cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The UVES large program for testing fundamental physics-II. Constraints on a change in μ towards quasar HE 0027-1836
Creators: name: Rahmani, H.
name: Wendt, M.
name: Srianand, R.
name: Noterdaeme, P.
name: Petitjean, P.
name: Molaro, P.
name: Whitmore, Jonathan
name: Murphy, Michael
name: Centurion, M.
name: Fathivavsari, H.
name: Dódorico, S.
name: Evans, T. M.
name: Levshakov, S. A.
name: Lopez, S.
name: Martins, C. J.A.P.
name: Reimers, D.
name: Vladilo, G.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 5101
subject: Astronomical sciences
classificationCode: 5109
subject: Space sciences

description: We present an accurate analysis of the H2 absorption lines from the zabs ~ 2.4018 damped Lya system towards HE 0027-1836 observed with the Very Large Telescope Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (VLT/UVES) as a part of the European Southern Observatory Large Programme 'The UVES large programme for testing fundamental physics' to constrain the variation of proton-to-electron mass ratio, μ = mp/me. We perform cross-correlation analysis between 19 individual exposures taken over three years and the combined spectrum to check the wavelength calibration stability.We notice the presence of a possible wavelengthdependent velocity drift especially in the data taken in 2012.We use available asteroids spectra taken with UVES close to our observations to confirm and quantify this effect. We consider single- and two-componentVoigt profiles to model the observedH2 absorption profiles.We use both linear regression analysis and Voigt profile fitting where δμ/μ is explicitly considered as an additional fitting parameter. The two-component model is marginally favoured by the statistical indicators and we get δμ/μ = -2.5 +/- 8.1stat +/- 6.2sys ppm. When we apply the correction to the wavelength-dependent velocity drift, we find δμ/μ=-7.6 +/- 8.1stat +/- 6.3sys ppm. It will be important to check the extent to which the velocity drift we notice in this study is present in UVES data used for previous δ μ/μ measurements.
Developmental regulation and estrogenic endocrine disruption of metamorphosis in the Northern leopard frog, Rana pipens
Creators: name: Hogan, Natacha Suzanne
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Biology, Animal Physiology.
subject: Biology, Zoology.

description: Amphibian metamorphosis is a dramatic larvae-to-adult transformation regulated by temporal changes in thyroid hormones (TH) as well as interactions with other hormone systems. This developmental process is extremely responsive to changes in environmental conditions and susceptible to aquatic contaminants that interfere with hormone-dependent processes. While many of these endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been studied for their estrogenic effects on reproduction, the plasticity of amphibian metamorphosis provides a unique model for examining the thyroid-mediated effects of developmental exposure to estrogenic EDCs. The first objective of this thesis was to assess the toxicological response and developmental effects of estrogenic EDCs during the larval life-stages of amphibian development. After establishing baseline toxicity data for the test species, Rana pipiens, a developmental exposure was conducted to determine the estrogen-sensitivity of distinct periods during metamorphosis. Stage-specific exposures altered tadpole growth parameters and resulted in lasting effects such as delayed metamorphosis and female-biased sex ratios. Therefore, the second objective was to identify potential mechanisms by which xenoestrogens alter TH-dependent metamorphosis using a targeted gene expression approach. Development of multiplex and simplex real-time PCR assays and subsequent analysis established that thyroid- and estrogen-responsive transcripts in the tadpole brain are differentially regulated by exogenous TH and upon exposure to an estrogenic EDC. A short-term "challenge" assay confirmed that estrogenic exposure suppresses and in some cases blocks the ability of TH to induce the expression of target genes involved in mediating tissue-specific TH sensitivity during metamorphosis. The results of this research (1) provide evidence of cross-regulation between thyroid and estrogen-regulated genes during amphibian development and (2) indicate that developmental exposure to estrogenic EDCs may affect normal TH-responsiveness necessary for proper timing of metamorphosis.
Inhibitory processing of prediction violation during sentence comprehension
Creators: name: Kim, Jina
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: Inhibition
Lexical Decision
Phonological Violation
Prediction
Semantic Processing
Semantic Violation

