cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Magnetization of laser-produced plasma in a chiral hollow target
Creators: name: Korneev, Ph.
name: Tikhonchuk, V.
name: d'Humières, E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: It is demonstrated that targets with a broken rotational symmetry may facilitate generation of a strong axial (poloidal) magnetic field. An intense laser beam irradiating such a target creates intense electron currents carrying vorticity and producing strong spontaneous magnetic fields. Combined with a laser electron acceleration, such targets may be used for generation and guiding of magnetized, collimated particle or plasma beams.
Brucella Modulation Of Host Secretory Membrane Compartments Via Multiple Type IV Effector Proteins
Creators: name: Borghesan, Elizabeth Maeve
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine

description: Intracellular bacterial pathogens cause many infectious diseases of public health importance, where they modulate cellular functions during their lifecycle to promote essential virulence traits such as proliferation, dissemination, or persistence. Despite their significance, the underlying mechanisms of these virulence strategies are rarely understood, which limits our knowledge of bacterial pathogenesis. Species of the genus Brucella are highly infectious bacteria that cause the worldwide zoonotic disease, brucellosis, and their proliferation within phagocytes depends on the expression of a Type IV Secretion System (T4SS) that delivers effector proteins into the host cell and mediates biogenesis of the replicative Brucella-containing vacuole (rBCV). Determining the functions of these individual T4SS effector proteins is central to our understanding of how Brucella generates its intracellular niche to establish a successful infection. Several T4SS effector proteins have been identified, however their functions and role during Brucella infection remains largely unknown. Here, we describe the function of four T4SS effector proteins, BspB, RicA, BspA and BspF, and how they contribute to rBCV biogenesis or intravacuolar replication of the bacterium by targeting secretory compartments. BspB and RicA engage Rab2 functions in an antagonistic manner to balance endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi apparatus vesicular transport to support rBCV biogenesis. BspA promotes bacterial replication in rBCVs by inhibiting ER associated degradation (ERAD) through interactions with the E3 ubiquitin ligase, MARCH6, thereby interfering with E3 ubiquitin complex function. BspF interacts with the Arf6 GTPase activating protein (GAP) ACAP1, resulting in blockage of Arf6/Rab8a-dependent retrograde transport at the recycling endosome (RE) to promote intravacuolar replication. BspF contains a Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase domain which is important for its interaction with ACAP1 and inhibition of retrograde transport. This work provides some of the first functional insight into how multiple T4SS effector proteins target distinct secretory membrane compartments to contribute to Brucella’s infectious cycle.
Freezing motion-induced dephasing in an atomic-ensemble quantum memory
Creators: name: Jiang, Yan
name: Rui, Jun
name: Bao, Xiao-Hui
name: Pan, Jian-Wei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Motion-induced dephasing is a dominant decoherence mechanism for atom-gas quantum memories. In this paper, we develop a new coherent manipulation technique which enables arbitrary engineering of the spin-wave momentum with neglectable noise. By zeroing the spin-wave momentum, motion-induced dephasing can be frozen completely. We experimentally demonstrate this scheme with laser-cooled atoms in a DLCZ configuration. By applying the freezing pulses, memory lifetime gets extended significantly to the limit of atom cloud expansion and does not depend on the detection angle anymore. The observed high cross-correlation above 20 proves that high-fidelity memory operation is well preserved after coherent manipulation.
description: 4 pages, 4 figures
PVDATABASE.Org The PV Database for Urban PV Applications
Creators: name: Ter Horst, E.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: PV Systems
PV Applications in the Built Environment

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3484-3485
description: This paper outlines the website www.PVDATABASE.org. The PV database is a 'joint venture' between the PV-UP-SCALE project and the IEA PVPS Task 10 project. Aim of the PV database is to collect and disseminate the lessons learnt on urban applications of PV by reviewing and describing PV projects in the built
environment in Europe, in IEA countries and some other countries. In the urban PV project database all important data and issues regarding relevant urban PV installations are presented in the same format. 350 new urban and building integrated PV projects, 30 PV Communities and 100 ‘old’ BIPV projects (from the nineties) are described in text, data, figures, high quality pictures and a link to the exact location of the project in Google Maps.
A Systematic Study on Potentials of PV Tracking Modes
Creators: name: Hoffmann, A.
name: Frindt, H.
name: Spinnler, M.
name: Wolf, J.
name: Sattelmayer, T.
name: Hartkopf, T.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: PV Systems
Grid-connected Applications

