows. The papers consists of three parts. First part considers mainly linear flows on short time scale - dynamics of the flow due to changing driver behavior. Second part studies linear flow on longer time scales - individual car trajectory from entry to exit from the road. Part three considers collective car movement in complex transport networks.
description: 20 pages
Daily Online Experiences of Marginalization Stress and Social Support for LGBTQIA+ Young Adults
Creators: name: Kurup, Allycen R
Publisher: name: Purdue University Graduate School
Year: 2023
Subjects: Clinical psychology

description: LGBTQIA+ young adults face systemic and interpersonal marginalization and minoritization. These experiences occur not only in offline spaces but also in online contexts. However, online contexts also allow for LGBTQIA+ individuals to access social support that extends and bolsters the support they may receive offline. Previous studies tend to examine the relation between stress and support for LGBTQIA+ individuals using cross-sectional methods, despite the emphasis of previous theories such as minority stress theory on the occurrence of stressors on a daily, cumulative basis. The current study investigated how daily online marginalization stress experiences related to online experiences of social support for LGBTQIA+ young adults. Participants included 177 young adults, ages 18-29 and who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
 Participants completed baseline measures of demographics, lifetime experiences of marginalization stress, social media use and attitudes, perception of online social support, self-esteem, and mental health symptoms. Next, participants were prompted twice daily for 21 days to complete a survey about online marginalization stress experiences, general and LGBTQIA+-specific online social support experiences, and positive and negative affect. Finally, participants completed a follow-up survey measuring internalized stigma, community connectedness, self-esteem, and mental health symptoms.
 Results suggested that online marginalization stress was related to daily affect but not to follow-up well-being outcomes. Online marginalization stress was also related to online general social support, but not LGBTQIA+-specific online support. General social support online was related to higher positive affect and lower negative affect, and LGBTQIA+-specific online support was related to higher positive affect, but both types of online social support were generally unrelated to follow-up outcomes. Low marginalization stress and low general social support together were associated with higher internalized stigma and lower self-esteem at follow-up. Differences in these effects generally emerged for individuals with marginalized sexual orientations and less so for individuals with marginalized gender identities. The results of the study suggest that daily online marginalization stress experiences are likely related to online social support, and that online social support is beneficial for daily affect. However, online social support may not be particularly beneficial for ameliorating the effects of online marginalization stress on affect or well-being.
The Way of Carbon: Composition and Transport of Organic Carbon in the Nearshore Zone of Herschel Island, Qikiqtaruk
Creators: name: Petzold, Pia
name: Lantuit, Hugues
name: Fritz, Michael
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: Arctic permafrost coasts are greatly impacted by global climate change. Warming permafrost, decreasing sea ice extent and increasing sea temperature lead to greater coastal erosion. The carbon stored in the permafrost is then released into the nearshore zone, where it degrades, potentially leading to the release of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) into the atmosphere. Yet, the exact pathways of organic carbon (OC) in the nearshore zone are not completely understood. In order to fill this gap, we collected dissolved and particulate OC (DOC, POC) samples in the nearshore zone of Herschel Island, Qikiqtaruk. The sampling was repeatedly carried out along a transect over a period of two weeks during the open water season in summer 2022. Water samples were collected at the surface and at several water depths. Subsequently, water samples were filtered through 47 μm fiberglass filters and examined in the laboratory for suspended particulate matter, DOC, and POC. When possible, Van Veen Grab samples and short cores were taken at each sample location. The upper six centimeters of the short cores as well as the grab samples were analyzed for grain size, mercury, carbon and nitrogen content. In addition to the water sampling, temperature, conductivity, salinity, and turbidity were measured at each sampling location with CTD and turbidity meter. Initial data shows a gradient in temperature and turbidity in the water column, especially at the beginning of the sampling period, which coincided with the sea ice breakup. Hereby, values for Turbidity range from 3.81 to 205.00 FNU. The amount of DOC and POC in the water samples will give an indication on the variability of geochemical properties in the water column over time. This will allow us to determine and quantify the link between these properties and environmental forcing.