description: It is widely acknowledged that humans engage in predictive processing during sentence comprehension. However, predictions can be frequently incorrect, and the cognitive operations to such prediction errors are not well understood. Several previous proposals suggest that an inhibitory mechanism is engaged to eliminate false predictions and process updated information. However, little empirical research has evaluated this assumption.
description: To address these questions, this dissertation presents two sets of experiments. Chapter 2 describes four experiments assessing whether the inhibition of predicted words occurs upon encountering unexpected linguistic stimuli, and if this inhibition is influenced by the stimuli's semantic congruity (congruent word in the sentence or not). Further, a control experiment was conducted to investigate whether such inhibition is influenced by linguistic status (word or non-linguistic sound). Employing a Cross-Modal Lexical Priming approach, the findings indicate that prediction violations lead to inhibition of the predicted word, evidenced by slowed lexical decision times to the predicted words after the presentation of a prediction violation. This inhibition appears specific to word violations, as non-linguistic sounds to not trigger such inhibitory effects. Interestingly, the semantic congruity of the word violation does not impact the degree of inhibition; any linguistic deviation from the semantic prediction leads to inhibition.
description: Chapter 3 investigates the specific attributes of words that instigate the inhibition of predicted words. By teasing apart phonological and semantic features—using pseudowords that have phonological properties without semantics, and environmental sounds that have semantic associations without phonological properties—the study reveals that pseudowords likely prompt inhibition of the irrelevant predicted word, while environmental sounds do not.
description: In conclusion, the current dissertation provides evidence that inhibitory mechanisms are engaged to suppress false prediction during sentence processing, but only after real word violations. Importantly, phonological information seems to be a major driver in triggering inhibitory processes.
Fermentation-Guided Natural Products Isolation of a Grape Berry Triacylglyceride that Enhances Ethyl Ester Production
Creators: name: Blackford, Christopher L.
name: Dennis, Eric G.
name: Keyzers, Robert A.
name: Schueuermann, Claudia
name: Trengove, Robert D.
name: Boss, Paul K.
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2019

description: A full understanding of the origin, formation and degradation of volatile compounds that contribute to wine aroma is required before wine style can be effectively managed. Fractionation of grapes represents a convenient and robust method to simplify the grape matrix to enhance our understanding of the grape contribution to volatile compound production during yeast fermentation. In this study, acetone extracts of both Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon grape berries were fractionated and model wines produced by spiking aliquots of these grape fractions into model grape juice must and fermented. Non-targeted SPME-GCMS analyses of the wines showed that several medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters were more abundant in wines made by fermenting model musts spiked with certain fractions. Further fractionation of the non-polar fractions and fermentation of model must after addition of these fractions led to the identification of a mixture of polyunsaturated triacylglycerides that, when added to fermenting model must, increase the concentration of medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters in wines. Dosage-response fermentation studies with commercially-available trilinolein revealed that the concentration of medium chain fatty acid ethyl esters can be increased by the addition of this triacylglyceride to model musts. This work suggests that grape triacylglycerides can enhance the production of fermentation-derived ethyl esters and show that this fractionation method is effective in segregating precursors or factors involved in altering the concentration of fermentation volatiles.
L'identité de l'idée de l'État et de la souveraineté chez Hegel : une critique des libertés libérale et kantienne.
Creators: name: Falanga, Jim Masieta.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Political Science, General.

description: Cette thèse analyse la critique que Hegel adresse, à travers sa théorie de l'État et de la souveraineté, aux libertés libérale et kantienne. En effet, de manière générale, les libéraux lient la liberté véritable à la réalisation de l'intérêt économique privé. Pour eux, les individus sont des atomes indépendants dotés de raison instrumentale. Ils ont pour finalité la satisfaction de l'intérêt économique privé. Partant de cette compréhension, les libéraux proclament le contrat la seule base du lien social. Aux libéraux, Kant rétorque que la liberté véritable est l'autonomie. Pour lui, il s'agit d'une liberté morale supérieure qui consiste dans la détermination des individus par la morale seule. Kant comprend les individus comme des êtres qui, par nature, sont moraux et ont pour finalité la réalisation de la liberté morale. Mais, puisque les sujets moraux sont un mélange de raison et des volontés arbitraires, la liberté juridique devient la seule forme à laquelle ils peuvent véritablement accéder. Pour Kant ainsi, le contrat devient comme chez les libéraux, la seule base sur laquelle peut reposer l'État. Bien qu'il accepte le rejet par Kant de la liberté économique libérale et l'identification par celui-ci de l'autonomie comme une sphère de liberté supérieure, Hegel est cependant critique de Kant. Pour Hegel, telle qu'envisagée par Kant, l'autonomie est incapable de réaliser la liberté véritable. Elle est comme un devoir moral, seulement subjective. Pour Hegel, la liberté véritable n'est ni économique comme l'affirment les libéraux, ni juridique comme le prétend Kant, mais plutôt politique. Hegel entend par là une forme qui est à la fois libération des individus et production par ces mêmes individus des structures et des institutions devant les encadrer dans leur libération. Hegel pense en effet que les individus sont des êtres sociaux. Ils ont pour devoir de devenir membres effectifs de l'État pour accéder à la liberté véritable.
Mechanism and ligand design in ruthenium catalysis
Creators: name: Jabri, Amir
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2005
Subjects: subject: Chemistry, Organic.