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3378-3383
description: In Europe, photovoltaic installations tracking towards the sun (PV-trackers) have become very popular during the last years, mainly in large ground mounted PV installations. However, predicting energy yield of tracked systems is highly inaccurate and, comparing with fixed plants, an extensive discussion on energy gains is put up. High uncertainty is mainly due to difficulties in a systematic approach on comparative measurements and simulations. Furthermore, simulated values generally show a smaller gain than values communicated by a variety of manufacturers. In the present paper, a systematic theoretical approach to this problem will be presented. A discussion of computational uncertainties will help to ensure accuracy of the applied models. Evaluation of potentials for
different tracking modes, optimal module tilt angles and tracking time steps will be performed. An assessment of secondary effects like partial load behavior of module/inverter combination will conclude the study.
Supplementary document for Dynamic Perturbation Mitigation via Polarization Difference Neural Network for High-Fidelity Ring Core Fiber Image Transmission - 7153920.pdf
Creators: name: WU, ZHEYU
name: Gao, Ran
name: Zhu, Jianping
name: Wang, Fei
name: Chang, Huan
name: li, zhipei
name: Guo, Dong
name: Zhu, Lei
name: Zhang, Qi
name: huang, Xin
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2024
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Detailed Description of Neural Network Architecture
Laser Induced Damage Studies in Borosilicate Glass Using nanosecond and sub nanosecond pulses
Creators: name: Rastogi, Vinay
name: Chaurasia, S.
name: Munda, D. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The damage mechanism induced by laser pulse of different duration in borosilicate glass widely used for making confinement geometry targets which are important for laser driven shock multiplication and elongation of pressure pulse, is studied. We measured the front and rear surface damage threshold of borosilicate glass and their dependency on laser parameters. In this paper, we also study the thermal effects on the damage diameters, generated at the time of plasma formation. These induced damage width, geometries and microstructure changes are measured and analyzed with optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that at low energies symmetrical damages are found and these damage width increases nonlinearly with laser intensity. The emitted optical spectrum during the process of breakdown is also investigated and is used for the characterization of emitted plasma such as plasma temperature and free electron density. Optical emission lines from Si I at 500 nm, Si II at 385nm and Si III at 455 nm are taken for the temperature calculations.
description: 9 figures, 3 tables
PV System Integrated in a Solar Greenhouse With NIR Selective Coating
Creators: name: Sonneveld, P.J.
name: Holterman, H.J.
name: Swinkels, G.L.A.M.
name: Van Tuijl, B.A.J.
name: Janssen, H.
name: Bot, G.P.A.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: PV Systems
PV Applications in the Built Environment

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 3496-3500
description: The scope of this investigation is the development of a new type of greenhouse with an integrated filter for rejecting near infrared radiation (NIR) and a solar energy delivery system. Cooled greenhouses are an important
issue to cope with the combination of high global radiation and high outdoor temperatures. As a first measure, the spectral selective cover material, which prevents the entrance of NIR radiation, is investigated. The special spectral
selective properties of these materials have to block up to 50% of the solar energy outside the greenhouse, which will reduce the needed cooling capacity. The second measure is the integration of a solar energy system. When the NIR reflecting coating is designed as a parabolic or circular shaped reflector integrated in the greenhouse, the reflected solar energy of a PhotoVoltaic (PV) cell in the focus point delivers electric energy. With a ray tracing computer program the geometry of the reflector was optimally designed with respect to the maximum power level. The PV cells mounted in the focal point require cooling due to the high heat load of the concentrated radiation (concentration factor of 30). The properties of different materials, Ge, GaSb, CIS and Si cells were investigated to find the optimal cell for this application. All part are integrated in a greenhouse structure with a size of about 100m2.
Whole genome sequencing in the Middle Eastern Qatari population identifies genetic associations with 45 clinically relevant traits
Creators: name: Thareja, Gaurav
name: Consortium, The Qatar Genome Program Research
name: Al-Sarraj, Yasser
name: Belkadi, Aziz
name: Almotawa, Maryam
name: Suhre, Karsten
name: Albagha, Omar M. E.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biochemistry and cell biology

