cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Pearson's random walk in the space of the CMB phases: evidence for parity asymmetry
Creators: name: Hansen, M.
name: Frejsel, A. M.
name: Kim, J.
name: Naselsky, P.
name: Nesti, F.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are supposed to be distributed randomly in both magnitude and phase, following to the simplest model of inflation. In this paper, we look at the odd and even multipoles of the spherical harmonic decomposition of the CMB, and the different characteristics of these, giving rise to a parity asymmetry. We compare the even and odd multipoles in the CMB power spectrum, and also the even and odd mean angles. We find for the multipoles of the power spectrum, that there is power excess in odd multipoles, compared to even ones, meaning that we have a parity asymmetry. Further, for the phases, we present a random walk for the mean angles, and find a significant separation for even/odd mean angles, especially so for galactic coordinates. This is further tested and confirmed with a directional parity test, comparing the parity asymmetry in galactic and ecliptic coordinates.
description: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D, 10 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Some typographical errors corrected, and further references added
Quantum-Confinement-Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties in Modulation-Doped GaAs–AlGaAs Core–Shell Nanowires
Creators: name: Fust, Sergej
name: Faustmann, Anton
name: Carrad, Damon J.
name: Bissinger, Jochen
name: Loitsch, Bernhard
name: Döblinger, Markus
name: Becker, Jonathan
name: Abstreiter, Gerhard
name: Finley, Jonathan J.
name: Koblmüller, Gregor
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Nanowires (NWs) hold great potential in advanced thermoelectrics due to their reduced dimensions and low-dimensional electronic character. However, unfavorable links between electrical and thermal conductivity in state-of-the-art unpassivated NWs have, so far, prevented the full exploitation of their distinct advantages. A promising model system for a surface-passivated one-dimensional (1D)-quantum confined NW thermoelectric is developed that enables simultaneously the observation of enhanced thermopower via quantum oscillations in the thermoelectric transport and a strong reduction in thermal conductivity induced by the core–shell heterostructure. High-mobility modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell NWs with thin (sub-40 nm) GaAs NW core channel are employed, where the electrical and thermoelectric transport is characterized on the same exact 1D-channel. 1D-sub-band transport at low temperature is verified by a discrete stepwise increase in the conductance, which coincided with strong oscillations in the corresponding Seebeck voltage that decay with increasing sub-band number. Peak Seebeck coefficients as high as ≈65–85 µV K−1 are observed for the lowest sub-bands, resulting in equivalent thermopower of S2σ ≈ 60 µW m−1 K−2 and S2G ≈ 0.06 pW K−2 within a single sub-band. Remarkably, these core–shell NW heterostructures also exhibit thermal conductivities as low as ≈3 W m−1 K−1, about one order of magnitude lower than state-of-the-art unpassivated GaAs NWs.
The Complexities of Blackness in the Museum
Creators: name: Alimot S Yusuff
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: At the turn of the century, the discussion and prioritization of Blackness in art museums in the United States saw a noticeable shift. Black art and artists are becoming revered for their ingenuity and contribution to shifting the cannon on visual cultural production. Museums find themselves at the crux of participation, driven to collect and display Blackness in their institutions; however, the perception of Blackness struggles to change in the social imaginary. What does it mean to see Blackness radically? This thesis seeks to explore the art museum's relationship with Blackness, looking closely at the history of the exclusionary practice, as it coincides with the history of the United States. Interrogating how institutions built on histories of otherness, exclusion, and exploitation can become a space where Blackness can exist. Exploring the meaning of Blackness, its socialized implications, and its re-theorization in the social imaginary and consequentially the museum. Additionally, looking at the foreseeable impact counter storytelling can have in the exposing of intersections and the radical visibility of Blackness.
Fedosov Quantization of Fractional Lagrange Spaces
Creators: name: Baleanu, Dumitru
name: Vacaru, Sergiu I.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 26A33, 46L65, 32Q60, 53C60, 53C99, 70S05

description: The main goal of this work is to perform a nonolonomic deformation (Fedosov type) quantization of fractional Lagrange geometries. The constructions are provided for a (fractional) almost Kahler model encoding equivalently all data for fractional Euler-Lagrange equations with Caputo fractional derivative. For homogeneous generating Finsler functions, the geometric models contain quantum versions of fractional Finsler spaces. The scheme can be generalized for fractional Hamilton systems and various models of fractional classical and quantum gravity. We conclude that the approach with Caputo fractional derivative allows us to geometrize both classical and quantum (Fedosov type) fractional regular Lagrange interactions.