description: The known ruthenium pincer complex RuCl(eta3-dcpx)(PPh 3) (7) (PCP = eta3-2,6-(PCy2CH 2)2C6H3) was transformed into several different hydride products under standard transfer hydrogenation conditions. In situ 31P NMR analysis during thermolysis of 7 in basic isopropanol permitted identification of RuH(eta3-dcpx)(PPh 3)(N2) (8a/b), RuH(eta3-dcpx)(PPh 3) (10), and RuH(eta3-dcpx)(PPh3 )(H2) (9a/b). A spectroscopically unobservable species, Ru(H)2[eta2-PC(H)P] (12), is proposed as the active species in transfer hydrogenation catalysis. The novel precatalyst, RuCl(eta3-dcpx)(py)2 ( 14), which may provide a more active catalyst, was synthesized and characterized. Several primary and secondary phosphine complexes of ruthenium were synthesized and tested for their activity in catalytic transfer hydrogenation. Of these, only the bulky HPCy2 ligand in RuCl2(HPCy2) 4 (18a/b) provided high catalytic activity. Reaction of RuCl2(PCy3)2(=CHPh) (24) with HPCy2 transforms it cleanly to 18a, potentially opening new opportunities in tandem catalysis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
title: Development and Validation of Correction Formulas for Self-Reported Height and Weight to Estimate BMI in Adolescents
title: Results from the KiGGS Study
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Brettschneider, Anna-Kristin
name: Schaffrath Rosario, Angelika
name: Wiegand, Susanna
name: Kollock, Maximilian
name: Ellert, Ute
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Correction formula
subject: Self-reported height and weight
subject: Adolescents
subject: Overweight
subject: Obesity
subject: KiGGS study
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Objective: The use of reported instead of measured height and weight induces a bias in prevalence rates for overweight and obesity. Therefore, correction formulas are necessary. Methods: Self-reported and measured height and weight were available from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) baseline study (2003-2006) from 3,468 adolescents aged 11-17 years. With regression analyses, correction formulas for height and weight were developed. Cross-validation was conducted in order to validate and compare the formulas. Corrected BMI was calculated, and corrected prevalence rates were estimated. Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for overweight and obesity were calculated. Results: Through the correction procedure, the mean differences between reported and measured height and weight become remarkably smaller and thus the estimated prevalence rates more accurate. The corrected proportions for overweight and obesity are less under-reported, while the corrected proportions for underweight are less over-reported. Sensitivity for overweight and obesity increased after correction. Specificity remained high. Conclusion: The validation process showed that the correction formulas are an appropriate tool to correct self- reports on an individual level in order to estimate corrected prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in adolescents for studies which have collected self-reports only.
Augmented blood pressure measurement through the estimation of physiological blood pressure variability
Creators: name: Soueidan, Karen
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Biomedical.
subject: Biology, Physiology.

description: Current noninvasive blood pressure (BP) measurement methods estimate the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) at two random instants in time. The BP variability and its serious consequences on the measurement are not recognized by most physicians. The standard for automated BP devices sets a maximum allowable system error of +/- 5 mmHg, even though natural BP variability often exceeds these limits. This thesis characterizes the variability of SBP and DBP and proposes a new approach to augment the conventional noninvasive measurement using simultaneous recordings of the oscillometric and continuous arterial pulse waveforms by providing: 1) The mean SBP (or DBP) over the measurement interval, 2) Their respective standard deviations, and 3) An indicator as to whether or not the oscillometric reading is an outlier. Recordings with healthy subjects showed that the approach has prominent potential and does not suffer from bias relative to the conventional method.
A symbol's role in learning low-level control functions.
Creators: name: Drummond, Chris.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: Artificial Intelligence.

description: This thesis demonstrates how the power of symbolic processing can be exploited in the learning of low level control functions. It proposes a novel hybrid architecture with a tight coupling between a variant of symbolic planning and reinforcement learning. This architecture combines the strengths of the function approximation of subsymbolic learning with the more abstract compositional nature of symbolic learning. The former is able to represent mappings of world states to actions in an accurate way. The latter allows a more rapid solution to problems by exploiting structure within the domain. A control function is learnt over time through interaction with the world. Symbols are attached to features in the functions. The symbolic attachments act as anchor points used to transform the function of a previously learnt task to that of a new task. The solution of more complex tasks is achieved through composing simpler functions, using the symbolic attachments to determine the composition. The result is used as the initial control function of the new task and then modified through further learning. This is shown to produce a significant speed up over basic reinforcement learning.
A deep generative approach to conditional distribution estimation and its applications
Creators: name: Zhou, Xingyu
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2022
Subjects: public abstract

description: We propose a deep generative approach to sampling from a conditional distribution basedon a unified formulation of conditional distribution and generalized nonparametric regression function
description: using the noise-outsourcing lemma. The conditional generator is estimated nonparametrically
description: with neural networks by matching appropriate joint distributions using the Kullback-Liebler divergence
description: and Wasserstein distance. We also propose an approach to nonparametric estimation of
description: conditional survival and hazards functions with right-censored data as an extension. An appealing
description: aspect of our method is that it allows either or both the predictor and the response to be highdimensional
description: and can handle both continuous and discrete type predictors and responses. We show
description: that the proposed method is consistent in the sense that the conditional generator converges in
description: distribution to the underlying conditional distribution under mild conditions. Our numerical experiments
description: with simulated and benchmark image data validate the proposed method and demonstrate
description: that it outperforms several existing conditional density estimation methods.
Lexical inferencing behavior of Libyan EFL medical students while reading: The role of reading proficiency and the Arabic language.
Creators: name: Bengeleil, Nazmia Faraj.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Education, Language and Literature.