description: Clinical laboratory tests play a pivotal role in medical decision making, but little is known about their genetic variability between populations. We report a genome-wide association study with 45 clinically relevant traits from the population of Qatar using a whole genome sequencing approach in a discovery set of 6218 individuals and replication in 7768 subjects. Trait heritability is more similar between Qatari and European populations (r = 0.81) than with Africans (r = 0.44). We identify 281 distinct variant-trait-associations at genome wide significance that replicate known associations. Allele frequencies for replicated loci show higher correlations with European (r = 0.94) than with African (r = 0.85) or Japanese (r = 0.80) populations. We find differences in linkage disequilibrium patterns and in effect sizes of the replicated loci compared to previous reports. We also report 17 novel and Qatari-predominate signals providing insights into the biological pathways regulating these traits. We observe that European-derived polygenic scores (PGS) have reduced predictive performance in the Qatari population which could have implications for the translation of PGS between populations and their future application in precision medicine.Other Information Published in: Nature Communications
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21381-3
Role of B1a and B2 B lymphocytes in atherosclerosis
Creators: name: Tay, Christopher Jian Wei
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: B cells constitute a major component of the immune system. They have significant roles in many immune diseases. There are multiple subtypes of B cells. B1a and conventional B2 cells are the two main subsets. B1a cells are the primary producers of natural IgM antibodies while B2 cells are the primary producers of IgG antibodies. IgM and IgG antibodies are believed to protect and aggravate atherosclerosis respectively. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterised by focal accumulation of lipids and immune cells in the walls of medium and large arteries. It results in cardiovascular diseases which are the leading causes of death from heart attacks and strokes in the world. Current treatment is restricted to lipid-lowering statins which are not sufficient in preventing and remitting atherosclerosis. The differential roles of IgM and IgG antibodies in atherosclerosis suggest that B1a cells are atheroprotective and B2 cells are atherogenic. In this thesis, an atheroprotective effect of B1a cells was supported by increased atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice with diminished B1a cells after splenectomy. The aggravation of atherosclerosis in splenectomised ApoE-/- mice was markedly repressed by the reconstitution of B1a cells by adoptive transfer. On the other hand, an atherogenic effect of B2 cells was underscored by the exacerbation of atherosclerosis following their adoptive transfer into lymphocyte-deficient ApoE-/- Rag2-/- gamma c-chain-/- mice and B cell-deficient ApoE-/-uMT mice. Moreover, ApoE-/-BAFF-R-/- mice that were selectively deficient in B2 cells, but not B1a cells, had reduced atherosclerosis. These studies clearly indicate that B1a cells protect against atherosclerosis whereas B2 cells exacerbate atherosclerosis.
Charge Extraction Along the IV Curve of a Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline Solar Cell: Further Insight Into Electron Transport, Trapping and Recombination
Creators: name: Lobato, K.
name: Peter, L.M.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: Advanced Photovoltaics
Fundamental Studies

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 495-497
description: Charge transport within the oxide phase of a Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline Solar Cell is characterized and compared using two recently developed techniques; direct measurement of the internal quasi-Fermi level and charge extraction along the iV curve. The experimental results are compared to two models describing electron behaviour (diffusive electron transport and multiple trapping). The experimental results demonstrate good agreement with theory, and the two models are shown to be complimentary.
The Fall of Two Cities: Troy and Gondolin
Creators: name: Cristini, Marco
Publisher: name: thersites. Journal for Transcultural Presences & Diachronic Identities from Antiquity to Date
Year: 2022

description: Vergil was a fundamental source of inspiration for Tolkien, not only when writing the Lord of the Rings, but also at the beginning of his “world-building”. The Fall of Gondolin, written in 1916, was modeled upon the Aeneid, whose second book shares many similarities with the description of Gondolin’s last day. For instance, the attack that seals the fate of the city takes place during a feast in both works, whereas both protagonists (Aeneas and Tuor) leave wives and sons to fight the enemy and witness deaths of their kings (Priam/Turgon). Other analogies include the topos of the fall of the tallest tower of the city as well as the scenes of Creusa/Idril clasping the knees of her husband and begging him not to go back to the battle. Tolkien chose the Aeneid as his main model because, in his opinion, the Aeneid and The Fall of Gondolin evoked the air of antiquity and melancholy. Vergil’s nostalgia for a “lost world” conveyed in the Aeneid greatly resembles the nostalgia pervading both Tolkien’s writing and life.
description: thersites. Journal for Transcultural Presences & Diachronic Identities from Antiquity to Date, Vol. 15 (2022): There and Back Again: Tolkien and the Greco-Roman World (eds. Alicia Matz and Maciej Paprocki)
Improved Self-cleaning Properties of an Efficient and Easy to Scale up TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by Adsorptive Self-Assembly
Creators: name: Isaifan, Rima J.
name: Samara, Ayman
name: Suwaileh, Wafa
name: Johnson, Daniel
name: Yiming, Wubulikasimu
name: Abdallah, Amir A.
name: Aïssa, Brahim
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Materials engineering
subject: FOS: Materials engineering

