cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Nucleus accumbens neurons encode predicted and ongoing reward costs in rats
Creators: name: Jones, Joshua L.
name: Carelli, Regina M.
name: Day, Jeremy J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: Efficient decision making requires that animals consider both the benefits and costs of potential actions, such as the amount of effort or temporal delay involved in reward seeking. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been implicated in the ability to choose between options with different costs and overcome high costs when necessary, but it is not clear how NAc processing contributes to this role. Here, neuronal activity in the NAc was monitored using multi-neuron electrophysiology during two cost-based decision tasks in which either reward effort or reward delay was manipulated. In each task, distinct visual cues predicted high value (low effort/immediate) and low value (high effort/delayed) rewards. After training, animals exhibited a behavioral preference for high value rewards, yet overcame high costs when necessary to obtain rewards. Electrophysiological analysis indicated that a subgroup of NAc neurons exhibited phasic increases in firing rate during cue presentations. In the effort-based decision task (but not the delay-based task), this population reflected the cost-discounted value of the future response. In contrast, other subgroups of cells were activated during response initiation or reward delivery, but activity did not differ on the basis of reward cost. Finally, another population of cells exhibited sustained changes in firing rate while animals completed high effort requirements or waited for delayed rewards. These findings are consistent with previous reports that implicate NAc function in reward prediction and behavioral allocation during reward-seeking behavior, and suggest a mechanism by which NAc activity contributes to both cost-based decisions and actual cost expenditure.
Somatosensory inputs modify auditory spike timing in dorsal cochlear nucleus principal cells
Creators: name: Pradhan, Shashwati
name: Shore, Susan E.
name: Koehler, Seth D.
name: Manis, Paul B.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: In addition to auditory inputs, dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) pyramidal cells in the guinea pig receive and respond to somatosensory inputs and perform multisensory integration. DCN pyramidal cells respond to sounds with characteristic spike-timing patterns that are partially controlled by rapidly inactivating potassium conductances. Deactivating these conductances can modify both spike rate and spike timing of responses to sound. Somatosensory pathways are known to modify response rates to subsequent acoustic stimuli, but their effect on spike timing is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that preceding tonal stimulation with spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5) stimulation significantly alters the first spike latency, the first interspike interval, and the average discharge regularity of firing evoked by the tone. These effects occur whether the neuron is excited or inhibited by Sp5 stimulation alone. Our results demonstrate that multisensory integration in DCN alters spike-timing representations of acoustic stimuli in pyramidal cells. These changes likely occur through synaptic modulation of intrinsic excitability or synaptic inhibition.
Long-Range Free Fermions: Lieb-Robinson Bound, Clustering Properties, and Topological Phases
Creators: name: Gong, Zongping
name: Guaita, Tommaso
name: Cirac, J. Ignacio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider free fermions living on lattices in arbitrary dimensions, where hopping amplitudes follow a power-law decay with respect to the distance. We focus on the regime where this power is larger than the spatial dimension (i.e., where the single particle energies are guaranteed to be bounded) for which we provide a comprehensive series of fundamental constraints on their equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties. First we derive a Lieb-Robinson bound which is optimal in the spatial tail. This bound then implies a clustering property with essentially the same power law for the Green's function, whenever its variable lies outside the energy spectrum. The widely believed (but yet unproven in this regime) clustering property for the ground-state correlation function follows as a corollary among other implications. Finally, we discuss the impact of these results on topological phases in long-range free-fermion systems: they justify the equivalence between Hamiltonian and state-based definitions and the extension of the short-range phase classification to systems with decay power larger than the spatial dimension. Additionally, we argue that all the short-range topological phases are unified whenever this power is allowed to be smaller.
description: 6 + 13 pages, 2 + 4 figures. Revised version
Cocaine abstinence alters nucleus accumbens firing dynamics during goal-directed behaviors for cocaine and sucrose
Creators: name: Cameron, Courtney M.
name: Carelli, Regina M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: Distinct subsets of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons differentially encode goal-directed behaviors for natural vs. drug rewards [R. M. Carelli et al. (2000) The Journal of Neuroscience, 20, 4255–4266], and the encoding of cocaine-seeking is altered following cocaine abstinence [J. A. Hollander & R. M. Carelli (2007) The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 3535–3539]. Here, electrophysiological recording procedures were used to determine if the selective encoding of natural vs. cocaine reward by NAc neurons is: (i) maintained when the natural reinforcer is a highly palatable sweet tastant and (ii) altered by cocaine abstinence. Rats (n=14) were trained on a multiple schedule of sucrose reinforcement and cocaine self-administration (2–3 weeks) and NAc activity was recorded during the task before and after 30 days of cocaine abstinence. Of 130 cells recorded before abstinence, 82 (63%) displayed patterned discharges (increases or decreases in firing rate, termed phasic activity) relative to operant responding for sucrose or cocaine. As in previous reports, the majority of those cells displayed nonoverlapping patterns of activity during responding for sucrose vs. cocaine. Specifically, only 17 (21%) showed similar patterns of activity (i.e. overlapping activity) across the two reinforcer conditions. After abstinence, this pattern was largely maintained, 23 of 70 phasic cells (33%) were overlapping. However, cocaine abstinence altered the overall percentage of selectively active neurons across reinforcer conditions. Specifically, significantly more neurons became selectively activated during cocaine-directed behaviors than during sucrose-directed behaviors. The results indicate that, although the selective encoding of cocaine and natural rewards is maintained even with a highly palatable substance, 30 days of cocaine abstinence dynamically alters the overall population encoding of natural and drug rewards by NAc neurons.