description: This study investigated the lexical inferencing made by Libyan EFL medical students at a Libyan university when they encountered unfamiliar words in English texts. The researcher examined the effect of learners' level of reading competence on their lexical inferencing with respect to the knowledge sources and types of contextual cues they used in the process, their rate of success in inferring the correct meanings of the target words, and their rate of vocabulary learning and retention of previously unknown words. The study also examined the effect of learners' knowledge of the Arabic language on their inferencing. Based on the results of a reading comprehension proficiency test (CanTEST), 20 students, 10 from each of two distinct levels of reading ability (i.e., intermediate and advanced) were randomly selected for the study. Two pretests were used: Nation's (1990) Vocabulary Levels Test to assess the students' size of vocabulary; and, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) (Paribakht & Wesche, 1993, 1997; Wesche & Paribakht, 1996), to measure their level of knowledge of the target words. Think-aloud procedures were used during the individual interview sessions. At the end of the interviews, retrospective protocols were collected from the participants about their experiences. These sessions were tape-recorded. The learners were given the VKS again at this point to measure word learning. Two weeks after the individual interview sessions, a post-test (VKS) was administered again to assess learners' rate of retention of the previously unfamiliar target words. Results revealed that both proficiency groups used similar types of knowledge sources and contextual cues when inferencing, but in different proportions. Sentence level meaning and discourse level meaning were the types most frequently used by both groups. A taxonomy of knowledge sources and contextual cues used by the learners in inferencing was developed. Results indicate successful learning of some of the previously unfamiliar target words and retention of some new lexical knowledge. L1 influence is apparent at multiple levels of the language system (e.g., interpretation of semantic cues, lexical knowledge and collocations), sometimes misleading the reader and other times facilitating successful inferencing. Pedagogical implications of the findings of the study and suggestions for further research are presented.
L'interprétation heideggerienne de la technique : l'évacuation du politique.
Creators: name: Béland, Martine.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Philosophy.

description: Le présent travail prend comme point de départ les propos que Martin Heidegger adressa à l'hebdomadaire allemand Der Spiegel en 1966: l'auteure cherche à comprendre le lien entre le rejet du politique affirmé en 1966 et la conception heideggerienne de la technique. L'auteure défend la thèse selon laquelle l'interprétation heideggerienne de la technique élaborée dès la fin des années 1940 s'asseoit sur une «anthropo-ontologie», soit sur une conception de l'essence de l'être humain et de l'essence de l'Être. Or, cette anthropo-ontologie rend caduques les prétentions de la pensée pratique, d'où le rejet heideggerien du politique en 1966. Heidegger aura pourtant amorcé une pensée de «l'éthique de l'Être» sur la base de cette anthropo-ontologie. Toutefois, comme la configuration de cette éthique demeure incertaine (bien qu'elle semble insinuer une forme politique totalitaire, celle des «poètes-législateurs»), l'auteure conclue de sa recherche que la conception heideggerienne de la technique ne nous laisse aucune ressource pour penser le politique aujourd'hui.
Differential gene and transcript expression in murine right and left maxillo-mandibular complex
Creators: name: Crawford, Jacqueline M
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: Asymmetry
Craniofacial Microsomia
Mouse
Murine
public abstract
Embryology