description: 14 pages, latex2e, v2 with up-dated references and minor typos corrections
On the accurate calculation of the dielectric constant and the diffusion coefficient from molecular dynamics simulations: the case of SPC/E water
Creators: name: Gereben, Orsolya
name: Pusztai, Laszlo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The effect of the applied trajectory length on the convergence of the static dielectric constant and the self-diffusion coefficient were examined for the SPC/E water model in the NVT ensemble with different system size at 293 K. Very long simulation times of 6-8 ns were employed in order to track the convergence of these properties. Temperature dependence and isotope effects, via using D$_2$O instead of H$_2$O, were also investigated. A simulation for the polarizable SWM4-DP model was also carried out to compare the effect of different potential models. Radial distribution functions and the neutron weighted structure factor were also calculated; they were found to be insensitive to changing the system size in the range of 216-16000 molecules. On the other hand, the static dielectric constant and the diffusion coefficient are rather sensitive to the applied trajectory length, system size and the method of calculation. These latter properties are therefore not appropriate for assessing, and distinguishing between, potential models of water. It is clearly shown that trajectories shorter than about 6 ns are not sufficient for a sufficiently accurate determination of the dielectric constant of this water model.
The muon content of atmospheric air showers and the mass composition of cosmic rays
Creators: name: Gesualdi, Flavia
Publisher: name: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Year: 2023
Subjects: PhD thesis
UMD
AMIGA
muon
counting
clipping
lateral distribution
LDF
muon deficit
muon puzzle
AGASA

description: Cosmic rays are messengers from outer space holding the answer to the Universe's deepest mysteries: What are they exactly? Where do they come from? How do they accelerate to such energies, and how are the laws governing their interactions? At the highest energies, these unubiquitous particles can only be detected through the showers of secondary particles that they generate in their interactions with the Earth's atmosphere. Large ground-based observatories, like the Pierre Auger Observatory, detect these extensive air showers and attempt to reconstruct as much information of the primary cosmic ray as possible. In particular, the number of secondary muons is a key observable because it is directly related to the atomic mass number of the primary that generated them. Understanding the mass composition as a function of the energy would shed light on various open questions strongly linked to the origin of cosmic rays. The Pierre Auger Observatory has dedicated scintillators buried underground to directly detect muons, the Underground Muon Detector (UMD). This thesis is devoted to the accurate determination of the muon content of air showers and to the study of its composition implications. We analyze direct muon measurements of air showers with energies between $10^{17.22}\,$eV and $10^{19.46}\,$eV from two experiments. At lower energies we extensively analyze UMD data, which we complement at higher energies with measurements from the Akeno Giant Air Shower Array (AGASA). For the UMD data, we develop new methods that significantly improve the estimation of the muon number. These methods also allow for the reconstruction of the muon signal as a function of time with an unprecedented time resolution, opening the door to the reconstruction of new composition-sensitive observables. As a direct application, we study the measured lateral distribution of muons and the models that attempt to describe it. Furthermore, we analyze the mass composition implications of the UMD and AGASA data. The composition interpretation of the data can only be inferred by a comparison against air-shower simulations. We therefore simulate single-proton, single-iron, and mixed composition scenarios based on the three newest-generation high-energy hadronic interaction models. To better compare the results against those of other experiments, we compute the so called $z$-values, a scale of the muon content in data relative to that of proton and iron simulations. The combined results offer a picture consistent with other experiments: the unexpectedly heavy composition constitutes evidence of a muon deficit in air-shower simulations that increases with the energy. These results can help to improve the high-energy hadronic interaction models, which in turn would improve the precision of the inferred mass composition.
Kontrolle über Selbstassemblierung durch Ausnutzung von Koordinationsisomerie
Creators: name: Bäumer, Nils
name: Kartha, Kalathil K.
name: Allampally, Naveen Kumar
name: Yagai, Shiki
name: Albuquerque, Rodrigo Q.
name: Fernández, Gustavo
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Hierin wird die inhärente geometrische Isomerie eines PtII Komplexes als neues Werkzeug zur Kontrolle von supramolekularen Assemblierungsprozessen ausgenutzt. Bestrahlung mit UV-Licht sowie die sorgfältige Auswahl des verwendeten Lösungsmittels, der Temperatur und Konzentration führen zu einer regelbaren Koordinationsisomerie. Dies ermöglicht ein vollständig reversibles Schalten zwischen zwei definierten aggregierten Spezies (1D Fasern ↔ 2D Lamellen) mit unterschiedlichem photoresponsivem Verhalten. Unsere Erkenntnisse erweitern nicht nur die Reichweite von Koordinationsisomerie, sondern eröffnen auch aufregende Möglichkeiten zur Entwicklung neuartiger stimuliresponsiver Materialien.