Creating a Deeper Understanding of Big Geospatial Data, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), and Community Science using Project Eddie Modules
Creators: name: Maclennan, Barb
name: LaFone, Frank
name: Harrison, William
Publisher: name: QUBES Educational Resources
Year: 2023

description: This module uses the Project Eddie Module Assessing the Risk of Invasive Species Using Community Science Data developed by Heard, M. J. (2023) to create a deeper understanding of big geospatial data and volunteered geographic information (VGI) by embedding and Implementing the Project EDDIE Module on Assessing the Risk of Invasive Species Using Community Science Data or Other Project Eddue Modules into a cross-cutting curriculum for undergraduate students. Students in the upper-division courses completed the module while adapting it for a campus and community Global Citizen Science Month and Earth Day activity.
The Role of Predictability of Perturbation Magnitudes in Control of Posture
Creators: name: Kaewmanee, Tippawan
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: People frequently experience perturbations while standing in crowded areas or when interacting with external objects. Balance impairment is common in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Balance maintenance in response to a perturbation is affected by predictability of magnitude of body disturbance. The purpose of the dissertation was to investigate postural control associated with exposures to perturbations of different magnitudes. In study 1, twenty young adults received pendulum perturbations of small or large magnitudes induced in sagittal plane. In study 2, twenty young adults received external perturbations induced in vertical plane by catching objects of small or large magnitudes. In study 3, ten young adults performed self-initiated perturbations induced by lifting either light or heavy objects. In study 4, twelve healthy older adults and twelve young adults received pendulum perturbations of small or large magnitudes and in study 5, fifteen individuals with MCI and fourteen age-matched control participants received pendulum perturbations of small or large magnitudes. All participants were not told about perturbation magnitudes, so they were exposed to a perturbation of either known magnitude (as such, predictable) in condition of repetitive magnitude or unknown magnitude (unpredictable) in condition of the unpredictable change of perturbation magnitude. Electromyographic activity of leg and trunk muscles and center of pressure (COP) displacements were recorded and analyzed during anticipatory (APAs) and compensatory (CPAs) phases of postural control. The outcomes of studies 1, 2 and 3 involving body perturbations induced by three different tasks showed similar trend revealing that when the perturbation magnitude suddenly changed, the participants tended to rely on prior experiences in dealing with perturbations and required less than six trials to adjust APAs and CPAs to new perturbation magnitude. The results of study 4 showed that smaller APAs in older adults were observed as compared to young adults in predictable conditions. Older adults also required more trials to optimize postural adjustments, as compared to young adults. The results of study 5 showed that individuals with MCI demonstrated smaller APAs in unpredictable conditions and required more trials to optimize postural adjustments, as compared to healthy older adults. The findings suggest that aging and cognitive decline adversely affect abilities to predict perturbation magnitude.
Stochastic Wilson-Cowan models of neuronal network dynamics with memory and delay
Creators: name: Goychuk, Igor
name: Goychuk, Andriy
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC)
subject: Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
subject: Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider a simple Markovian class of the stochastic Wilson-Cowan type models of neuronal network dynamics, which incorporates stochastic delay caused by the existence of a refractory period of neurons. From the point of view of the dynamics of the individual elements, we are dealing with a network of non-Markovian stochastic two-state oscillators with memory which are coupled globally in a mean-field fashion. This interrelation of a higher-dimensional Markovian and lower-dimensional non-Markovian dynamics is discussed in its relevance to the general problem of the network dynamics of complex elements possessing memory. The simplest model of this class is provided by a three-state Markovian neuron with one refractory state, which causes firing delay with an exponentially decaying memory within the two-state reduced model. This basic model is used to study critical avalanche dynamics (the noise sustained criticality) in a balanced feedforward network consisting of the excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Such avalanches emerge due to the network size dependent noise (mesoscopic noise). Numerical simulations reveal an intermediate power law in the distribution of avalanche sizes with the critical exponent around -1.16. We show that this power law is robust upon a variation of the refractory time over several orders of magnitude. However, the avalanche time distribution is biexponential. It does not reflect any genuine power law dependence.