description: Facial asymmetry, seen in routine orthodontic patients as well as in patients with congenital defects like craniofacial microsomia, is not well understood. This study investigates differential gene and transcript expression between murine right and left maxillo-mandibular (MxMn) complexes at embryonic (E) day 14.5.
description: We harvested three wild-type mice embryos and carefully hemi-sectioned MxMn complexes into right and left halves. We confirmed equal expression of house-keeping genes, by RT-PCR, in right and left MxMn complexes. We isolated total RNA using Qiazol mRNAeasy kit and performed paired-end whole mRNA sequencing at LC Sciences (Houston, TX). Differential gene/transcript analyses (>1 log-fold change; p<0.05; q<0.1) were performed. Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) database and gnomAD constraint scores were used to prioritize differentially expressed genes/transcripts.
description: In the right MxMn complex (comparison to left), there were 842 upregulated/520 downregulated transcripts and 1079 upregulated/79 downregulated genes. Of these, 46 upregulated/40 downregulated transcripts and 47 upregulated/6 downregulated genes were reported to be associated with craniofacial phenotypes in the MGI database. Several human conditions with craniofacial phenotypes were also associated with these genes/transcripts. Additionally, several of the differentially expressed genes/transcripts associated with craniofacial phenotype in MGI database also had gnomAD constraint loss-of-function scores less than 0.6;
description: this suggests that these differentially expressed genes/transcripts are critical in the ontogeny of human development.
description: These findings indicate that there is significant differential expression of genes/transcripts between E14.5 murine right and left MxMn complexes. When these findings are extrapolated to humans, it may provide a biological basis to understand facial asymmetry. Further experiments are required to validate these findings.
Universal telecommunications service for the 21st century
Creators: name: Darling, Peter
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: The Australian Parliament passed a suite of legislation in March 2012 dealing with the provision of Universal Service in the transition to the National Broadband Network (NBN). Whilst this legislation addresses the maintenance of the current Standard Telephony Service, it does not define what a Universal Telecommunications Service should be in the era of the NBN, This article looks at options for the future Universal Service.
The GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey - VIII. Final data release. The effect of group environment on the gas content of massive galaxies
Creators: name: Catinella, Barbara
name: Schiminovich, D.
name: Cortese, Luca
name: Fabello, S.
name: Hummels, C. B.
name: Moran, S. M.
name: Lemonias, J. J.
name: Cooper, A. P.
name: Wu, R.
name: Heckman, T. M.
name: Wang, J.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: We present the final data release from the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS), a large Arecibo programme that measured the HI properties for an unbiased sample of ∼800 galaxies with stellar masses greater than 1010M and redshifts 0.025
The geology, geochemistry and structure of the Mooshla intrusion, Bousquet Mining Centre, Quebec.
Creators: name: Langshur, Alexander.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1991
Subjects: subject: Geology.

description: The Mooshla intrusion is an elliptical body, 4.0 x 1.5 km and is hosted by the Blake River Group, a fault bounded sequence of bi-modal volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. The intrusion is calc-alkaline in affinity and comprises four distinct units; (1) cumulate gabbros, (2) quartz diorites, (3) tonalites, and (4) leucotonalites. The cumulate gabbros are composed of two textural facies; (1) mesocumulates and (2) a layered sequence. Textural and geochemical evidence suggests that the leucotonalite is the hydrothermally altered and sheared equivalent of the tonalite. The intrusion records four generations of structures; D$\sb1$, D$\sb2$, D$\sb3$, and D$\sb4$. D$\sb1$ produced an E-W striking foliation, S$\sb1$, that dips moderately to the south and is localized to the core of the intrusion. D$\sb2$ represents a period of subhorizontal N-S compression and is the principal deformation event. It is responsible for an $\approx$E-W trending, regionally penetrative foliation, S$\sb2$, that dips steeply to the south and onto which most geological objects are flattened. Both D$\sb3$ and D$\sb4$ are reflected by predominantly brittle structures related to dominantly E-W directed horizontal shortening. The Mooshla intrusion can be subdivided into three structural domains defined by which foliation they contain and the nature and frequency of the high strain zones that they host. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Essays on decision biases in prediction markets
Creators: name: Karimi Motahhar, Vahid
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: public abstract

description: The future holds uncertainty. Predicting uncertain future events with great calibration opens door to better decision making in different fields, e.g., politics, medicine, psychology, etc. In this thesis, we study distinct decision biases in the context of prediction markets, futures markets designed to predict uncertain future events.
description: In the first set of studies, we develop a statistical model to detect two categories of calibration biases among any set of probabilistic estimations. We categorize distinct probability estimation calibration biases into two categories of compensatory and non-compensatory biases. In the case of compensatory biases, we observe an overestimation (underestimation) in low probability events accompanied by an underestimation (overestimation) in high probability events, i.e., the Favorite longshot (Reverse favorite longshot) bias. In case of non-compensatory biases, the whole range of probability is overestimated (underestimated), which indicates the presence of the Optimistic (Pessimistic) bias. In Essay 1, we utilize our statistical model to study calibration of prices in prediction markets for Academy Awards (or Oscars) nominations and winners. Market prices exhibit overestimation across the whole probability range, i.e., Optimistic bias, while less (more) likely events are overestimated (underestimated), consistent with the Favorite longshot bias. In Essay 2, we apply our methodology on geopolitical forecasts from individuals. Individuals tend to exhibit the optimistic bias, but their forecasts also exhibit the Reverse favorite longshot bias.
description: In the second set of studies, we explore the emotional content of trading decision justifications in political prediction markets. In Essay 3, we study a 2012 U.S. Presidential election prediction market. We find that traders who purchased an Obama (Romney) contract - an action of supporting (opposing) the political status quo – had justifications with significantly more positive (negative) emotional content. In Essay 4, we generalize our findings to a different political setting, i.e., the 2015 U.K. General election and British traders. All essays showcase the importance of understanding decision biases in the context of prediction markets.
Design and Near-Infrared Actuation of a Gold Nanorod–Polymer Microelectromechanical Device for On-Demand Drug Delivery
Creators: name: Jackson, John
name: Chen, Aurora
name: Zhang, Hongbin
name: Burt, Helen
name: Chiao, Mu
Publisher: name: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Year: 2019