Linked open data to represent multilingual poetry collections. A proposal to solve interoperability issues between poetic repertoires
Creators: name: González-Blanco, Elena
name: del Rio, Gimena
name: Martínez Cantón, Clara
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: ontology
TEI
verse
metrics
poetry
CIDOC

description: Th is paper describes the creation of a poetic ontology in order to use it as a basis to link different databases and projects w orking on metrics and poetry. It has been built on the model of the Spanish digital repertoire ReMetCa, but its aim is to be enlarg ed and improved in order to fit under every poetic system. The conceptual semantic model, written in OWL, includes classes and metadata from standard ontological models related to humanities fields (such as CIDOC or Dublin Core), and adds specific elements and properties to describe poetic phenomena. Its final objective is to interconnect, reuse and locate data disseminated through poetic repertoi res, in order to boost int eroperability among them.
Gravitation and vacuum entanglement entropy
Creators: name: Jacobson, Ted
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The vacuum of quantum fields contains correlated fluctuations. When restricted to one side of a surface these have a huge entropy of entanglement that scales with the surface area. If UV physics renders this entropy finite, then a thermodynamic argument implies the existence of gravity. That is, the causal structure of spacetime must be dynamical and governed by the Einstein equation with Newton's constant inversely proportional to the entropy density. Conversely, the existence of gravity makes the entanglement entropy finite. This thermodynamic reasoning is powerful despite the lack of a detailed description of the dynamics at the cutoff scale, but it has its limitations. In particular, we should not expect to understand corrections to Einstein gravity in this way.
description: 9 pages; Essay written for the Gravity Research Foundation 2012 Awards for Essays on Gravitation
Exploring perceptions of perinatal nurses towards incident reporting : a qualitative study
Creators: name: Waters, Norna Foxcroft
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Patient safety has received greater attention in response to the release of reports estimating a significant number of incidents (adverse events or near misses) occur during inpatient hospital stays. Improving the safety of our health care system requires a greater understanding of the types of incidents and their underlying causes. Nurses are recognized as the discipline most likely to report incidents in practice due to their front line role in patient care. Perinatal nurses are of specific interest as they are well recognized as playing an active role in the identification and reporting of incidents that occur in inpatient perinatal settings. This descriptive qualitative study explored perinatal nurses’ perceptions about reporting incidents in practice and also identified factors that facilitate or act as barriers towards incident reporting. Data were collected in focus groups (n=16) consisting of perinatal nurses employed on labour and delivery units within one Health Authority in the province of BC. Audiotaped data were transcribed and analyzed using constant comparison. Four main themes and 12 subthemes were identified. The main themes were: nature of incidents, how incidents happen, barriers to incident reporting, and facilitating factors for incident reporting. The subthemes included: descriptions of incidents, determining what qualifies as an incidents, litigation, decision making, dynamics, fatigue, time, reporting tools, unit culture, learning, practice improvement, and professional identity. The perinatal nurses indicated the types of incidents that occurred in their practice area were unique to their practice setting. They felt these incidents were mostly related to outcomes and were to some degree out of their control. They did not view incidents involving medications as an issue They identified team dynamics as influencing the safety of perinatal units, because poor team dynamics were often associated with negative patient outcomes. Fatigue, lack of time to report incidents, reporting tools and the negative reactions/responses of team members were identified as barriers to incident reporting. Facilitating factors to incident reporting were professional responsibility, learning opportunities created by incident reports, and observing change on their units in response to incident reports. The themes had implications for nursing practice, administration, education, and research.
Counselling Psychologists' Lived Experiences of Engaging with Social Justice
Creators: name: Kennedy, Barbara
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: General
subject: Educational Psychology
subject: counselling psychology
subject: Professional identity
subject: social justice

description: It has been emphasized repeatedly in the counselling psychology literature that the profession needs to re-commit to addressing the needs of the more vulnerable members of society and search for ways to action that include systemic and social change (Arthur & Collins, 2010). As such, counselling psychologists have been urged to integrate social justice into their professional identities and practice. The current study utilized descriptive phenomenological methodology to explore six counselling psychologists’ lived experiences of engaging in social justice, in an effort to guide a professional identity for counselling psychology that embraces social justice and expand the definition of counselling psychology practice to explicitly include social justice action. The results from this research highlight the profound calling and commitment that these counselling psychologists have for promoting and working towards social justice. Participants shared the many ways that this identification with social justice shapes their professional and personal lives, offering examples of how social justice oriented practice can look like within clinical, educational, and research roles. In exploring the experiences of these social justice leaders, it became clear that they have benefited greatly from this professional identification with social justice in the form of increased motivation, satisfaction, and meaning within their work. In order for counselling psychology to more fully embrace a social justice orientation, further research is needed that strengthens the connections between the work of counselling psychologists and issues of oppression, investigates the effectiveness of incorporating social justice practices, and exemplifies more concrete ways of integrating social justice within counselling psychology’s professional identity and roles.