Mechanisms controlling the guidance of thalamocortical axons through the embryonic forebrain: Mechanisms controlling the guidance of thalamocortical axons
Creators: name: López-Bendito, Guillermina
name: Maness, Patricia
name: Price, David J.
name: Garel, Sonia
name: Molnár, Zoltán
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: Thalamocortical axons must cross a complex cellular terrain through the developing forebrain and this terrain has to be understood for us to learn how thalamocortical axons reach their destinations. Selective fasciculation, guidepost cells, various diencephalic and telencephalic gradients have been implicated in thalamocortical guidance. As our understanding of the relevant forebrain patterns has increased, so has out knowledge of the guidance mechanisms. Our aim here is to review recent observations of cellular and molecular mechanisms relating to: the growth of thalamofugal projections to the ventral telencephalon, thalamic axon avoidance of the hypothalamus and extension into the telencephalon to form the internal capsule, the crossing of the pallial-subpallial boundary and the growth towards the cerebral cortex. We shall review current theories for the explanation of the maintenance and alteration of topographic order in the thalamocortical projections to the cortex. It is now increasingly clear that several mechanisms are involved at different stages of thalamocortical development and each contributes substantially to the eventual outcome. Revealing the molecular and cellular mechanisms can help to link specific genes to details of actual developmental mechanisms.
Magnetohydrodynamic stability of magnetars in the ultrastrong field regime II: The crust
Creators: name: Rau, Peter B.
name: Wasserman, Ira
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the stability of Hall MHD with strong magnetic fields in which Landau quantization of electrons is important. We find that the strong-field Hall modes can be destabilized by the dependence of the differential magnetic susceptibility on magnetic field strength. This instability is studied using linear perturbation theory, and is found to have typical growth time of order $\lesssim 10^3$ yrs, with the growth time decreasing as a function of wavelength of the perturbation. The instability is self-limiting, turning off following a period of local field growth by a few percent of the initial value. Finite temperature is also shown to limit the instability, with sufficiently high temperatures eliminating it altogether. Alfvén waves can show similar unstable behaviour on shorter timescales. We find that Ohmic heating due to the large fields developed via the instability and magnetic domain formation is not large enough to account for observed magnetar surface temperatures. However, Ohmic heating is enhanced by the oscillatory differential magnetic susceptibility of Landau-quantized electrons, which could be important to magneto-thermal simulations of neutron star crusts.
description: 20 pages, 18 figures
Physical Literacy Journeys from Primary School to Young Adulthood
Creators: name: Ramer, Jared Donald
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Longitudinal analyses were conducted using data from the NICHD SECCYD using SEM. These models are meant to represent the development of children within the scope of physical activity (PA) including their attitudes and behaviors given predictive factors. The first set of models represent parent predictor variables’ associations over time with their children’s enjoyment of PA. Parents with higher scores of enjoyment of PA themselves, and belief it is important to encourage their child to participate in PA had associations with higher scores of their children enjoying PA from grades 3 to 6. These relationships were not present from grades 6 to 9. The second set of models represent mean growth for children who play sports from grades 6 to 12 in four constructs: 1) “how much did you like playing this sport?” 2) “is the coach or leader of this sport someone you can trust, that listens to you and cares about you, and thinks that you are important?” 3) “did the coach or leader help you learn new skills or things you didn’t know about before?” and 4) “how well did you get along with other kids in the sport?” Furthermore covariate models on how much children liked playing the sport were tested for best fit with models time-constrained or time unconstrained. All variable means diminished over time and time-constrained models were better fitting for covariates indicating the relationships between liking playing the sport and the three covariates are time-invariant (does not change over time) between grades 6 and 12. The third set of models tested associations between predictor variables at grade 6, playing sports at both and neither time points of ages 15 and 18, and age 26 mental health and PA behavior variables. High levels of child enjoyment of PA, parent enjoyment of PA, and device-assessed vigorous PA were associated with playing sports at both ages while high levels of behavior problems and parent feelings that PE was important were negatively associated with playing at both ages. High levels of child enjoyment of PA were negatively associated with not playing sports at both ages. Playing sports at both ages was associated with better scores of age 26 well-being, depression, organized athletic time use and fitness activity time use.