An Integrated Endoscopy Image Analysis System in the Assessment of Gynaecological Cancer
Creators: name: Neophytou, M.S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007

description: Μελέτη - Ανάπτυξη και Αξιολόγηση Ολοκληρωμένου Συστήματος Ψηδιακής Ανάλυσης Ενδοσκοπικής Εικόνας Μακροβιοψίας για την Υποστήριξη διάγνωσης γυναικολογικού Καρκίνου
description: Doctoral Theses
Accessing the Biocatalytic Potential for C−H-Activation by Targeted Genome Mining and Screening
Creators: name: Schmitz, Lisa Marie
name: Schäper, Jonas
name: Rosenthal, Katrin
name: Lütz, Stephan
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are ubiquitous hemeproteins that insert oxygen specifically into substrates leading to diverse chemical transformations. Utilizing their capabilities, microbial whole-cell biocatalysts are applied in pharmaceutical and fine chemical industry to produce biomolecules and drug metabolites. In order to synthesize novel bioactive compounds there is a great demand to identify P450s with new reaction and substrate scope. In this study, genome mining and an activity screening were successfully combined to discover so far underutilized biocatalysts. The screening revealed the expected broad range of reactions, such as hydroxylations, dealkylations, reductions and desaturations. For Actinosynnema mirum and ritonavir the biotransformation was transferred to a preparative scale resulting in a ritonavir conversion of 90 % after 48 h and 13 different metabolites analyzed by LC-MS2 and NMR. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of the underlying approach to identify promising whole cell biocatalysts with good conversion and product scopes.
A Review of the Enviro-Net Project
Creators: name: Pastorello, Gilberto Z.
name: Sanchez-Azofeifa, G. Arturo
name: Nascimento, Mario A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Ecosystems monitoring is essential to properly understand their development and the effects of events, both climatological and anthropological in nature. The amount of data used in these assessments is increasing at very high rates. This is due to increasing availability of sensing systems and the development of new techniques to analyze sensor data. The Enviro-Net Project encompasses several of such sensor system deployments across five countries in the Americas. These deployments use a few different ground-based sensor systems, installed at different heights monitoring the conditions in tropical dry forests over long periods of time. This paper presents our experience in deploying and maintaining these systems, retrieving and pre-processing the data, and describes the Web portal developed to help with data management, visualization and analysis.
description: v2: 29 pages, 5 figures, reflects changes addressing reviewers' comments v1: 38 pages, 8 figures
Adolescent experiences of seeking and receiving support at school for significant mental health concerns
Creators: name: Semchuk, Jaime
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2016

description: The purpose of the present study was to gain an understanding of adolescent perspectives of seeking and receiving support at school for significant mental health challenges. A review of the literature substantiates that adolescent mental health problems require the attention of researchers, policy makers, and professionals. Currently many adolescents require mental health supports, but do not receive them. The school has been identified as an important access point where mental health supports can be integrated; this has led to the development of many frameworks and programs to allow the school to serve this role. The concept of socially valid research and practice emphasizes the need to determine the acceptability and perceived helpfulness of services by eliciting consumer perspectives. However, there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding how to most appropriately assess consumer satisfaction for the range of mental health supports. A qualitative approach to inquiry that employs in-depth interviews can address this uncertainty by asking open-ended questions; this approach provides the potential to gain important perspectives that may not be elicited by surveys or other methods of inquiry. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was the methodological approach used to explore the meaning of adolescents’ experiences seeking and receiving support at school for significant mental health concerns. Four students in Grades 11 and 12 participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews about their experiences of support. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following Smith and colleagues (2009) step-by-step approach for beginning IPA analysts. Three broad themes, seven related sub-themes, and two interwoven themes were identified. Participants discussed both formal and informal experiences of school supports related to supportive relationships, a flexible learning environment, and the school’s potential role as a support system. Interwoven throughout these categories were the guiding values of acknowledging students as individuals, and meeting students where they are at when supporting them at school. Scientific rigor of exploration was ensured through debriefing, member checking, an external audit, and researcher reflexivity. The results are discussed in relation to extant literature, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research.
Consequence of reputation in the Sznajd consensus model
Creators: name: Crokidakis, Nuno
name: Forgerini, Fabricio L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this work we study a modified version of the Sznajd sociophysics model. In particular we introduce reputation, a mechanism that limits the capacity of persuasion of the agents. The reputation is introduced as a score which is time-dependent, and its introduction avoid dictatorship (all spins parallel) for a wide range of parameters. The relaxation time follows a log-normal-like distribution. In addition, we show that the usual phase transition also occurs, as in the standard model, and it depends on the initial concentration of individuals following an opinion, occurring at a initial density of up spins greater than $1/2$. The transition point is determined by means of a finite-size scaling analysis.
description: 8 pages, 4 figures, To be published in Physics Letters A
Applying Single Cell RNA-seq to Dissect a Phenotype
Creators: name: Ariss, Majd M
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Recent technological advances in single cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) have enabled the study of complex cellular dynamics, including the identification of accurate transcriptomic gene signatures in a multitude cell types. Its superior resolution has facilitated the discovery of novel sub-cell types, biomarkers, and intricate cellular differentiation processes which were undetectable using formerly conventional techniques such as RNA-seq. In this thesis, I employ scRNA-seq to create two comprehensive cell atlases of the Drosophila developing eye and glia during the late third instar larval stage. After resolving the cellular heterogeneity and dynamics that characterize wild type eye tissues, I subjected Rbf (Retinoblastoma-family protein) mutant eyes and Amalgam (Ama) depleted brains to scRNA-seq in order to identify the cellular transcriptomic perturbations in their respective contexts. These findings led to the discovery of novel players in the Retinoblastoma and Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) pathways. Finally, my analysis of the aforementioned mutant and knockdown phenotypes demonstrates the benefits of scRNA-seq and emphasizes its value in uncovering the molecular mechanisms that drive cellular transcriptomic discrepancies.