description: Polymeric drug delivery systems usually deliver drugs by diffusion with an initial burst of release followed by a slower prolonged release phase. An optimal system would release exact doses of drugs using an on-demand external actuation system. The purpose of this study was to design and characterize a novel drug-delivery device that utilizes near infrared (NIR 800 nm) laser-actuated drug release. The device was constructed from biocompatible polymers comprising a reservoir of drug covered by an elastic perforated diaphragm composed of a bilayer of two polymers with different thermal expansion coefficients (ethylenevinylacetate (EVA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) containing gold nanoparticles). Upon illumination with a NIR laser, the gold nanoparticles rapidly heated the bilayer resulting in bending and a drug-pumping action through the perforated bilayer, following sequential laser-actuation cycles. Devices filled with the anti-proliferative drug docetaxel were seen to release only small amounts of drug by diffusion but to release large and reproducible amounts of drug over 20 s laser-actuation periods. Because NIR 800 nm is tissue-penetrating without heating tissue, suitable geometry drug-delivery devices might be implanted in the body to be actuated by an externally applied NIR laser to allow for on-demand exact drug dosing in vivo.
3455949.pdf
Creators: name: Wolf, Richard
name: Jia, Yuechen
name: Bonaus, Sebastian
name: Werner, Christoph
name: Herr, Simon
name: Breunig, Ingo
name: Buse, Karsten
name: Zappe, Hans
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Additional information about the fabrication and calculation of the effective nonlinear optical coefficient
L'approccio al documento teatrale: il caso della rassegna stampa
Creators: name: Frattali, Arianna
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025

description: Lezione nel corso del seminario PNRR dedicato ai dottorandi Lavorare nel museo dell'effimero onservazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale immaterial diretto ai dottorandi del Dottorato in scienze del patrimonio letterario, artistico e ambientale e agli studenti delle lauree magistrali afferenti dei Corsi di Laurea in Filosofia, Musica, Cultura, Media Performance, Scienze dei Beni Culturali, Scienze Umane dell'Ambiente, del territorio e del Paesaggio attive per l'anno accademico 2025/2026 con la partecipazione di tutti i ricercatori PNRR afferenti allo spoke 2
title: Wearable Multi-Frequency and Multi-Segment Bioelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy for Unobtrusively Tracking Body Fluid Shifts during Physical Activity in Real-Field Applications
title: A Preliminary Study
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Villa, Federica
name: Magnani, Alessandro
name: Maggioni, Martina A.
name: Stahn, Alexander
name: Rampichini, Susanna
name: Merati, Giampiero
name: Castiglioni, Paolo
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: exercise
subject: blood shift
subject: body composition
subject: electrical impedance
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Bioelectrical Impedance Spectroscopy (BIS) allows assessing the composition of body districts noninvasively and quickly, potentially providing important physiological/clinical information. However, neither portable commercial instruments nor more advanced wearable prototypes simultaneously satisfy the demanding needs of unobtrusively tracking body fluid shifts in different segments simultaneously, over a broad frequency range, for long periods and with high measurements rate. These needs are often required to evaluate exercise tests in sports or rehabilitation medicine, or to assess gravitational stresses in aerospace medicine. Therefore, the aim of this work is to present a new wearable prototype for monitoring multi-segment and multi- frequency BIS unobtrusively over long periods. Our prototype guarantees low weight, small size and low power consumption. An analog board with current- injecting and voltage-sensing electrodes across three body segments interfaces a digital board that generates square-wave current stimuli and computes impedance at 10 frequencies from 1 to 796 kHz. To evaluate the information derivable from our device, we monitored the BIS of three body segments in a volunteer before, during and after physical exercise and postural shift. We show that it can describe the dynamics of exercise-induced changes and the effect of a sit-to-stand maneuver in active and inactive muscular districts separately and simultaneously.
Fackenheim, Arendt, and Agamben and the Nazi understanding of humanity
Creators: name: Waterman, Benjamin
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2006
Subjects: subject: Philosophy.