Evaluating the Metal Tolerance Capacity of Oil Sands Tailings Microbes, and their Ability to Degrade Naphthenic Acids While Attached to Biochar
Creators: name: Frankel, Mathew
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: oil sands
subject: Environmental biofilm
subject: Naphthenic Acid
subject: Bio-char
subject: metal
subject: co-contamination
subject: Biodegradation
subject: remediation

description: Alberta’s oil sands process water (OSPW) was used herein as a case to investigate co-contaminated wastewater treatment; naphthenic acids (NAs, implicated for OSPW toxicity) and metals have been reported in OSPW. This thesis sought to evaluate the metal tolerances of a native OSPW microbial community, and the effect of OSPW-specific metals on their ability to degrade NAs. Furthermore, this work focused on enhancing OSPW treatment by growing these NA-degrading communities on an engineered adsorbent, biochar, under the hypothesis that combining the effects of biochar with attached OSPW microbes would be more effective at contaminant removal than either independent approach. Metal susceptibility experiments with the OSPW community demonstrated elevated tolerances to OSPW metals. Microbial-biochar work showed biochar NA removal was enhanced by microbial degradation, with mixed results in the effects of metal co-contamination on biodegradation with each biochar. Metal immobilization was improved by microbial attachment to adsorbents, regardless of biochar assayed.
The Herschel HIFI water line survey in the low-mass proto-stellar outflow L1448
Creators: name: Santangelo, G.
name: Nisini, B.
name: Giannini, T.
name: Antoniucci, S.
name: Vasta, M.
name: Codella, C.
name: Lorenzani, A.
name: Tafalla, M.
name: Liseau, R.
name: van Dishoeck, E. F.
name: Kristensen, L. E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: As part of the WISH (Water In Star-forming regions with Herschel) key project, we report on the observations of several ortho- and para-H2O lines performed with the HIFI instrument towards two bright shock spots (R4 and B2) along the outflow driven by the L1448 low-mass proto-stellar system, located in the Perseus cloud. These data are used to identify the physical conditions giving rise to the H2O emission and infer any dependence with velocity. These observations provide evidence that the observed water lines probe a warm (T_kin~400-600 K) and very dense (n 10^6 - 10^7 cm^-3) gas, not traced by other molecules, such as low-J CO and SiO, but rather traced by mid-IR H2 emission. In particular, H2O shows strong differences with SiO in the excitation conditions and in the line profiles in the two observed shocked positions, pointing to chemical variations across the various velocity regimes and chemical evolution in the different shock spots. Physical and kinematical differences can be seen at the two shocked positions. At the R4 position, two velocity components with different excitation can be distinguished, with the component at higher velocity (R4-HV) being less extended and less dense than the low velocity component (R4-LV). H2O column densities of about 2 10^13 and 4 10^14 cm^-2 have been derived for the R4-LV and the R4-HV components, respectively. The conditions inferred for the B2 position are similar to those of the R4-HV component, with H2O column density in the range 10^14 - 5 10^14 cm^-2, corresponding to H2O/H2 abundances in the range 0.5 - 1 10^-5. The observed line ratios and the derived physical conditions seem to be more consistent with excitation in a low velocity J-type shock with large compression rather than in a stationary C-shock, although none of these stationary models seems able to reproduce all the characteristics of the observed emission.