Meson-baryon interaction in the meson exchange picture
Creators: name: Döring, M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: This is the contribution to the proceedings of the MENU 2010 conference. The recent work of Ref. [7] is summarized. Elastic piN scattering and the reaction pi^+ p --> K^+ Sigma^+ are described simultaneously in a unitary coupled-channels approach which respects analyticity. SU(3) flavor symmetry is used to relate the t- and u- channel exchanges that drive the meson-baryon interaction in the different channels. Angular distributions, polarizations, and spin-rotation parameters are compared with available experimental data. The pole structure of the amplitudes is extracted from the analytic continuation.
description: 4 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the MENU 2010 conference, May 31- June 4, 2010, Williamsburg VA, USA
Leap: a Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Framework for Fast Object Detection
Creators: name: Roba, Edoardo
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Create a new algorithm for Object DetecKon through Python. The starKng point of the project was to consider the model-free algorithm described in Urbana-Champaign’s paper where they showed an algorithm for Object DetecKon based on Reinforcement Learning. The idea was to create an agent that could start from a state (a bounding box in our case) and reach the final target. The goal of our project was to make this project get closer to real-Kme simulaKons. Seen the projects for Fast RCNN and Faster RCNN, the goal of our project was to create an Object DetecKon algorithm based on Reinforcement Learning that could bypass the CNN somehow. We created a model-based algorithm, so during the Q-training, we recorded the TransiKons (state-acKon-next_state). These data are then used for the training process of a further network. The purpose of this new network was to predict the future TransiKons, in order to bypass the CNN every acKon the Agent was taking. Ader the correct design, the correct E-greedy policy assumpKon and the correct pre-processing, we end up with a faster algorithm with a low loss in accuracy (the more predicKons you do, the worse it gets, but the faster it goes).
A Nonaqueous Na-Ion Hybrid Micro-Supercapacitor with Wide Potential Window and Ultrahigh Areal Energy Density
Creators: name: Zhang, Panpan
name: Wang, Lanlan
name: Wang, Faxing
name: Tan, Deming
name: Wang, Gang
name: Yang, Sheng
name: Yu, Minghao
name: Zhang, Jian
name: Feng, Xinliang
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract The increasing demand on smart miniaturized electronics has greatly boosted the development of high-performance micro-supercapacitors (MSCs). However, the unsatisfied electrochemical performance (e. g., narrow potential window, low areal energy density) impedes their wide applications. Here, we demonstrate a novel type of nonaqueous Na-ion hybrid MSC, using VS2 nanosheets grown on electrochemically exfoliated graphene (VS2@EG) as the negative electrode and activated carbon as the positive electrode in nonaqueous sodium-ion electrolyte. Such constructed nonaqueous Na-ion hybrid MSCs show a remarkable areal capacitance of 110.7 mF cm−2 at 0.2 mA cm−2 in a wide potential range of 0.01–3.5 V and an outstanding areal energy density of 188.3 μWh cm−2. Besides, an impressive cycling stability up to 5000 cycles without noticeable decay is also achieved for the nonaqueous Na-ion hybrid MSCs. This new hybrid MSC holds great potential application in on-chip electronics.
Multi-Scale Region of Interest Pooling for Facial Action Unit Detection
Creators: name: Menchetti, Guglielmo
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Facial expression is the natural mean used by humans to express their intentions and emo- tions. The main challenge in detecting facial expressions is given by the ambiguities between them. The Facial Action Unit Coding System (FACS) helps to address the problem of ambiguities between expressions. The FACS consists of deconstructing each expression in a collection of facial muscle movements, also known as Facial Action Units (AU). In this document, we focus on single-frame Action Unit recognition, in which we aim at detecting the AUs in an image containing a face. In this work, we will examine the current state-of-the-art (SOTA) on Facial AU detection and we will introduce a novel Deep Learning architecture, that achieves competitive results compared to the current state-of-the-art on a popular benchmark. Particularly, we will study the impact of Multi-Scale feature construction using Feature Pyramid Network, and the extraction of features related to specific regions of the face through the use of Region Of Interest (RoI) Pooling. We will compare the obtained results with other state-of-the-art methods and we investigate the effect of the different components of the model enclosing various ablation studies. In conclusion, we will suggest possible future improvements to the current architecture.
Effects of class-specific, synthetic, and natural proteinase inhibitors on life-history traits of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera
Creators: name: Kuwar, Suyog S.
name: Pauchet, Yannick
name: Heckel, David G.