description: Transparent titania coatings have self-cleaning and anti-reflection properties (AR) that are of great importance to minimize soiling effect on photovoltaic modules. In this work, TiO2 nanocolloids prepared by polyol reduction method were successfully used as coating thin films onto borosilicate glass substrates via adsorptive self-assembly process. The nanocolloids were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The average particle size was around 2.6 nm. The films which have an average thickness of 76.2 nm and refractive index of 1.51 showed distinctive anti soiling properties under desert environment. The film surface topography, uniformity, wettability, thickness and refractive index were characterized using x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle measurements and ellipsometry. The self-cleaning properties were investigated by optical microscopy and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The optical images show 56% reduction of dust deposition rate over the coated surfaces compared with bare glass substrates after 7 days of soiling. The transmission optical spectra of these films collected at normal incidence angle show high anti-reflection properties with the coated substrates having transmission loss of less than 6% compared to bare clean glass.Other Information Published in: Scientific Reports
 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07826-0
A heuristics for HTTP traffic identification in measuring user dissimilarity
Creators: name: Ikuesan, Adeyemi R.
name: Salleh, Mazleena
name: Venter, Hein S.
name: Razak, Shukor Abd
name: Furnell, Steven M.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Applied mathematics
Distributed computing and systems software

description: The prevalence of HTTP web traffic on the Internet has long transcended the layer 7 classification, to layers such as layer 5 of the OSI model stack. This coupled with the integration-diversity of other layers and application layer protocols has made identification of user-initiated HTTP web traffic complex, thus increasing user anonymity on the Internet. This study reveals that, with the current complex nature of Internet and HTTP traffic, browser complexity, dynamic web programming structure, the surge in network delay, and unstable user behavior in network interaction, user-initiated requests can be accurately determined. The study utilizes HTTP request method of GET filtering, to develop a heuristic algorithm to identify user-initiated requests. The algorithm was experimentally tested on a group of users, to ascertain the certainty of identifying user-initiated requests. The result demonstrates that user-initiated HTTP requests can be reliably identified with a recall rate at 0.94 and F-measure at 0.969. Additionally, this study extends the paradigm of user identification based on the intrinsic characteristics of users, exhibited in network traffic. The application of these research findings finds relevance in user identification for insider investigation, e-commerce, and e-learning system as well as in network planning and management. Further, the findings from the study are relevant in web usage mining, where user-initiated action comprises the fundamental unit of measurement.Other Information Published in: Human-Intelligent Systems Integration
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42454-020-00010-2
The effect of graphene on the activation energy of grain growth for the nanocrystalline thermoelectric n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3
Creators: name: El-Makaty, Farah M.
name: Pothuvattil, Nandagopal S.
name: Hamouda, Abdelmagid
name: Youssef, Khaled M.
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental engineering
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering

description: Even though bismuth telluride is frequently produced by mechanical alloying for thermoelectric materials, no data has been published addressing the thermal behavior and activation energy of the milled n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 powders. This paper studies the activation energy of grain growth for the nanocrystalline n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 and two graphene-Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 composites with different graphene concentrations (0.05 and 0.5 wt.%). Grain size and structural analyses of these samples have been carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermal stability of the three samples is investigated by incorporating differential scanning calorimetry data with the Kissinger model. The activation energy of the pristine Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 alloy is found to be 268 kJ/mol. For the composite samples, a lower graphene weight percentage (0.05 wt.%) increased the activation energy to 270 kJ/mol. In contrast, higher amounts of graphene (0.5 wt.%) reduced the activation energy significantly to 254 kJ/mol. The observed effect is found to be directly related to graphene’s exfoliation in the bismuth telluride matrix. These results offer a better understanding of the thermal behavior of the nanocrystalline pristine n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 and the influence of graphene nanofiller on the thermal stability of the bismuth telluride nanocomposites.Other Information Published in: Emergent Materials
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42247-022-00416-5
Amniotic stem cells as a source of regenerative medicine to treat female infertility
Creators: name: Naeem, Aisha
name: Gupta, Nikita
name: Naeem, Usra
name: Elrayess, Mohamed A.
name: Albanese, Chris
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biochemistry and cell biology
Oncology and carcinogenesis

description: Impaired reproductive health is a worldwide problem that affects the psychological well-being of a society. Despite the technological developments to treat infertility, the global infertility rate is increasing significantly. Many infertility conditions are currently treated using various advanced clinical approaches such as intrauterine semination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and intracytoplasmic injection (ICSI). Nonetheless, clinical management of some conditions such as dysfunctional endometrium, premature ovarian failure, and ovarian physiological aging still pose significant challenges. Stem cells based therapeutic strategies have a long-standing history to treat many infertility conditions, but ethical restrictions do not allow the broad-scale utilization of adult mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs). Easily accessible, placental derived or amniotic stem cells present an invaluable alternative source of non-immunogenic and non-tumorigenic stem cells that possess multilineage potential. Given these characteristics, placental or amniotic stem cells (ASCs) have been investigated for therapeutic purposes to address infertility in the last decade. This study aims to summarize the current standing and progress of human amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAECs), amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs), and amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) in the field of reproductive medicine. The therapeutic potential of these cells to restore or enhance normal ovarian function and pregnancy outcomes are highlighted in this study.Other Information Published in: Human Cell
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13577-022-00795-1
Perceptions of Pharmacy Graduate Students Toward Research Ethics Education: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Developing Country
Creators: name: Ahmed, Wesam S.
name: Ahmed, Amgad
name: Alzoubi, Karem H.
name: Nebeker, Camille
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
Policy and administration

