cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
title: Real forms of higher spin structures on Riemann orbifolds
Creators: name: Riley, Heather
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2016

description: In this thesis we study the space of m-spin structures on hyperbolic Klein orbifolds. A hyperbolic Klein orbifold is a hyperbolic 2-dimensional orbifold with a maximal atlas whose transition maps are either holomorphic or anti holomorphic. Hyperbolic Klein orbifolds can be described as pairs (P,\tau), where P is a quotient of the hyperbolic plane by a Fuchsian group \Gamma and \tau an anti-holomorphic involution on P. An m-spin structure on a hyperbolic Klein orbifold P is a complex line bundle L such that the m-th tensor power of L is isomorphic to the cotangent bundle of P and L is invariant under the involution \tau. We only consider a certain class of hyperbolic Klein orbifolds which we call nice Klein orbifolds, namely those where no fixed points of the involution \tau are fixed by any elements of the Fuchsian group \Gamma. We describe topological invariants of m-spin structures on nice Klein orbifolds and determine the conditions under which such m-spin structures exist. We describe all connected components of the space of m-spin structures on nice Klein orbifolds and prove that any connected component is homeomorphic to a quotient of \mathbb{R}^d by a discrete group.
Allele-Specific Transcriptional Activity at Type 2 Diabetes-Associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Regions of Pancreatic Islet Open Chromatin at the JAZF1 Locus
Creators: name: Vadlamudi, S.
name: Mohlke, K. L.
name: Panhuis, T. M.
name: Buchkovich, M. L.
name: Fogarty, M. P.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Translation of noncoding common variant association signals into meaningful molecular and biological mechanisms explaining disease susceptibility remains challenging. For the type 2 diabetes association signal in JAZF1 intron 1, we hypothesized that the underlying risk variants have cis-regulatory effects in islets or other type 2 diabetes–relevant cell types. We used maps of experimentally predicted open chromatin regions to prioritize variants for functional follow-up studies of transcriptional activity. Twelve regions containing type 2 diabetes–associated variants were tested for enhancer activity in 832/13 and MIN6 insulinoma cells. Three regions exhibited enhancer activity and only rs1635852 displayed allelic differences in enhancer activity; the type 2 diabetes risk allele T showed lower transcriptional activity than the nonrisk allele C. This risk allele showed increased binding to protein complexes, suggesting that it functions as part of a transcriptional repressor complex. We applied DNA affinity capture to identify factors in the complex and determined that the risk allele preferentially binds the pancreatic master regulator PDX1. These data suggest that the rs1635852 region in JAZF1 intron 1 is part of a cis-regulatory complex and that maps of open chromatin are useful to guide identification of variants with allelic differences in regulatory activity at type 2 diabetes loci.
Association of Ketone Body Levels With Hyperglycemia and Type 2 Diabetes in 9,398 Finnish Men
Creators: name: Paananen, J.
name: Collins, F. S.
name: Boehnke, M.
name: Soininen, P.
name: Pihlajamaki, J.
name: Cederberg, H.
name: Vangipurapu, J.
name: Civelek, M.
name: Pajukanta, P.
name: Mohlke, K. L.
name: Lusis, A. J.
name: Morken, M. A.
name: Laakso, M.
name: Mahendran, Y.
name: Bonnycastle, L. L.
name: Stancakova, A.
name: Ala-Korpela, M.
name: Kangas, A. J.
name: Saleem, N. K.
name: Kuusisto, J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: We investigated the association of the levels of ketone bodies (KBs) with hyperglycemia and with 62 genetic risk variants regulating glucose levels or type 2 diabetes in the population-based Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) study, including 9,398 Finnish men without diabetes or newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Increasing fasting and 2-h plasma glucose levels were associated with elevated levels of acetoacetate (AcAc) and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). AcAc and BHB predicted an increase in the glucose area under the curve in an oral glucose tolerance test, and AcAc predicted the conversion to type 2 diabetes in a 5-year follow-up of the METSIM cohort. Impaired insulin secretion, but not insulin resistance, explained these findings. Of the 62 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes or hyperglycemia, the glucose-increasing C allele of GCKR significantly associated with elevated levels of fasting BHB levels. Adipose tissue mRNA expression levels of genes involved in ketolysis were significantly associated with insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index). In conclusion, high levels of KBs predicted subsequent worsening of hyperglycemia, and a common variant of GCKR was significantly associated with BHB levels.
-Cell-Specific IL-2 Therapy Increases Islet Foxp3+Treg and Suppresses Type 1 Diabetes in NOD Mice
Creators: name: Nicolson, S. C.
name: Tisch, R.
name: Samulski, R. J.
name: Johnson, M. C.
name: Li, C.
name: Garland, A. L.
name: Wang, B.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a critical cytokine for the homeostasis and function of forkhead box p3–expressing regulatory T cells (Foxp3+Tregs). Dysregulation of the IL-2–IL-2 receptor axis is associated with aberrant Foxp3+Tregs and T cell–mediated autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes. Treatment with recombinant IL-2 has been reported to enhance Foxp3+Tregs and suppress different models of autoimmunity. However, efficacy of IL-2 therapy is dependent on achieving sufficient levels of IL-2 to boost tissue-resident Foxp3+Tregs while avoiding the potential toxic effects of systemic IL-2. With this in mind, adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector gene delivery was used to localize IL-2 expression to the islets of NOD mice. Injection of a double-stranded AAV vector encoding IL-2 driven by a mouse insulin promoter (dsAAVmIP-IL2) increased Foxp3+Tregs in the islets but not the draining pancreatic lymph nodes. Islet Foxp3+Tregs in dsAAVmIP-IL2–treated NOD mice exhibited enhanced fitness marked by increased expression of Bcl-2, proliferation, and suppressor function. In contrast, ectopic IL-2 had no significant effect on conventional islet-infiltrating effector T cells. Notably, β-cell–specific IL-2 expression suppressed late preclinical type 1 diabetes in NOD mice. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that β-cell–specific IL-2 expands an islet-resident Foxp3+Tregs pool that effectively suppresses ongoing type 1 diabetes long term.
Magnetic fields of low-mass stars, an observational perspective
Creators: name: Donati, Jean-François
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: magnetic fields
low-mass stars
star formation
dynamo processes
Zeeman effect
polarimetry
near-infrared