description: The argument presented in this paper is that during the Shoah the Nazis were attempting to further enforce the understanding that humanity is essentially self-destructive or superfluous. Several writings are examined more closely to support this argument: Emil Fackenheim's To Mend the World: Foundations of Future Jewish Thought (section IV), Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (Part 3) and, finally, Giorgio Agamben's "Homo Sacer": Bare Life and Sovereign Power (Part 3). Each of these author's writings are used as a focus for a discussion of the self-destructive tendencies that are a part of Nazism in its relationship to: Law, the Idea of Man and Ideology. An effort is made during the discussion of these topics to arrive at an appreciation of the extremely alarming extent to which the Nazis had enforced the creation of a society that was wholly self-destructive. This argument concerning the Nazi understanding of humanity also recognizes the creation of a society that is wholly self-destructive as an underlying threat that continues to pose an ongoing danger to the post-Shoah world. The recognition of this threat unfortunately demonstrates the relevance of the Nazi understanding of humanity to this world (a relevance which at the outset may not have been apparent). Amongst the challenges this poses is that as the creation of a wholly self-destructive society further intensifies the possibility for philosophy increasingly disappears. In the concluding chapter, reference is again made to the writings of Fackenheim, Arendt and Agamben. These writings are referred to as part of a discussion of resistance to the threat of creating a post-Shoah world that develops into a society that is wholly self-destructive. Also included in this discussion is the importance of this type of resistance to the possibility for philosophy in this world.
Longitudinal Testing of Olfactory and Gustatory Function in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Creators: name: Uecker, Florian Cornelius
name: Olze, Heidi
name: Kunte, Hagen
name: Gerz, Christian
name: Göktas, Önder
name: Harms, Lutz
name: Schmidt, Felix Alexander
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Background The aim of the study was to investigate changes of the olfactory and gustatory capacity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methodology 20 MS patients were tested longitudinally for 3 years after initial testing. The Threshold Discrimination Identification test (TDI) was used for subjective olfactometry. Objective olfactometry was performed by registering olfactory evoked potentials (OEP) by EEG. The Taste Strip Test (TST) was used for gustatory testing. Results 45% of the patients showed olfactory dysfunction in the follow-up TDI test and 50% showed delayed OEP´s. 20% of the patients showed gustatory dysfunction on follow-up visit. The patients showed mild disease activity with 0,3 ± 0,5 relapses over the testing period and no significant change of their olfactory and gustatory capacity. The olfactory capacity for the discrimination of odors correlated inversely with the number of relapses (r = -0.5, p ≤ 0.05). The patients were aware of their olfactory deficit. Conclusions Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction is a symptom in MS patients and may be a useful parameter to estimate disease progression in MS patients. As the discrimination of odors is processed in higher central regions of the central nervous system (CNS), the results suggest that olfactory dysfunction could be due to CNS damage.
title: That’s the way the railroad went (2023)
title: collective memory and the Central Iowa Railway Company
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Rheaume, Mark Luke
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2023
Subjects: Collective Memory
Iowa
Memory
Minimalism
Railroad
public abstract
Music Composition

description: In this dissertation, I pilot a new framework for preserving and broadcasting collective memory. Rather than focusing on the reception and analysis of pre-existing collective memories, I seek a model to ensure that the artist and the canvas, or the composer and their subject, remain intact during the collection and experience of aural and oral histories. I track and narrate the experience of three collective forces–prosthetic intent, prosthetic storage, and prosthetic filters–in order to interrogate and better understand the process of building a collective memory.
description: I test this theoretical framework with a new composition that documents and de-privatizes individual memories of the Central Iowa Railway Company (1973-1975). This short-lived shortline ran between Montezuma, IA and Riverside, IA, in an attempt to return rail transport after the Rock Island abandoned the track in the early 1970s. Today, the story of how these communities tried to save their businesses and re-link their towns is only whispered by a few remaining artifacts. Five chapters outline the interpretation of archival sources, newly recorded oral histories, and the compositional integration of speech melody, culminating in a new forty-minute work for string quartet, saxophone quartet, piano, percussion, and tape. That’s the Way the Railroad Went (2023) represents a vast network of these collective forces interacting among interviewees, the musicians who embody the rhythms and melodies, the potential and actual audiences, and myself. By exercising the collective forces in a new piece of concert music, I hope to render the act of music composition as a productive, viable, and innovative tool for understanding collective memory.
Novel analogs of the natural product Fraxinellone protect against endogenous and exogenous toxicants
Creators: name: Bartman, Anna Elizabeth
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: excitotoxicity
fraxinellone
glutamate
Nrf2-Keap1
reactive oxygen species