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Herbivorous insects have more difficulty obtaining proteins from their food than do predators and parasites. The scarcity of proteins in their diet requires herbivores to feed voraciously, thus heavily damaging their host plants. Plants respond to herbivory by producing defense compounds, which reduce insect growth, retard development, and increase mortality. Herbivores use both pre- and postdigestive response mechanisms to detect and avoid plant defense compounds. Proteinase inhibitors (PIs) are one example of plant compounds produced as a direct defense against herbivory. Many insects can adapt to PIs when these are incorporated into artificial diets. However, little is known about the effect of PIs on diet choice and feeding behavior. We monitored the diet choice, life-history traits, and gut proteinase activity of Helicoverpa armigera larvae using diets supplemented with synthetic and natural PIs. In choice experiments, both neonates and fourth-instar larvae preferred the control diet over PI-supplemented diets, to varying degrees. Larvae that fed on PI-supplemented diets weighed less than those that fed on the control diet and produced smaller pupae. Trypsin-specific PIs had a stronger effect on mean larval weight than did other PIs. A reduction of trypsin activity but not of chymotrypsin activity was observed in larvae fed on PI-supplemented diets. Therefore, behavioral avoidance of feeding on plant parts high in PIs could be an adaptation to minimize the impact of this plant's defensive strategy.
Totale Zerfallsrate des Z-Bosons nach Hadronen zur Ordnung alpha_s^4 [alpha s hoch 4]
Creators: name: Rittinger, Jörg
Publisher: name: Karlsruhe
Year: 2012

description: Man erhält die totale Zerfallsrate des Z-Bosons über das Optische Theorem durch die Berechnung von Z-Propagator-Beiträgen. Alle QCD-Beiträge wurden zur Ordnung alpha_s^4 berechnet. Hieraus ergibt sich eine verbesserte Bestimmung der starken Kopplungskonstanten alpha_s.
Feigenbaum Cascade of Discrete Breathers in a Model of DNA
Creators: name: Maniadis, P.
name: Alexandrov, B. S.
name: Bishop, A. R.
name: Rasmussen, K. Ø.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)
subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We demonstrate that period-doubled discrete breathers appear from the anti-continuum limit of the driven Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois model of DNA. These novel breathers result from a stability overlap between sub-harmonic solutions of the driven Morse oscillator. Sub-harmonic breathers exist whenever a stability overlap is present within the Feigenbaum cascade to chaos and therefore an entire cascade of such breathers exists. This phenomenon is present in any driven lattice where the on-site potential admits sub-harmonic solutions. In DNA these breathers may have ramifications for cellular gene expression.
Consequences of climate-induced range expansion of a native invasive herbivore in western Canada
Creators: name: Burke, Jordan Lewis
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2016

description: Global climate change is affecting species from all taxonomic groups. Their response to warming and precipitation trends is highly variable, and will likely lead to changes in ecosystem composition that may affect resilience and stability. Eruptive forest insects compete directly with humans for forest resources, and the distribution and magnitude of epidemics is increasing. Here, I describe a series of manipulative experiments using the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) system to examine biological and life history traits of both the beetle and hosts as they pertain to eruptive population dynamics and range expansion in a warming environment. Mountain pine beetle exhibits population phase-dependent host selection behavior, which I demonstrated is informed directly by monoterpene volatiles in host resin, and reinforced by context-dependent maternal effects arising from parental experience. Recently, mountain pine beetles have experienced dramatic range expansion into novel montane and boreal forests of western Canada. Depressed defensive capability of trees in novel forests may increase generation survival of beetle populations, potentially exacerbating outbreaks in novel systems, and enhance positive feedbacks associated with epidemic phases. Of particular concern is the tendency for elevated levels of α-pinene, an aggregation pheromone precursor, in the defensive resin of trees in novel habitats. I demonstrated that the qualitative content of monoterpenes, specifically the relative concentration of (+)- and (-)-α-pinene, influences the ability of the beetle to aggregate and mass-attack healthy hosts, and may exacerbate outbreaks on a landscape scale, thereby potentially increasing the rate of spread of beetles in novel forests. Finally, I demonstrated that the close association of mountain pine beetle with the defensive expression of hosts has led to selection in native forests for enhanced defenses, and a lack of coevolution in novel forests has likely led to the increased susceptibility to mortality. The present study has advanced our knowledge of eruptive insect dynamics and the response of these economically important species to climate change. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge pertaining to ecological theory of population dynamics and invasion biology, and identifies areas for further study and effort to mitigate the biological consequences of anthropogenic modification to the environment.
Sequentially Deposited versus Conventional Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells: Interfacial Trap States, Vertical Stratification, and Exciton Dissociation
Creators: name: Zhang, Jiangbin
name: Futscher, Moritz H.
name: Lami, Vincent
name: Kosasih, Felix U.
name: Cho, Changsoon
name: Gu, Qinying
name: Sadhanala, Aditya
name: Pearson, Andrew J.
name: Kan, Bin
name: Divitini, Giorgio
name: Wan, Xiangjian
name: Credgington, Dan
name: Greenham, Neil C.
name: Chen, Yongsheng
name: Ducati, Caterina
name: Ehrler, Bruno
name: Vaynzof, Yana
name: Friend, Richard H.
name: Bakulin, Artem A.