description: Despite the potential value of graduate-level research ethics training, most Middle East countries, including Jordan, do not routinely offer formal research ethics training. In students enrolled in Jordanian master’s level graduate program in pharmacy, the current study assessed: 1- differences in pre- and post-enrollment exposure to research ethics core themes, 2- whether this exposure was through a formal course or in an informal setting, and 3- student attitudes towards research ethics education and the need for integrating a dedicated research ethics course into pharmacy graduate programs. A 12-item on-line survey was developed by the authors and disseminated to a convenience sample of current and former master-level pharmacy students in Jordan. A total of 61 eligible respondents completed the survey. A minority of respondents (38%) acknowledged receiving research ethics training prior to enrollment into a postgraduate pharmacy program with nearly half (16%) describing this training as informal. In comparison, a larger percentage of the total respondents (56%) had received research ethics training during their postgraduate program enrollment, with nearly half of those (25%) indicating that this training was informal. A majority of respondents reported a strong need for integrating a formal research ethics course into postgraduate pharmacy curriculum (90%) to support their research training and thesis writing (89%). Overall, the study revealed a notable lack of research ethics education for graduate-level pharmacy students in Jordan.Other Information Published in: Science and Engineering Ethics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11948-022-00406-0
Structural characterisation of biotin protein ligase and its interacting partners: a novel antibiotic
Creators: name: Yap, Min Yin
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Biotin protein ligase (BPL) is an enzyme found in all organisms, and is required for the attachment of biotin to a specific lysine residue located on the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) domain of biotin-dependent metabolic carboxylases which are involved in a variety of metabolic processes which include lipogenesis, amino acid catabolism and gluconeogenesis. BPL can be divided into three main classes: the first 2 classes consist of BPLs found in bacteria, class I bacterial BPLs consist of a C-terminal cap domain and catalytic domain, but not a DNA-binding domain, whilst class II bacterial BPLs have an extra N-terminal DNA binding domain which is used to repress the transcription of biotin biosynthetic genes. Eukaryotic BPLs fall into class III, and whilst their C-terminal cap domain and catalytic domain have sequence similarity to their bacterial counterparts, they also contain a Nterminal domain which does not bind to DNA, and to date its function and structure is still under investigation. Bacterial BPL is a novel target as an antibacterial, due to it being essential for bacterial cell survival. Chapters 3 and 4 of this thesis consist of two published journal articles, and focus on the design of antibacterials that specifically target the BPL from S. aureus (SaBPL), a pathogen which is one of the main causes of mortality in hospitals and in the community, and has rapidly gained resistance to many modern antibiotics. In chapter 5, the expression, purification and preliminary characterization of K. pneumoniae and A. calcoaceticus BPL was performed, as an initial step for future drug design studies. Class II BPLs have to regulate two vastly different roles, the biotinylation of biotin-dependent enzymes, as well as binding to the bioO operator to repress biotin synthesis. The work in chapter 6 uses a combination of X-ray crystallography and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to provide structural information of how the class II BPL, SaBPL binds to its binding partners, BCCP and bioO. This chapter includes a recently published paper as well as further experiments done to obtain a protein crystals of the SaBPL:bioO complex. As the structure of eukaryotic BPLs have not yet been determined, the final chapter of this thesis focuses on the expression and purification of the human BPL, holocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) for use in future structural studies. Structural information not only provides information into the function of HCS, but would also aid in our drug design studies as outlined in chapters 3 to 5.
Genomic integration of sucrose catabolism into Escherichia coli for sustainable hydrogen production
Creators: name: Edmonds, Ari
Publisher: name: Macquarie University
Year: 2023
Subjects: classificationCode: 399999
subject: Other education not elsewhere classified