Changes in matrix phosphorylation during bovine dentin development
Creators: name: Boskey, Adele L.
name: Yamauchi, Mitsuo
name: Jha, Divya
name: Lukashova, Lyudmilla
name: Atsawasuwan, Peter
name: Verdelis, Kostas
name: Wright, John T.
name: Peterson, Margaret G. E.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2007

description: Phosphorylation of the organic matrix proteins of dentin is important for the initiation of mineralization, but its relevance in later mineralization stages is controversial. The objective of this study was to analyze changes in the total matrix phosphate content during dentin development and to identify their origin. Amino acid and total matrix phosphate analyses of microdissected developing mantle and circumpulpal fetal bovine dentin specimens were performed. The amino acid composition showed few changes during mantle and circumpulpal dentin maturation. However, the total matrix phosphate content showed a significant, positive correlation with tissue maturation in both mantle and circumpulpal dentin, with a two- and a three-fold increase, respectively, being observed. The data indicate that changes occur in the pattern of phosphorylation of matrix proteins during dentin maturation, which we suggest may play a functional role in later stages of tooth mineralization.
Proximity Analysis of Public Schools and Major Sources of Pollution within Chicago, Illinois
Creators: name: Flax-Hatch, Joel R
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: This project aimed to quantify environmental inequities between different racial groups within the city of Chicago through conducting and improving upon the proximity analysis technique for hazard identification. Improvements were made upon commonly used methods for population selection and pollution identification. In addition to these improvements this work established clear guidelines for interpretation of statistical variation between proximities to sources of pollution amongst populations and introduced a new summary indicator, the Cumulative proximity burden CPB score, which was developed as a tool to be used in public participatory GIS settings to assist community organizations in communicating environmental disparities and in situations where stakeholders may have varied educational, and specialized backgrounds.
Fine mapping of dental fluorosis quantitative trait loci in mice
Creators: name: Yan, Dong
name: Yin, Zhaoyu
name: Everett, Eric T.
name: Zou, Fei
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: Genetic factors underlie dental fluorosis (DF) susceptibility/resistance. The A/J (DF susceptible) and 129P3/J (DF resistant) strains have been previously used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with DF on chromosomes (Chr) 2 and 11. In the present study increased marker density genotyping followed by interval mapping was performed to narrow the QTL intervals and improve the LOD scores. Narrower intervals on Chr 2 where LOD ≥ 6.0 (57–84 cM or ~51 Mb), LOD ≥ 7.0 (62–79 cM or ~32 Mb), and LOD ≥ 8.0 (65–74 cM or ~17 Mb); and on Chr 11 where LOD ≥ 6.0 the interval was 18–51 cM (~53 Mb), LOD ≥ 7.0 (28–48 cM or ~34 Mb), and LOD ≥ 8.0 (31–45 cM or~22 Mb) were obtained. Haplotype analysis between A/J and 129P3/J further reduced QTL intervals. Accn1 was selected as a candidate gene based upon its location near the peak LOD score on Chr 11 and distant homology with the C. elegans fluoride resistance gene flr1. DF severity between Accn1−/− and wildtype mice was not different. The loss of ACCN1 function does not modify DF severity in mice. Narrowing the DF QTL intervals will facilitate additional candidate gene selections and interrogation.
MAGGIE: Models and Algorithms for Galaxy Groups, Interlopers and Environment
Creators: name: Duarte, Manuel
name: Mamon, Gary A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Combining our knowledge of halo structure and internal kinematics from cosmological dark matter simulations and the distribution of halo interlopers in projected phase space measured in cosmological galaxy simulations, we develop MAGGIE, a prior- and halo-based, probabilistic, abundance matching (AM) grouping algorithm for doubly complete subsamples (in distance and luminosity) of flux-limited samples. We test MAGGIE-L and MAGGIE-M (in which group masses are derived from AM applied to the group luminosities and stellar masses, respectively) on groups of at least three galaxies extracted from a mock Sloan Digital Sky Survey Legacy redshift survey, incorporating realistic observational errors on galaxy luminosities and stellar masses. In comparison with the optimal Friends-of-Friends (FoF) group finder, groups extracted with MAGGIE are much less likely to be secondary fragments of true groups; in primary fragments, its galaxy memberships (relative to the virial sphere of the real-space group) are much more complete and usually more reliable, and its masses are much less biased and usually with less scatter, as are its group luminosities and stellar masses (computed in MAGGIE using the membership probabilities as weights). FoF outperforms MAGGIE only for high-mass clusters: for the reliability of the galaxy population and the dispersion of its total mass. In comparison with our implementation of the Yang et al. group finder, MAGGIE reaches much higher completeness and slightly lower group fragmentation and dispersion on group total masses, luminosities and stellar masses, but slightly greater bias in the latter two and lower reliabilities. MAGGIE should therefore lead to sharper trends of environmental effects on galaxies and more accurate mass/orbit modelling.
description: Version published in MNRAS consolidated with Erratum and additional fixes
Rescue of the murine amelogenin null phenotype with two amelogenin transgenes
Creators: name: Li, Yong
name: Kuehl, Melissa A.
name: Pugach, Megan K.
name: Gibson, Carolyn W.
name: Wright, John T.
name: Kulkarni, Ashok B.