description: Accepted for publication in A&A
Effect of Prebiotic Fiber Intake on Adiposity and Inflammation in Overweight and Obese Children: Assessing the Role of the Gut Microbiota
Creators: name: Nicolucci, Alissa
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Nutrition
subject: Prebiotic Fiber
subject: Pediatrics
subject: Obesity
subject: Gut Microbiota
subject: Oligofructose-enriched Inulin
subject: Inflammation

description: Pediatric obesity is a serious national and global health challenge. Interventions aimed at improving obesity and its metabolic complications in children are critically needed. The aim of this thesis was to assess the effects of 16 weeks of oligofructose-enriched inulin consumption on overweight and obese children 7-12 years old. Compared to placebo, prebiotic fiber consumption normalized body weight gain and significantly reduced body weight Z-score, total body fat and trunk body fat percent. Inflammatory markers interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein were numerically reduced within the prebiotic fiber group, albeit not statistically significantly. Changes in the gut microbiota, specifically significant increases in Bifidobacterium spp., were observed with prebiotic fiber and may represent, a mechanism for the metabolic benefits of prebiotic fiber consumption. While future studies are needed, this work highlights a promising role for prebiotic fiber as a dietary obesity intervention in the pediatric population.
title: Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB), Glucose, Insulin, Octanoate (C8), and Decanoate (C10) Responses to a Medium-Chain Triglyceride (MCT) Oil with and without Glucose: A Single-Center Study in Healthy Adults
Creators: name: Heidt, Christina
name: Fobker, Manfred
name: Newport, Mary
name: Feldmann, Reinhold
name: Fischer, Tobias
name: Marquardt, Thorsten
Publisher: name: University of Muenster, Institutional Repository MIAMI
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: 610 Medicine and health

description: MCTs are increasingly being used to promote ketogenesis by patients on ketogenic diet therapy, but also by people with other conditions and by the general public for the perceived potential benefits. However, consumption of carbohydrates with MCTs and untoward gastrointestinal side effects, especially at higher doses, could decrease the sustainability of the ketogenic response. This single-center study investigated the impact of consuming carbohydrate as glucose with MCT oil compared to MCT alone on the BHB response. The effects of MCT oil versus MCT oil plus glucose on blood glucose, insulin response, levels of C8, C10, BHB, and cognitive function were determined, and side effects were monitored. A significant plasma BHB increase with a peak at 60 min was observed in 19 healthy participants (24.4 ± 3.9 years) after consuming MCT oil alone, and a more delayed but slightly higher peak was observed after consuming MCT oil plus glucose. A significant increase in blood glucose and insulin levels occurred only after MCT oil plus glucose intake. The overall mean plasma levels of C8 and C10 were higher with the intake of MCT oil alone. MCT oil plus glucose consumption showed improved scores for the arithmetic and vocabulary subtests.
description: Finanziert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der Universität Münster.
Impact of Biofield Energy Treated Herbomineral Formulation on Mouse Dendritic and Splenocyte Cells for Modulation of Pro-inflammatory Cytokines
Creators: name: Thanasi, Rudina
Publisher: name: SMN - The ScienceMedia Network
Year: 2019
Subjects: Natural Sciences

description: The use of herbomineral formulation in the healthcare sector for different chronic diseases is gaining popularity due to its fewer side effects, high safety profile, and cost effectiveness. A new proprietary herbomineral formulation was formulated, consisting of four essential ingredients viz. herbal root extract (ashwagandha), and minerals (zinc, magnesium, and selenium). The study aims to evaluate the in vitro effect of Biofield Energy Healing (The Trivedi Effect®) on the test formulation using murine dendritic (DCs) and splenocyte cells. The herbomineral formulation was divided into two parts; one was represented as control, while the other part was treated with the Biofield Energy Healing Treatment remotely by eighteen renowned Biofield Energy Healers (The Trivedi Effect®) and defined as the Biofield Treated formulation. The effect of the test formulation on these cells were monitored by an estimation of pro-inflammatory cytokines level such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1α), and interleukin (IL-1β) in cell culture supernatants at the non-cytotoxic concentrations of the test formulation using MTT assay. The DCs were treated with the Biofield Energy Treated test formulation at different concentrations (i.e. 1.05 to 1052.5 µg/mL) for 24 hours, and the results showed significant (p≤0.001) suppression of TNF-α levels at all the tested concentrations with a maximum percentage decrease by 43.64% at 5.2 µg/mL concentration in the Biofield Treated formulation as compared with the untreated test formulation. Further, the Biofield Treated formulation also demonstrated inhibition of MIP-1α and IL-1β at a concentration range of 0.0000105 to 10.5 µg/mL in LPS stimulated splenocyte cells. There was a significant (p≤0.001) inhibition of MIP-1α (26.52%) and IL-1β (35.28%) in the Biofield Treated test formulation at concentration 0.000105 µg/mL and 0.0000105 µg/mL, respectively in comparison to the untreated test formulation. Overall, these results suggest that the Biofield Energy Healing based herbomineral formulation (The Trivedi Effect®) significantly down-regulated the tested cytokines expression in DCs and splenocyte cells as compared to the untreated formulation. Therefore, the Biofield Healing based formulation might be useful as a better anti-inflammatory product for many chronic and acute inflammatory disease conditions and autoimmune disorders. The Biofield Energy Treatment based formulation can also be effectively applied in cases of organ transplants, stress management and anti-aging by improving overall health.