description: Addressing society's energy needs to achieve low greenhouse gas emissions requires the production of renewable energy through innovative methods. Hydrogen gas is a potential fuel that, when produced renewably, could facilitate the energy sector to become carbon neutral. In our research group, Escherichia coli has been engineered to produce hydrogen gas at unprecedented rates. The current feedstock for this hydrogen production mechanism is glucose. To improve the economics and sustainability of this hydrogen production method, alternative feedstocks need to be sought such as sucrose as derived from sugarcane. However, the ability for E. coli to utilise sucrose as a carbon source is uncommon. Here, synthetic biology techniques were employed to integrate a synthetic sucrose utilising gene cluster (SSGC) into the genome of our hydrogen-producing K-12 derivative DH5α strain. Integration of large gene pathways into E. coli have not been studied extensively. Here, the optimization of genomic integration at multiple chromosomal loci using λ-Red and CRISPR/Cas9 guided recombineering approaches was examined. The results showed that incorporation of the SSGC conferred E. coli the ability to grow on sucrose as sole carbon source. This achievement now allows our E. coli strain to generate hydrogen from sucrose as an alternative feedstock to glucose.
The longitudinal association of eating behaviour and ADHD symptoms in school age children: a follow-up study in the RHEA cohort
Creators: name: Leventakou, Vasiliki
name: Herle, Moritz
name: Kampouri, Mariza
name: Margetaki, Katerina
name: Vafeiadi, Marina
name: Kogevinas, Manolis
name: Chatzi, Leda
name: Micali, Nadia
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Clinical sciences
Applied and developmental psychology

description: Previous evidence suggests a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and disordered eating behaviours; however, the direction of the causal association remains unclear. Building on our previous research, we aimed to examine the longitudinal association between eating behaviours at 4 years, ADHD symptoms at 6 years of age, and the role of body mass index (BMI). We included children from the RHEA mother–child cohort in Greece, followed up at 4 and 6 years (n = 926). Parents completed the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) to assess children’s eating behaviour at 4 years and the ADHD Test (ADHDT) and Child Behaviour Checklist for ages 6–18 (CBCL/6–18) to evaluate ADHD symptoms at 4 and 6 years, respectively, as well as measures of BMI. Longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out to evaluate the associations of all variables between 4 and 6 years. Food responsiveness at 4 years was positively associated with hyperactivity at age 6, whereas emotional overeating was negatively associated with hyperactivity. There was no evidence of an association between eating behaviours of preschoolers and BMI at 6 years, or BMI at 4 years and later ADHD symptoms and vice versa. Findings suggest that food responsiveness is an early marker of ADHD symptoms at 6 years of age. In contrast to our hypothesis there was no significant association between ADHD at age 4 and BMI at age 6.Other Information Published in: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01720-x
Overcoming smallness: Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and strategic realignment in the Gulf
Creators: name: Miller, Rory
name: Verhoeven, Harry
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Political science
subject: FOS: Political science

description: Geography and the anarchic state system incentivise the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to collaborate in managing the threat posed by being neighbours of two (aspiring) regional hegemons, Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, both small states have responded very differently to the causes and consequences of instability in the Gulf region and developed very different foreign policies to deal with their structural IR problem. Just how divergent their external relations now are is clearly seen in the UAE’s lead role in the diplomatic boycott and economic embargo launched against Qatar in June 2017—including the de facto dissolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Framing our examination in the theoretical literature on small states, we explain the ultimately colliding foreign policy trajectories of the UAE and Qatar in terms of diverging ideational and strategic considerations in the cause of what we term ‘overcoming smallness’.Other Information Published in: International Politics
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41311-019-00180-0
New tetradentate Schiff base Cu(II) complexes: synthesis, physicochemical, chromotropism, fluorescence, thermal, and selective catalytic oxidation
Creators: name: Salih, Kifah S. M.
name: Shraim, Amjad M.
name: Al-Mhini, Soaad R.
name: Al-Soufi, Ranim E.
name: Warad, Ismail
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental engineering
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering

description: Three neutral Cu(II)/ƞ4-NNNO Schiff base complexes (1-3) were prepared from the (E)-4-nitro-2-(((2-(piperazin-1-yl)ethyl)imino)methyl)phenol, tetradentate Schiff base (SB) ligand, and the corresponding copper(II) salts. The new SB and its complexes were fully characterized by CHN-EA, standard spectroscopic, thermal, and fluorescence analyses. The formation of the complexes was monitored by EDX, FT-IR, and UV-Vis. The chromotropism studies of the complexes reflected remarkable findings, in which bathochromic solvato- and thermochromism shifts were detected. The turn-off-on halochromism phenomena were observed in the acidic and basic medium. On the other hand, the fluorescence of the free SB ligand was turned off via complexation to the Cu(II) center. In the presence of H2O2 as green oxidant and under mild oxidation catalytic condition, the three complexes successfully catalyzed the formation benzaldehyde from benzyl alcohol.Other Information Published in: Emergent Materials
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42247-021-00183-9
Carbide Derived Carbon (CDC) as novel adsorbent for ibuprofen removal from synthetic water and treated sewage effluent
Creators: name: Almanassra, Ismail W.
name: Kochkodan, Viktor
name: Ponnusamy, Guhankumar
name: Mckay, Gordon
name: Ali Atieh, Muataz
name: Al-Ansari, Tareq
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental engineering
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering
subject: Public health