name: Suggs, Cynthia
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: The amelogenin proteins are required for normal enamel development; the most abundant amelogenins expressed from alternatively spliced mRNAs are M180 and leucine rich amelogenin protein (LRAP). The Amelx null (KO) mouse has an enamel defect similar to human X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta. The disorganized enamel layer in KO mice is 10–20% the thickness of wild-type (WT) enamel and lacks prismatic structures. When the KO mice were mated with mice that express TgM180-87, partial rescue of the phenotype was observed such that enamel thickness, volume and density increased. A second transgene was introduced by mating the TgM180KO mice with TgLRAP mice, and male offspring were characterized for genotype and tooth phenotype was evaluated by SEM. TgM180LRAPKO molar enamel thickness further increased, and the structure was improved, with a more defined decussation pattern compared to singly rescued mice. We conclude that TgM180 provides significant rescue of the KO phenotype. Although the effectiveness of TgLRAP to rescue by itself is less obvious, the addition of TgLRAP to TgM180 in KO enamel leads to added improvement in both amount and structure and thus these transgenes function in a complementary manner. Together the two most abundant amelogenins lead to formation of obvious enamel decussation patterns.
Thermal and Reionisation History within a Large-Volume Semi-Analytic Galaxy Formation Simulation
Creators: name: Balu, Sreedhar
name: Greig, Bradley
name: Qiu, Yisheng
name: Power, Chris
name: Qin, Yuxiang
name: Mutch, Simon
name: Wyithe, J. Stuart B.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We predict the 21-cm global signal and power spectra during the Epoch of Reionisation using the MERAXES semi-analytic galaxy formation and reionisation model, updated to include X-ray heating and thermal evolution of the intergalactic medium. Studying the formation and evolution of galaxies together with the reionisation of cosmic hydrogen using semi-analytic models (such as MERAXES) requires N-body simulations within large volumes and high mass resolutions. For this, we use a simulation of side-length $210~h^{-1}$ Mpc with $4320^3$ particles resolving dark matter haloes to masses of $5\times10^8~h^{-1}~M_\odot$. To reach the mass resolution of atomically cooled galaxies, thought to be the dominant population contributing to reionisation, at $z=20$ of $\sim 2\times10^7~h^{-1}~M_\odot$, we augment this simulation using the DARKFOREST Monte-Carlo merger tree algorithm (achieving an effective particle count of $\sim10^{12}$). Using this augmented simulation we explore the impact of mass resolution on the predicted reionisation history as well as the impact of X-ray heating on the 21-cm global signal and the 21-cm power spectra. We also explore the cosmic variance of 21-cm statistics within $70^{3}$ $h^{-3}$ Mpc$^3$ sub-volumes. We find that the midpoint of reionisation varies by $Δz\sim0.8$ and that the cosmic variance on the power spectrum is underestimated by a factor of $2-4$ at $k\sim 0.1-0.4$ Mpc$^{-1}$ due to the non-Gaussian nature of the 21-cm signal. To our knowledge, this work represents the first model of both reionisation and galaxy formation which resolves low-mass atomically cooled galaxies while simultaneously sampling sufficiently large scales necessary for exploring the effects of X-rays in the early Universe.
description: 17 pages, 13 figures, revised and MNRAS accepted version
The role of amelogenin during enamel-crystallite growth and organization in vivo: Amelogenin and enamel-crystallite formation
Creators: name: Kulkarni, Ashok B.
name: Li, Yong
name: Kuehl, Melissa A.
name: Suggs, Cynthia
name: Wright, J. Tim
name: Gibson, Carolyn W.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: Amelogenin is critical for enamel formation and human AMELX gene mutations cause hypoplastic and/or hypomaturation enamel phenotypes. The Amelx null (AKO) mouse has a severe hypoplastic phenotype. This study evaluated the effect of amelogenin loss on enamel formation and crystallite morphology. Enamel from AKO and wild type (WT) mice was used. AKO mice were mated with transgenic mice expressing the most abundant known amelogenin isoform TgM180-87 to rescue (KOM180-87) the enamel crystallite phenotype. Molar enamel was embedded, sectioned with a diamond microtome and photographed using transmission electron microscopy. Crystallite sizes from multiple sections were measured using Image J. Crystallite mean thicknesses were (WT = 26 nm, AKO = 16 nm, KOm180-87 = 25 nm) and the mean widths were (WT = 96 nm, AKO = 59 nm, KOm180-87 = 85 nm). Despite a complete loss of amelogenin in AKO mice, a mineralized enamel layer with well-defined and organized crystallites forms. Enamel crystallites forming in the absence of amelogenin were reduced in thickness and width. For the first time we show that introduction of the m180 amelogenin isoform into the AKO mouse through crossbreeding rescues the crystallite phenotype. We conclude that amelogenin is essential for the development of normal crystallite size.