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) nonfullerene organic solar cells prepared from sequentially deposited donor and acceptor layers (sq-BHJ) have recently been shown to be highly efficient, environmentally friendly, and compatible with large area and roll-to-roll fabrication. However, the related photophysics at donor-acceptor interface and the vertical heterogeneity of donor-acceptor distribution, critical for exciton dissociation and device performance, have been largely unexplored. Herein, steady-state and time-resolved optical and electrical techniques are employed to characterize the interfacial trap states. Correlating with the luminescent efficiency of interfacial states and its nonradiative recombination, interfacial trap states are characterized to be about 40% more populated in the sq-BHJ devices than the as-cast BHJ (c-BHJ), which probably limits the device voltage output. Cross-sectional energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy depth profiling directly visualize the donor–acceptor vertical stratification with a precision of 1–2 nm. From the proposed “needle” model, the high exciton dissociation efficiency is rationalized. This study highlights the promise of sequential deposition to fabricate efficient solar cells, and points toward improving the voltage output and overall device performance via eliminating interfacial trap states.
Ping-Pong Energy Transfer in Covalently Linked Porphyrin-MoS2 Architectures
Creators: name: Canton-Vitoria, Ruben
name: Scharl, Tobias
name: Stergiou, Anastasios
name: Cadranel, Alejandro
name: Arenal, Raul
name: Guldi, Dirk M.
name: Tagmatarchis, Nikos
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2020

description: Abstract Molybdenum disulfide nanosheets covalently modified with porphyrin were prepared and fully characterized. Neither the porphyrin absorption nor its fluorescence was notably affected by covalent linkage to MoS2. The use of transient absorption spectroscopy showed that a complex ping-pong energy-transfer mechanism, namely from the porphyrin to MoS2 and back to the porphyrin, operated. This study reveals the potential of transition-metal dichalcogenides in photosensitization processes.
A High-Voltage, Dendrite-Free, and Durable Zn–Graphite Battery
Creators: name: Wang, Gang
name: Kohn, Benjamin
name: Scheler, Ulrich
name: Wang, Faxing
name: Oswald, Steffen
name: Löffler, Markus
name: Tan, Deming
name: Zhang, Panpan
name: Zhang, Jian
name: Feng, Xinliang
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract The intrinsic advantages of metallic Zn, like high theoretical capacity (820 mAh g−1), high abundance, low toxicity, and high safety have driven the recent booming development of rechargeable Zn batteries. However, the lack of high-voltage electrolyte and cathode materials restricts the cell voltage mostly to below 2 V. Moreover, dendrite formation and the poor rechargeability of the Zn anode hinder the long-term operation of Zn batteries. Here a high-voltage and durable Zn–graphite battery, which is enabled by a LiPF6-containing hybrid electrolyte, is reported. The presence of LiPF6 efficiently suppresses the anodic oxidation of Zn electrolyte and leads to a super-wide electrochemical stability window of 4 V (vs Zn/Zn2+). Both dendrite-free Zn plating/stripping and reversible dual-anion intercalation into the graphite cathode are realized in the hybrid electrolyte. The resultant Zn–graphite battery performs stably at a high voltage of 2.8 V with a record midpoint discharge voltage of 2.2 V. After 2000 cycles at a high charge–discharge rate, high capacity retention of 97.5% is achieved with ≈100% Coulombic efficiency.
GRB 071028B, a burst behind large amounts of dust in an unabsorbed galaxy
Creators: name: Clemens, C.
name: Greiner, J.
name: Krühler, T.
name: Pierini, D.
name: Savaglio, S.
name: Klose, S.
name: Afonso, P. M. J.
name: Filgas, R.
name: E., F. Olivares
name: Rau, A.
name: Schady, P.
name: Rossi, A.
name: Yoldaş, A. Küpcü
name: Updike, A. C.
name: Yoldaş, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report on the discovery and properties of the fading afterglow and underlying host galaxy of GRB 071028B, thereby facilitating a detailed comparison between these two. Observations were performed with the Gamma-ray Burst Optical and Near-infrared Detector at the 2.2 m telescope on the La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile. We conducted five observations from 1.9 d to 227.2 d after the trigger and obtained deep images in the g'r'i'z' and JHKs bands. Based on accurate seven-channel photometry covering the optical to near-infrared wavelength range, we derive a photometric redshift of z = 0.94 +0.05 -0.10 for the unabsorbed host galaxy of GRB 071028B. In contrast, we show that the afterglow with an intrinsic extinction of AV(SB) = (0.70 +/- 0.11) mag is moderately absorbed and requires a relatively flat extinction curve. According to the reported Swift/BAT observations, the energetics yield an isotropic energy release of E(gamma,iso.,rest) = (1.4 +2.4 -0.7) x 10^51 erg.