description: Purpose Pharmaceuticals are becoming one of the largest environmental concerns when it comes to the water treatment industry. Increased usage of these chemicals poses a serious risk to ecology and human health due to their leakage into surface waters. In the present study, carbide derived carbon (CDC) was used for the first time as a new adsorbent to remove ibuprofen from synthetic water and wastewater effluent. Methods The morphology, chemical composition, surface area and surface charge of the CDC particles were investigated using the transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, BET analysis and zeta potential measurements. The effects of CDC dosage, temperature, initial pH and agitation speed on the adsorption process were examined by using batch adsorption experiments. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics, thermodynamics, and isotherms were investigated. Results Adsorption and kinetic equilibrium data demonstrate that the adsorption of ibuprofen onto the CDC obeys the Langmuir isotherm model and the kinetics follow the pseudo-2nd order mechanism. The thermodynamic results reveal that ibuprofen adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous. The ibuprofen removal by CDC was mainly controlled by the electrostatic forces at high pH of the feed solution and by the dispersive interactions in acidic media. The ibuprofen removal is promoted at high temperature, high agitation speed and low pH. The highest adsorption capacity of ibuprofen onto the CDC was 367 mg/g at pH 3. Furthermore, the CDC efficiently removed ibuprofen from spiked treated sewage effluent. Conclusions The obtained data indicate that the CDC provides a fast and efficient adsorptive removal of ibuprofen both from a model aqueous solution and treated sewage effluent.Other Information Published in: Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40201-020-00554-0
Spectral Efficient Communications employing 1-Bit Quantization and Oversampling at the Receiver
Creators: name: Hälsig, Tim
name: Landau, Lukas
name: Fettweis, Gerhard
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: To relax power consumption requirements in multigigabit/s communications systems low resolution quantization can be used. Information-theoretic results have shown that systems employing 1-bit quantization and oversampling are a viable option for this. This work investigates such a structure under the influence of additive Gaussian noise and two matched pulse shaping filters. It is described how a BCJR algorithm, based on a finite-state channel assumption, can be used to reconstruct symbols of higher order modulation schemes that allow the transmission of more than one bit per symbol. Furthermore, it is shown how symbol sources that are fitted to the 1-bit constraint can significantly improve the error rate performance of the system.
description: Published at IEEE VTC Fall 2014
A review of prospects and current scenarios of biomass co-pyrolysis for water treatment
Creators: name: Zuhara, Shifa
name: Mackey, Hamish R.
name: Al-Ansari, Tareq
name: McKay, Gordon
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental engineering
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering

description: With ever-growing population comes an increase in waste and wastewater generated. There is ongoing research to not only reduce the waste but also to increase its value commercially. One method is pyrolysis, a process that converts wastes, at temperatures usually above 300 °C in a pyrolysis unit, to carbon-rich biochars among with other useful products. These chars are known to be beneficial as they can be used for water treatment applications; certain studies also reveal improvements in the biochar quality especially on the surface area and pore volume by imparting thermal and chemical activation methods, which eventually improves the uptake of pollutants during the removal of inorganic and organic contaminants in water. Research based on single waste valorisation into biochar applications for water treatment has been extended and applied to the pyrolysis of two or more feedstocks, termed co-pyrolysis, and its implementation for water treatment. The co-pyrolysis research mainly covers activation, applications, predictive calculations, and modelling studies, including isotherm, kinetic, and thermodynamic adsorption analyses. This paper focuses on the copyrolysis biochar production studies for activated adsorbents, adsorption mechanisms, pollutant removal capacities, regeneration, and real water treatment studies to understand the implementation of these co-pyrolyzed chars in water treatment applications. Finally, some prospects to identify the future progress and opportunities in this area of research are also described. This review provides a way to manage solid waste in a sustainable manner, while developing materials that can be utilized for water treatment, providing a double target approach to pollution management.Other Information Published in: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03011-0
Reliability of Microwave Photoconductivity Lifetime Measurements
Creators: name: Pera, D.
name: Serra, J.
name: Brito, M.
name: Maia Alves, J.
name: Vallêra, A.M.
Publisher: name: WIP-Munich
Year: 2008
Subjects: Advanced Photovoltaics
Fundamental Studies