The Pisa Stellar Evolution Data Base for low-mass stars
Creators: name: Dell'Omodarme, M.
name: Valle, G.
name: Degl'Innocenti, S.
name: Moroni, P. G. Prada
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The last decade showed an impressive observational effort from the photometric and spectroscopic point of view for ancient stellar clusters in our Galaxy and beyond. The theoretical interpretation of these new observational results requires updated evolutionary models and isochrones spanning a wide range of chemical composition. With this aim we built the new "Pisa Stellar Evolution Database" of stellar models and isochrones by adopting a well-tested evolutionary code (FRANEC) implemented with updated physical and chemical inputs. In particular, our code adopts realistic atmosphere models and an updated equation of state, nuclear reaction rates and opacities calculated with recent solar elements mixture. A total of 32646 models have been computed in the range of initial masses 0.30 - 1.10 Msun for a grid of 216 chemical compositions with the fractional metal abundance in mass, Z, ranging from 0.0001 to 0.01, and the original helium content, Y, from 0.25 to 0.42. Models were computed for both solar-scaled and alpha-enhanced abundances with different external convection efficiencies. Correspondingly, 9720 isochrones were computed in the age range 8 - 15 Gyr, in time steps of 0.5 Gyr. The whole database is available to the scientific community on the web. Models and isochrones were compared with recent calculations available in the literature and with the color-magnitude diagram of selected Galactic globular clusters. The dependence of relevant evolutionary quantities on the chemical composition and convection efficiency were analyzed in a quantitative statistical way and analytical formulations were made available for reader's convenience.
description: Accepted for publication in A&A
The Impact of Principal Leadership and Teacher Formative Assessment Practices on Student Intellectual Engagement
Creators: name: Rice, James
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Education--Administration
subject: Education--Elementary
subject: Education--Secondary
subject: Education--Teacher Training
subject: design-based
subject: Research
subject: student-centered
subject: Principal
subject: Leadership
subject: teacher
subject: formative
subject: Assessment
subject: student
subject: intellectual
subject: engagement

description: The purpose of this design-based research study was to explore with a few principals the impact that focused student-centered principal leadership would have on working with teachers that would employ particular formative assessment practices that could more deeply engage students intellectually in their school work. The rationale for this study originated from my desire to see more students intellectually engaged in their school work than presently. It was my assumption that student intellectual engagement could be strategically improved by leveraging the combined impact of principal leadership and teacher formative assessment practices. The purposeful sample included four principals from schools with varying grade configurations from the same district. The primary data collection was from two in-depth interviews of the principals. Secondary data sources were from teacher and student self-report surveys. The interview data were transcribed, shared with principal participants to determine accuracy, coded, organized by themes and questions, compared again to the original transcript, and then linked to the conceptual framework to arrive at the findings. The study has shown that student-centered principal leadership is at the heart of building principal capacity. Principal leadership was found to have positive effects on teacher formative assessment practices. Student intellectual engagement measures revealed a negative relationship in intellectual engagement perhaps due to the timing of the student data collection, or student push-back resulting from changes in teacher classroom practice, or established teacher competency. Recommendations are offered for principal leadership development, teacher formative assessment practices, and student intellectual engagement.