description: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A
The Structure of Micelle-bound Proamylin and Advances in Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy
Creators: name: Delisle, Charles Frederick
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Solution-state NMR spectroscopy provides an invaluable tool to study both the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in their near-native environment. This method has particular strength when studying intrinsically disordered proteins or systems with conformational heterogeneity. In contrast, solution NMR suffers with large molecular weight proteins due to spectral overlap and line broadening. This collection of work reports on the structure of an intrinsically disordered peptide prohormone bound to a membrane mimetic and challenges the molecular size problem with the development of a new experimental method to improve NOESY spectral resolution. In the first part, I describe the use of NMR and other biophysical methods in the thorough structural characterization of pro-islet amyloid polypeptide in a membrane environment. We mapped the protein-lipid complex interface, and examine the effects of membrane curvature, charge, and pH on complex formation. Surprisingly, we found that the C-terminal pro-hormone segment of this protein can fold and associate to membranes independently of the rest of the molecule, and comment on potential implications. The second part describes the development of the super-resolution NOESY experiment to improve data quality for protein structure determination. We use two model systems, ubiquitin and the hemagglunitin fusion peptide of the influenza A virus (HAfp) bound to large bicelles, in order to characterize the optimal experimental parameters with respect to molecular size for maximum resolution enhancement. Furthermore, we explain the theory, pitfalls, and contrast to apodization techniques.
Integrating pedestrian simulation, tracking and event detection for crowd analysis
Creators: name: Butenuth, Matthias
name: Burkert, Florian
name: Kneidl, Angelika
name: Borrmann, André
name: Schmidt, Florian
name: Hinz, Stefan
name: Sirmacek, Beril
name: Hartmann, Dirk
Publisher: name: Karlsruhe
Year: 2011

description: In this paper, an overall framework for crowd analysis is presented. Detection and tracking of pedestrians as well as detection of dense crowds is performed on image sequences to improve simulation models of pedestrian flows. Additionally, graph-based event detection is performed by using Hidden Markov Models on pedestrian trajectories utilizing knowledge from simulations. Experimental results show the benefit of our integrated framework using simulation and real-world data for crowd analysis.
Distribution Analysis of Functional Daily Tasks with the Kinect Device
Creators: name: Romera, Jose Rubio
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Nowadays, the increase on the prevalence of neurological diseases has launched the development of new methods for their diagnosis and treatment. One of the most common diseases is the Stroke, whose focus on behalf of researchers has mostly been to identify how motor deficits affect stroke survivors in a different way. In Stroke Rehabilitation, the Kinect Device has recently been playing an important role, whose components make it a non-invasive and inexpensive device capable of tracking human motion in 3D. This work focuses on the analysis of activities of daily living recorded by Kinect, and the construction of 3D histograms based on joint angles from the elbow and shoulder joints as models used for the analysis. To do so, a new MATLAB function was developed to draw a bubble plot representing probability of finding combinations of the three joint angles during each task in 3D. Also, correlations between histograms on the set of daily activities were computed to describe their relationships. These values along with the visual interpretation of the histograms will help the reader to understand the conclusions of this project. The results showed that, although Kinect is not the most accurate device, it could be used to construct models representing behaviors of different groups of people performing tasks. These models ended up being explanatory of differences between tasks, tasks and free exploration, and they were also helpful to understand deficiencies presented in stroke survivors, which means this could even be developed as a diagnostic tool in the future.
Lewis Säure-katalysierte Transferhydromethallylierung für den Aufbau quartärer Kohlenstoffzentren
Creators: name: Walker, Johannes C. L.
name: Oestreich, Martin
Publisher: name: FID GEO
Year: 2019

description: Abstract Das Design und die Synthese im Grammmaßstab eines cyclohexa-1,4-dienbasierten Surrogats für Isobutengas wird beschrieben. Unter Verwendung der stark elektronenarmen Lewis-Säure B(C6F5)3 wurde die Hydromethallylierung elektronenreicher Styrolderivate zum Aufbau sterisch überfrachteter quartärer Kohlenstoffzentren erreicht. Die Reaktion verläuft unter C(sp3)-C(sp3)-Bindungsknüpfung an einem tertiären Carbeniumion, das selbst durch eine Alkenprotonierung erzeugt wird. Die Möglichkeit zweier gleichzeitig ablaufender Mechanismen wird auf der Grundlage mechanistischer Experimente mit einem deuterierten Surrogat vorgeschlagen.