So-Called “Outsiders”: A Case Against the Moniker
Creators: name: Olek, Emily D
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: In the margins of Art historical texts, the corners of prestigious museums, and the far banks of art fairs, live the works of those who’ve been deemed “Outsiders”. Developed by professor and art historian, Roger Cardinal in the early 1970s, the term defies all conventional classification of art (i.e. geography, media, period, subject, or style), instead creating a genus of makers bound together by their shared otherness. Initially generated as an English language equivalent to artist Jean Dubuffet’s, Art Brut, Cardinal defines “Outsiders” term as “untrained artists whose position in society was often obscure and humble”.1 While the category began as a limiting classifier of artists not included in the mainstream canon of art history, over time and in the hands of an art world perpetually wanting for definitions and order, the moniker has become even more restrictive yet widely applied. This study explores the “Outsider” moniker from its initial inception to its current implementation. I do this first by discussing how categories and classifications develop in the art historical process, giving specific interest to the role western aesthetics play in shaping these terms. I then analyze common tropes and stereotypes often applied to “Outsider” artists such as reclusive lifestyles, mental illness, and naivety regarding their own artistic pursuits. I make the case that these experiences and attributes are widely accepted as consistent among all artists under the “Outsider” moniker, yet apply to few, leaving many of individuals true biographies unexplored and under-researched. I use the landscape artist Joseph E. Yoakum as an example of this issue of assumed biography. I argue that the “Outsider” term is rooted in a history of systemic prejudice and that its continued application is a hazard to the integrity of art historical practice and the perception of artists not included within the mainstream canon.
Long-term Study of the Sun and Its Implications to Solar Dynamo Models
Creators: name: Jha, Bibhuti Kumar
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Sun shows a wide range of temporal variations, from a few seconds to decades and even centuries, broadly classified into two classes short-term and Long-term. The solar dynamo mechanism is believed to be responsible for these global changes happening in the Sun. Hence, many dynamo models have been proposed to explain the observed behaviour of the Sun. This thesis is primarily focused on studying the \lt\ variation of the Sun and provides various inputs to the solar dynamo models. With a renewed interest in the subject, several automatic techniques have been developed for extensive data analysis as applied to long-term datasets and presented in this thesis. This approach provides better consistency and eliminates human subjectivity, which has been a normal practice in the past. The variation of penumbra to umbra area ratio, q, observed here, will provide constraints in sunspot simulations. In addition, the absence of any difference in the behaviour of small and big spots does not support the idea of the global and local dynamo. Two classes of BMRs observed in the magnetograms further verify this behaviour. The importance of the NSSL is not studied so well in the context of solar dynamo models, but it will be worth waiting to see its significance for understanding solar dynamo. Finally, the indication of tilt quenching presented here needs to be further verified using the more comprehensive data set, including stronger cycles.
description: PhD Thesis, Pondicherry University
Validity of US norms for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III in Malawian children
Creators: name: Van Rie, Annelies
name: Chirambo, Chawanangwa
name: Dow, Anna E.
name: Dube, Queen
name: Heyderman, Robert S.
name: Cole, Stephen R.
name: Cromwell, Elizabeth A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: Most psychometric tests originate from Europe and North America and have not been validated in other populations. We assessed the validity of United States (US)-based norms for the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (BSID-III), a neurodevelopmental tool developed for and commonly used in the US, in Malawian children.
Bifurcations of critical orbits of invariant potentials with applications to bifurcations of central configurations of the N-body problem
Creators: name: Kowalczyk, Marta
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Classical Analysis and ODEs (math.CA)
subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: In this article we study topological bifurcations of critical orbits of equivariant gradient equations. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of global bifurcations of solutions of these equations. Moreover, we apply these abstract results to the study of bifurcations of new families of planar central configurations of the N-body problem.
Axionic and nonaxionic electrodynamics in plane and circular geometry
Creators: name: Brevik, Iver
name: Favitta, Amedeo M.
name: Chaichian, Masud
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Various aspects of axion electrodynamics in the presence of a homogeneous and isotropic dielectric medium are discussed. 1. We consider first the "antenna-like" property of a planar dielectric surface in axion electrodynamics, elaborating on the treatment given earlier on this topic by Millar {\it et al.} (2017). We calculate the electromagnetic energy transmission coefficient for a dielectric plate, and compare with the conventional expression in ordinary electrodynamics. 2. We consider the situation where the medium exterior to the plate, assumed elastic, is "bent back" and glued together, so that we obtain a circular dielectric string in which the waves can propagate clockwise or counterclockwise. As will be shown, a stationary wave pattern is permitted by the formalism, and we show how the amplitudes for the two counterpropagating waves can be found. 3. As a special case, by omitting axions for a moment, we analyze the Casimir effect for the string, showing its similarity as well as its difference with the Casimir effect of a scalar field for a piecewise uniform string (Brevik and Nielsen 1990). 4. Finally, including axions again we analyze the enhancement of the surface-generated electromagnetic radiation near the center of a cylindrical haloscope, where the interior region is a vacuum and the exterior region a metal. This enhancement is caused by the curvature of the boundary, and is mathematically a consequence of the behavior of the Hankel function of the second kind for small arguments. A simple estimate shows that enhancement may be quite significant, and can therefore be of experimental interest. This proposal is suggested as an alternative to the reflector arrangement in a similar arrangement recently discussed by Liu {\it et al.} (2022).