Mean-field closure parameters for passive scalar turbulence
Creators: name: Snellman, J. E.
name: Rheinhardt, M.
name: Käpylä, P. J.
name: Mantere, M. J.
name: Brandenburg, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Direct numerical simulations of isotropically forced homogeneous stationary turbulence with an imposed passive scalar concentration gradient are compared with an analytical closure model which provides evolution equations for the mean passive scalar flux and variance. Triple correlations of fluctuations appearing in these equations are described in terms of relaxation terms proportional to the quadratic correlations. Three methods are used to extract the relaxation timescales tau_i from direct numerical simulations. Firstly, we insert the closure ansatz into our equations, assume stationarity, and solve for tau_i. Secondly, we use only the closure ansatz itself and obtain tau_i from the ratio of quadratic and triple correlations. Thirdly we remove the imposed passive scalar gradient and fit an exponential decay law to the solution. We vary the Reynolds (Re) and Péclet (Pe) numbers while keeping their ratio at unity and the degree of scale separation and find for large Re fair correspondence between the different methods. The ratio of the turbulent relaxation time of passive scalar flux to the turnover time of turbulent eddies is of the order of three, which is in remarkable agreement with earlier work. Finally we make an effort to extract the relaxation timescales relevant for the viscous and diffusive effects. We find two regimes which are valid for small and large Re, respectively, but the dependence of the parameters on scale separation suggests that they are not universal.
description: 19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physica Scripta
IR Divergences in Inflation and Entropy Perturbations
Creators: name: Xue, Wei
name: Gao, Xian
name: Brandenberger, Robert
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study leading order perturbative corrections to the two point correlation function of the scalar field describing the curvature perturbation in a slow-roll inflationary background, paying particular attention to the contribution of entropy mode loops. We find that the infrared divergences are worse than in pure de Sitter space: they are power law rather than logarithmic. The validity of perturbation theory and thus of the effective field theory of cosmological perturbations leads to stringent constraints on the coupling constants describing the interactions, in our model the quartic self-interaction coupling constant of the entropy field. If the self coupling constant is larger than some critical value which depends in particular on the duration of the inflationary phase, then perturbation theory breaks down. Our analysis may have implications for the stability of de Sitter space: the quantum effects which lead to an instability of de Sitter space will be larger in magnitude in the presence of entropy fluctuations.
description: 28 pages, minor changes in Sec 3.3, reference added
Regularity in second and fourth order nonlinear elliptic problems
Creators: name: Cowan, Craig
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: This thesis consists of six research papers.In ``Regularity of the extremal solution in a MEMS model with advection,'' we examine the equation given by $ -\Delta u + c(x) \cdot \nabla u = \lambda f(u) $ in $ \Omega$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions and where $ f(u) = (1-u)^{-2}$ or $ f(u) =e^u$. Our main result is that the associated extremal solution is smooth provided this is the case for the advection free case; $c(x)=0$. In ``Estimates on pull-in distances in MEMS models and other nonlinear eigenvalue problems'' we prove some results, which were observed numerically, regarding equations of the form $ -\Delta u = \lambda |x|^\alpha F(u) $ in $B$ where $B$ is the unit ball in $ \IR^N$. In addition we obtain upper and lower estimates on the extremal solutions associated with various nonlinear eigenvalue problems. In ``The critical dimension for a fourth order elliptic problem with singular nonlinearity,'' we examine the equation given by $ \Delta^2 u = \lambda (1-u)^{-2}$ in $ B$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions where $B$ is the unit ball in $ \IR^N$. Our main result is that the extremal solution $u^*$ is smooth if and only if $ N \le 8$. In ``Regularity of extremal solutions in fourth order nonlinear eigenvalue problems on general domains'' we examine the equation $ \Delta^2 u = \lambda f(u)$ in $ \Omega$ with Navier boundary conditions where $ \Omega$ is a general bounded domain in $ \IR^N$. We obtain various results concerning the regularity of the associated extremal solution. In ``Regularity of the extremal solutions in elliptic systems'' we examine the elliptic system given by $ -\Delta u = \lambda e^v$, \; $ -\Delta v = \gamma e^u$ in $ \Omega$ where $\lambda$ and $\gamma$ are positive constants and we obtain results concering the regularity of the extremal solutions. In ``Optimal Hardy inequalities for general elliptic operators with improvements'' we examine some very general Hardy inequalities. Optimal constants are obtained and we characterize the improvements of these general Hardy inequalities. In addition we prove various weighted versions of these inequalities with improvements and many other results.