Realistic FD modeling of the tunnel environment for seismic tomography
Creators: name: Jetschny, Stefan
Publisher: name: Karlsruhe
Year: 2011

description: To improve the safety both of the tunnel constructions and buildings at the surface, seismic tomography methods can be used to detect possible safety threads behind the tunnel wall (e.g. cavities, water bearing zones, fractures). Basis for such a tomography is a profound understanding of the seismic wave propagation in the complex surrounding of a tunnel which can be gained from seismic modeling We, therefore, created a realistic tunnel model that accounts for typical features encountered during tunnel construction, e.g. heterogeneous host rock, excavation damaged zone (EDZ) and topography of the tunnel wall. This model is used for the 3-D elastic wave field simulations. Data from multiple shot positions will be later on used for a seismic tomography, either by standard travel time tomography or full waveform tomography. Main objective is the accurate seismic modeling using optimal discretization parameters and an implicit free surface boundary with topography.
Comparative Study of Asymmetry Origin of Galaxies in Different Environments. II. Near-Infrared observations
Creators: name: Plauchu-Frayn, I.
name: Coziol, R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this second paper of two analyses, we present near-infrared (NIR) morphological and asymmetry studies performed in sample of 92 galaxies found in different density environments: galaxies in Compact Groups (HCGs), Isolated Pairs of Galaxies (KPGs), and Isolated Galaxies (KIGs). Both studies have proved useful for identifying the effect of interactions on galaxies. In the NIR, the properties of the galaxies in HCGs, KPGs, and KIGs are more similar than they are in the optical. This is because the NIR band traces the older stellar populations, which formed earlier and are more relaxed than the younger populations. However, we found asymmetries related to interactions in both KPG and HCG samples. In HCGs, the fraction of asymmetric galaxies is even higher than what we found in the optical. In the KPGs the interactions look like very recent events, while in the HCGs galaxies are more morphologically evolved and show properties suggesting they suffered more frequent interactions. The key difference seems to be the absence of star formation in the HCGs; while interactions produce intense star formation in the KPGs, we do not see this effect in the HCGs. This is consistent with the dry merger hypothesis (Coziol & Plauchu-Frayn 2007); the interaction between galaxies in compact groups, (CGs), is happening without the presence of gas. If the gas was spent in stellar formation (to build the bulge of the numerous early-type galaxies), then the HCGs possibly started interacting sometime before the KPGs. On the other hand, the dry interaction condition in CGs suggests that the galaxies are on merging orbits, and consequently such system cannot be that much older either. [abridge]
description: 36 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ: corrected typos and references
Phylogenetic tree calculations using the Grid with DAG job
Creators: name: Isea, Raul
name: Chaves, Juan L.
name: Blanco, Fernando
name: Mayo, Rafael
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Quantitative Methods (q-bio.QM)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: The goal of the work is to implement molecular phylogenetic calculations using the Grid paradigm by means of the MrBayes software using Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) jobs. In this method, a set of jobs depends on the input or the output of other jobs. Once the runs have been successfully done, all the results can be collected by a specific Perl script inside the defined DAG job. For testing this methodology, we calculate the evolution of papillomavirus with 121 sequences.
description: 5 pages, 2 figures
Recontextualizing Cultural Objects in Museum Spaces
Creators: name: Medina-Castillo, Araceli
Publisher: name: University of Illinois at Chicago
Year: 2020
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Museum practices of the past have negatively impacted representation of Native people. Collection practices of the 19th and 20th centuries centered upon the salvaging of “dying races” and the study of Native people to further social evolutionary models. Objects collected at this time were used to justify colonial endeavors and establish dominance over colonized people, through the claiming of their material culture. Past practices have become grievously embedded within the museum and must be decolonized. In the past, objects were used to further colonial interests and silence non-Western voices in the intent of sustaining a Western, hegemonic order. Today, they should be used to address colonial destruction and to accurately present narratives of various cultural groups. Art and natural history museums are critically analyzed to discuss the ways in which different institutions contribute to varying modes of misrepresentation. Cultural objects have either been aestheticized by art museums or viewed as specimens of study by natural history museums. Essentially, this investigation seeks to provide suggestions and solutions for better representation, through encouraging Native voice and community inclusion in all museums that contain cultural objects in their collections. Four case studies are analyzed and demonstrate the importance of recontextualizing objects in a manner that refocuses the narrative with a Native lens, rather than an oppressive, Western one.
Boosting jet power in black hole spacetimes
Creators: name: Neilsen, David
name: Lehner, Luis
name: Palenzuela, Carlos
name: Hirschmann, Eric W.
name: Liebling, Steven L.
name: Motl, Patrick M.
name: Garrett, T.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The extraction of rotational energy from a spinning black hole via the Blandford-Znajek mechanism has long been understood as an important component in models to explain energetic jets from compact astrophysical sources. Here we show more generally that the kinetic energy of the black hole, both rotational and translational, can be tapped, thereby producing even more luminous jets powered by the interaction of the black hole with its surrounding plasma. We study the resulting Poynting jet that arises from single boosted black holes and binary black hole systems. In the latter case, we find that increasing the orbital angular momenta of the system and/or the spins of the individual black holes results in an enhanced Poynting flux.
description: 7 pages, 5 figures