description: 21 pages, latex2e, three figures
Frequency combs and platicons in optical microresonators with normal GVD
Creators: name: Lobanov, V. E.
name: Lihachev, G.
name: Kippenberg, T. J.
name: Gorodetsky, M. L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We predict the existence of a novel type of the flat-top dissipative solitonic pulses, "platicons", in microresonators with normal group velocity dispersion (GVD). We propose methods to generate these platicons from cw pump. Their duration may be altered significantly by tuning the pump frequency. The transformation of a discrete energy spectrum of dark solitons of the Lugiato-Lefever equation into a quasicontinuous spectrum of platicons is demonstrated. Generation of similar structures is also possible with bi-harmonic, phase/amplitude modulated pump or via laser injection locking.
description: 9 pages, 6 figures
Why the Gap? Analyzing the Etiology of Gender-based Performance Discrepancy in Laparo-endoscopic Skills
Creators: name: Doster, Dominique L
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2022
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Background: Completion of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic (FLS) and Endoscopic Surgery (FES) Programs has been required by the American Board of Surgery (ABS) for general surgery certification for several years. While validity evidence exists to support these assessments as high stakes examinations, retrospective studies on pass rates have noticed an alarming trend in gender-based performance discrepancy, with men consistently outperforming women. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the following questions: 1) What is the relationship between demographic variables and performance of endosurgical skills? 2) What is the relationship between visuospatial aptitude and performance? 3) What is the underlying etiology of gender-based discrepancy? 4) Does the robotic platform minimize gender-based performance discrepancy? Methods: Sixty-nine novice participants completed a visuospatial aptitude assessment and a series of tasks on an endoscopic simulator, robotic simulator, laparoscopic box trainer, and robotic dome trainer. Bivariate analyses were performed to analyze the relationship between performance and demographic variables, which guided subsequent multivariate linear regression analyses. Results: While performance on the laparoscopic tasks was less uniform, men outperformed women on all 3 FES tasks (18.1 points, p < 0.001 for FES Navigation, 19.9 points, p < 0.001 for FES Retroflexion, and 18.3 points, p < 0.001 for FES Tool Manipulation). Men also scored higher in the visuospatial aptitude assessment by 4.7 points (p < 0.001). After controlling for gender, visuospatial aptitude, the interaction between gender and visuospatial aptitude, glove size, hand dominance, height, ethnicity and ergonomics, visuospatial aptitude remained the only significant variable associated with all three FES tasks (Table 1). There was also no gender-related difference with regards to the robotic simulator or dome trainer, suggesting that when known differences between genders relating to grip strength and physical motor behavior are mitigated through an ergonomically unbiased platform, performance differences dissipate. Discussion: Our study supports the conclusion that previously observed gender differences in surgical performance are the result of visuospatial aptitude difference, not gender, and perpetuating the false belief that men are inherently better than women in surgical domains further amplifies the stereotype threat women in surgery face.
Menstrual cycle phase does not influence gender differences in experimental pain sensitivity
Creators: name: Klatzkin, Rebecca R.
name: Girdler, Susan S.
name: Mechlin, Beth
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Influence of menstrual cycle phase on experimental pain sensitivity in women and on gender differences in pain sensitivity was examined in 48 men and 49 women in response to cold pressor, heat, and ischemic pain. Each woman was tested at three points in their menstrual cycle in randomized order, the early follicular, late follicular, and luteal phases, while men were also tested three times, controlling for number of days between test sessions. Cycle phase was confirmed via serum hormone levels. As expected, women were significantly more sensitive to cold pain (p < .01), to heat pain (p < .0001), and to ischemic pain (p < .01) than men. However, pain perception during each task was not influenced by the menstrual cycle in women, nor did the menstrual cycle influence the magnitude of the gender differences in pain sensitivity. These results indicate that although women are more sensitive to a variety of noxious stimuli than men, menstrual cycle phase does not appear to moderate those differences in healthy men and women.