description: 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, 1-5 September 2008, Valencia, Spain; 498-499
description: The microwave reflection photoconductivity decay (MW-PCD) is a well known technique to measure lifetime in silicon wafers by the analysis of the decay of the reflected incident microwaves on the sample. However this decay can be affected by for instance surface properties, namely surface recombination. Besides HF, iodine in an ethanol solution has been used to achieve good passivation results. Here we show that iodine concentration and the time taken to measure the lifetime are aspects have to be considered to achieve reliable and reproductible results.
Human embryonic stem cell models of huntington’s disease
Creators: name: Niclis, Jonathan Christos
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Huntington's Disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that typically strikes during the fourth or fifth decade of life causing fatal atrophy of the striatum and other brain regions. A rare feature of this neurodegenerative disorder is the dominant inheritance pattern due to a CAG repeat expansion in exon 1 of the Huntingtin gene. The discovery that ≥35 repeats underlies HD pathology rapidly led to tremendous advances in our understanding of this complex disorder, with the identification from animal models of numerous pathological mechanisms including perturbation of anterograde and retrograde transport, neuronal activity, mitochondrial function, neurotrophic factor production, cholesterol biosynthesis and gene expression. Nonetheless, many disease mechanisms and the interplay between each remain ill defined in HD and particularly within a human cellular environment. As such there exists a need for novel in vitro human models to address these concerns and continue to decipher the etiology of HD. This thesis describes the investigation and detailed characterisation of two human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines carrying CAG37 and CAG51 repeat expansions to determine whether disease hallmarks are present in undifferentiated or neural differentiated human cells carrying HD mutations. To achieve this, a novel neural differentiation protocol was optimised for the precise comparison of genetically distinct human pluripotent stem cell lines in a high-throughput and chemically defined platform. The application of this protocol revealed HD hESCs possess the capacity to differentiate to various neural lineages with comparable efficiency to wildtype cells consistent with typical neurodevelopment, however, CAG repeat instability, minor gene dysregulation and importantly neuronal functional perturbations were identified. Consequently, HD hESCs carrying typical onset CAG repeat expansions are likely a valid and valuable tool for investigating the pathological events leading to disease onset and elucidating the hierarchical relationship between disease mechanisms. Human neuronal HD cultures additionally provide a promising resource for high-throughput in vitro screening of candidate therapeutics for the advancement of clinical treatment options.
Biochar from food waste: a sustainable amendment to reduce water stress and improve the growth of chickpea plants
Creators: name: Pradhan, Snigdhendubala
name: Mackey, Hamish R.
name: Al-Ansari, Tareq A.
name: McKay, Gordon
Publisher: name: Manara - Qatar Research Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental engineering
subject: FOS: Environmental engineering

description: The application of biochar in agriculture is a developing means to improve soil water retention, fertility, and crop yield. The present work focuses on biochar preparation from mixed vegetable and fruit wastes, using cauliflower, cabbage, banana peels, corn leaves, and corn cobs. The biochar produced at 400 °C was applied to the soil as an amendment to observe the qualitative changes of soil quality, plant growth, and water retention capacity of the soil based on screening in a previous study. Pot experiments were conducted at a laboratory scale having 0%, 2%, and 6% biochar mixed with sand. Each pot was sown with seeds of chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and monitored over 60 days. Two biochar application rates improved soil quality by increasing soil porosity from 49.3 to ≥ 53.4%, more than doubling cation exchange capacity to ≥ 21.1 cmolc.kg−1, providing a small reduction in bulk density of approximately 10% and decreasing electrical conductivity of the extract by at least 40% in comparison to control condition. The biochar application also increased key soil nutrients K, Mn, S, and P by a factor of 2–9 times. Application of biochar at 2% and 6% improved water retention from 55 to 77 and 91 mL respectively over the study and, more importantly, more than doubled the biomass yield for the same water application. The lower biochar application rate of 2% led to more germinated seeds (p = 0.0001), leaves (p = 0.0001), flowers, and fruiting chickpeas than the control condition. The 6% biochar application rate slightly improved plant height (p = 0.01) and provided a small reduction in water loss compared with the 2% biochar. Both biochar loadings increased the root and shoot biomass (p = 0.005) and nutrient content of the shoot and root biomass, particularly K, P, and S (p = 0.0001). This study demonstrates that biochar application at 2–6% is an effective means to increase chickpea yield and reduce water stress. Given small differences in performance within this application range, 2% application is recommended. The study establishes valorization of cellulose rich food waste in the form of biochar as a potential method for positive soil management and increased agricultural productivity in arid environments.Other Information Published in: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02575-1