How to Overcome the Challenges in In-situ Decommissioning of the Above Ground Tailings Management Facility?
Creators: name: Madhavan, Dayal
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Engineering--Civil
subject: Engineering--Environmental
subject: Engineering--Mining
subject: Engineering--Nuclear
subject: Project Management
subject: In-situ Decommissioning
subject: Uranium Tailings
subject: Entombment

description: This thesis focused on the challenges related to the in-situ decommissioning of the above ground tailings management facility (AGTMF) at Cameco’s Key Lake Uranium Milling and Mining Operations. The uranium tailings stored in the AGTMF from 1983 to 1998 could adversely affect the regional biota and public health as the tailings. Significant uncertainties also exist in regards to the ultimate long-term storage of uranium mine tailings as the timescales involved are relatively long (e.g. 10, 000 years modeling required). This study has explored the processes, challenges and lessons learned in the in-situ decommissioning and the methods on how to overcome the challenges related to decommissioning the AGTMF. The stored tailings are key areas of liability and this thesis has endeavored to overcome the challenges by gaining insights from decommissioning activities within uranium industry globally to achieve a safe, cost effective, and environmentally sustainable decommissioning process for the AGTMF.
Additional file 1 of A study protocol for a predictive model to assess population-based avoidable hospitalization risk: Avoidable Hospitalization Population Risk Prediction Tool (AvHPoRT)
Creators: name: Rosella, Laura C.
name: Hurst, Mackenzie
name: O’Neill, Meghan
name: Pagalan, Lief
name: Diemert, Lori
name: Kornas, Kathy
name: Hong, Andy
name: Fisher, Stacey
name: Manuel, Douglas G.
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer

description: Additional file 1. Summary of health risk behaviour questions and response options from the Canadian Community Health Survey.
Humanidades  Digitales:  estándares  para  su  consolidación  en  el  campo  científico  argentino
Creators: name: del Rio, Gimena
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Humanidades Digitales
estándares
buenas prácticas
herramientas
investigación

description: Las Humanidades Digitales (HD) se han consolidado como un campo académico en franca expansión , principalmente en países de habla anglosajona. Así y todo, su recepción ha sido diferente para el mundo hispánico y, a día de hoy, no se han absorbido en el currículo universitario o actividades de investigación del mismo modo. L as HD dan cuenta de un diálogo entre las distintas disciplinas humanísticas, y entre esta s y el ámbito de la informática; y también de la posibilidad de crear nuevos objetos de estudio y líneas de investigación mixtas. Ejemplo de la aproximac ión transversal de las HD y de la necesidad de demarcación del campo científico fue la conformación del consorcio de la Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) h acia los años ochenta, cuando diferentes tecnologías aplicadas a disciplinas como la Lingüística de corp us o la Bibliotecología buscaban un método de codificación en un formato que fuera independiente de hardwares y sistemas operativos, y que ofreciera a la comunidad científica metadatos estandarizados para alargar la vida de sus objetos digitales. La TEI re sultó un grupo híbrido conformado por bibliotecarios, filólogos, programadores, etc. a la búsqueda de estándares basados en otros pre - existentes y de buenas prácticas para la edición y conservación de datos y para la correcta definición de los objetos digi tales relacionados con la investigación científica. Siguiendo esta línea, trabajamos con Mela Bosch desde el CAICYT (CONICET) en el proyecto Metodologías de Investigación en Herramientas Digitales para la Investigación en Humanidades y Cs. Sociales (MHeDI ) en un documento de Buenas Prácticas para la estandarización de metodologías y prácticas y de la evaluación científica en HD en Argentina. El desconocimiento de estos estándares propuestos por DARIAH o la MLA ha sido un gran lastre para la conformación de l campo académico en HD en nuestro país. Expondremos en esta ocasión un acercamiento a nuestro documento y a la labor del proyecto MHeDI.