Asians differ from non-Hispanic Whites in experimental pain sensitivity
Creators: name: Girdlerl, Susan S.
name: Rowelll, Lauren N.
name: Mechlinl, Beth
name: Addamol, Michael
name: Jil, Ellen
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2011

description: This study examined differences between Asians and non-Hispanic Whites (Whites) in pain sensitivity, and its relationship to mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). In 30 Whites (50% female) and 30 Asians (50% female), experimental pain sensitivity was assessed with a hand cold pressor task, yielding measures of pain threshold, tolerance, intensity, and unpleasantness. Mean arterial pressure and HR measurements taken at rest and in response to speech stress were assessed. Perceived stress, anxiety, perfectionism, parental criticism, parental expectations and depressive symptoms were also measured. The results indicated that for the cold pain test, Asians demonstrated significantly lower pain threshold and tolerance levels than Whites. Although no ethnic differences were seen for MAP or HR responses to stress, for whites higher stress MAP levels were correlated with reduced pain sensitivity, while for Asians higher baseline and stress HR levels were correlated with reduced pain sensitivity. Asians reported higher parental expectations and greater parental criticism than Whites. For Asians only, higher levels of perfectionism were related to more depressive symptoms, anxiety and perceived stress. These results indicate that Asian Americans are more sensitive to experimental pain than Whites and suggest ethnic differences in endogenous pain regulatory mechanisms (e.g. MAP and HR). The results may also have implications for understanding ethnic differences in clinical pain.
Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia: defining skeletal features
Creators: name: Lamfers, Petra
name: Helmke, Knut
name: Bonneau, Dominique
name: Schmidt, Beate
name: Spranger, Jürgen
name: Cairns, Robyn
name: Pontz, Bertram F.
name: André, Jean-Luc
name: Rusu, Cristina
name: Sigaudy, Sabine
name: Lama, Guiliana
name: Saraiva, Jorge M.
name: Mayfield, Christy
name: Shoemaker, Lawrence
name: Bogdanovic, Radovan
name: Boerkoel, Cornelius F.
name: Hinkelmann, Barbara
name: Taha, Doris
name: Fryssira, Helen
name: Lücke, Thomas
name: Smithson, Sarah F.
name: Stajic, Natasa
name: Alpay, Harika
name: Loirat, Chantal
name: Goodman, David
name: Hunter, Kshamta B.
name: Cransberg, Karlien
name: Majore, Silvia
name: Fründ, Stefan
name: Asakura, Yumi
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2010

description: Schimke immunoosseous dysplasia (SIOD) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by prominent spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, T cell deficiency, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Biallelic mutations in swi/snf-related, matrix-associated, actin-dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily a-like 1 (SMARCAL1) are the only identified cause of SIOD, but approximately half of patients referred for molecular studies do not have detectable mutations in SMARCAL1. We hypothesized that skeletal features distinguish between those with or without SMARCAL1 mutations. Therefore, we analyzed the skeletal radiographs of 22 patients with and 11 without detectable SMARCAL1 mutations. We found that patients with SMARCAL1 mutations have a spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED) essentially limited to the spine, pelvis, capital femoral epiphyses, and possibly the sella turcica, whereas the hands and other long bones are basically normal. Additionally, we found that several of the adolescent and young adult patients developed osteoporosis and coxarthrosis. Of the 11 patients without detectable SMARCAL1 mutations, seven had a SED indistinguishable from patients with SMARCAL1 mutations. We conclude therefore that SED is a feature of patients with SMARCAL1 mutations and that skeletal features do not distinguish who of those with SED have SMARCAL1 mutations.
On isometry and isometric embeddability between ultrametric Polish spaces
Creators: name: Camerlo, Riccardo
name: Marcone, Alberto
name: Ros, Luca Motto
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Logic (math.LO)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 03E15, 54E50

description: We study the complexity with respect to Borel reducibility of the relations of isometry and isometric embeddability between ultrametric Polish spaces for which a set $D$ of possible distances is fixed in advance. These are, respectively, an analytic equivalence relation and an analytic quasi-order and we show that their complexity depends only on the order type of $D$. When $D$ contains a decreasing sequence, isometry is Borel bireducible with countable graph isomorphism and isometric embeddability has maximal complexity among analytic quasi-orders. If $D$ is well-ordered the situation is more complex: for isometry we have an increasing sequence of Borel equivalence relations of length $ω_1$ which are cofinal among Borel equivalence relations classifiable by countable structures, while for isometric embeddability we have an increasing sequence of analytic quasi-orders of length at least $ω+3$. We then apply our results to solve various open problems in the literature. For instance, we answer a long-standing question of Gao and Kechris by showing that the relation of isometry on locally compact ultrametric Polish spaces is Borel bireducible with countable graph isomorphism.
description: Minor imprecisions corrected. Following the suggestion of the anonymous referee, the former Section 7 concerning arbitrary Polish spaces with fixed set of distances has been left out and will be posted as a separate paper soon. The title is changed as well to reflect this modification