description: Numerous insults, both endogenous (e.g., Glu) and exogenous (e.g., pesticides), compromisefunction of the nervous system and pose as risk factors for mediators of damage and/or later disease. For example, when extracellular levels of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate (Glu) rise due to pathological conditions (e.g., epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or injury (e.g., stroke), aberrant synaptic signaling leads to excitotoxicity and subsequent oxidative stress, thought to contribute to neurodegeneration. Numerous pesticides, e.g., rotenone, are known to induce oxidative stress and cause injury to neurons. In previous reports, limonoids such as fraxinellone, showed significant neuroprotective activity against Glu excitotoxicity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in vitro. Given these findings, a library of novel fraxinellone analogs was synthesized with the goal of identifying analogs exhibiting neuroprotection against endogenous and exogenous insults. One analog was found to be protective against Glu-mediated toxicity with a measured EC50 of 44 nM and 39 nM in in vitro assays using PC12 and SH-SY5Y cells, respectively. To probe the mechanism of action, a series of experiments were performed demonstrating antioxidant activity following treatment with the fraxinellone-derived analog and rapid activation of the Nrf2 pathway. Pre-treatment with the agent yielded rapid induction of antioxidant genes, namely, GPX4, SOD1 and NQO1, as measured via qPCR. The analog mitigated Glu-mediated ROS as measured using two different fluorescent probes. Cytoprotection could be replicated using sulforaphane (SFN), a Nrf2 activator, and inhibited via ML-385, which binds Nrf2 and interferes with its binding to regulatory DNA sequences, thereby blocking downstream gene expression. Nrf2 DNA-binding activity of nuclear extracts was performed using a Nrf2 ELISA-based transcription factor assay kit. In addition, pre-treatment with the thiol N-acetyl Cys (NAC) completely mitigated SFN-mediated induction of antioxidant genes but had no effect on the activity of the fraxinellone analog, suggesting thiol modification is not critical for its mechanism of action. In summary, our data demonstrate a fraxinellone analog to be a novel, potent, and rapid activator of the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defense system, providing robust protection against endogenous and exogenous insults. Given that, further development of this class of analogs may yield promising therapeutic strategies to address pathogenic or neurodegenerative conditions, such as those involving Glu excitotoxicity and excessive production of ROS.
Navigation and visualization techniques: A case study in VRML.
Creators: name: Milan, Toufic.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1998
Subjects: subject: Computer Science.

description: A sea of data engulfs and sinks today's user in ambiguity and indecisiveness. Few can swim and fewer can effectively surf the Internet, a vast and daily growing store house of data. Almost any desktop computer can instantaneously access this enormous unstructured and mostly redundant information. The earliest user interface consisted of page after page of unformatted text--a typical two-dimensional (2D) interface. Using links, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) excelled in presenting 2D interface on the World Wide Web (Web), indeed, HTML is still almost all-pervasive on the Web. Two-dimensional textual interfaces are limiting: navigation is left to right, top to bottom with discontinuity from line to line, an interface tightly linked to the advent of printed material. On the other hand an ideal interface will simulate a human interface with navigation, motion, touch, feel and perception. Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) emerged as a new three-dimensional (3D) standard for representing 3D objects on the Web. With its latest release, "VRML 2.0" (also known as VRML 97) supports behavior including animation in 3D space triggered by events such as mouse actions. VRML blends space and time with user interface interaction and support for scripting languages. This thesis addresses navigation and data visualization using VRML both for physical activities (such as visiting a museum) and for representation of statistical data (such as electoral results). The principal contribution of this thesis is to create 3D interfaces to visualize complex data extracted from live databases on different servers across the Internet. This is realized by means of four experiments which I designed and implemented in VRML. Each experiment covers a different aspect of navigation and visualization.
title: Opera in the second city
title: negotiating national operatic identities in and around 1920s Chicago
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Norling, Cody Andrew
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2024
Subjects: 1920s
Chicago
Opera
Reception
United States

description: Opera was a subject of public interest throughout the 1920s, and Chicago’s operatic institutions actively promoted the genre’s importance to their city’s highly publicized growth. Chicago’s Civic Opera Company (1922–1932), Ravinia Opera (1912–1934), Redpath-Chicago Chautauqua Bureau (1912–1928), South Side Opera Company (1920–1922), Fortnightly Club (1873–), and American Opera Society (1922–) each sought to maintain opera’s relevance in the public sphere while also touting Chicago’s status as a national cultural center. Some of these institutions also took their efforts outside of city limits, actively connecting the production of opera to national debates regarding the proper language of operatic performances and discussions of the genre’s effects on the cultural lives of attendees. All the while, operatic productions intersected with period social issues—including widening class disparities, growing racial inequities, changing women’s opportunities, and competing national identities—and intermingled with elements of popular culture. Using archived business documents, scrapbooks, and press clippings relating to some of the city’s operatic institutions of the decade, this dissertation studies opera’s role as a perceived indicator of civic and national progress. It first connects the ways that the city’s opera companies and advocates each worked to promote interest in operatic productions, critically assessing a widespread rhetoric of progress that accompanied their publicity campaigns and press reception. It then analyzes how these localized efforts also informed larger perceptions of opera’s significance for national audiences as well as its inherent internationality, and it examines the genre’s use in establishing Chicago as an imagined musical metropole. Ultimately, the ongoing negotiation of opera’s place within Chicago’s social spheres and amid contemporaneous social trends in the United States more broadly fueled much period discourse regarding the genre’s perceived significance to national musical-theatrical identities writ large.