description: This talk outlines the latest observational advances in detecting and characterizing magnetic fields
 of late-type stars, from young pre-main-sequence (PMS) to mature and evolved objects. It focuses
 in particular on the latest magnetic measurements, for instance those of weakly-active M dwarfs
 and PMS stars collected over the last few years with the infrared spectropolarimeter SPIRou at the
 Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, in the framework of the SPIRou Legacy Survey.
Genetic Modifiers of Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes
Creators: name: Wright, F. A.
name: Cutting, G. R.
name: Durie, P. R.
name: Blackman, S. M.
name: Watson, C.
name: Rommens, J. M.
name: Strug, L. J.
name: Norris, S. A.
name: Pace, R. G.
name: Drumm, M. L.
name: Knowles, M. R.
name: Sun, L.
name: Arcara, K. M.
name: Commander, C. W.
name: Stonebraker, J. R.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Diabetes is a common age-dependent complication of cystic fibrosis (CF) that is strongly influenced by modifier genes. We conducted a genome-wide association study in 3,059 individuals with CF (644 with CF-related diabetes [CFRD]) and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within and 5′ to the SLC26A9 gene that associated with CFRD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.38; P = 3.6 × 10−8). Replication was demonstrated in 694 individuals (124 with CFRD) (HR, 1.47; P = 0.007), with combined analysis significant at P = 9.8 × 10−10. SLC26A9 is an epithelial chloride/bicarbonate channel that can interact with the CF transmembrane regulator (CFTR), the protein mutated in CF. We also hypothesized that common SNPs associated with type 2 diabetes also might affect risk for CFRD. A previous association of CFRD with SNPs in TCF7L2 was replicated in this study (P = 0.004; combined analysis P = 3.8 × 10−6), and type 2 diabetes SNPs at or near CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, and IGF2BP2 were associated with CFRD (P < 0.004). These five loci accounted for 8.3% of the phenotypic variance in CFRD onset and had a combined population-attributable risk of 68%. Diabetes is a highly prevalent complication of CF, for which susceptibility is determined in part by variants at SLC26A9 (which mediates processes proximate to the CF disease-causing gene) and at four susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes in the general population.
title: Dialectical behaviour therapy: factors relating to dropout and experiences of completion
Creators: name: McCormack, Moninne
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2016

description: This thesis focuses on non-completion of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for people with some features of personality difficulties (FPD) and termination of DBT for people with borderline features (BF). It contains two distinct journal papers; a systematic literature review and an empirical paper. The findings from the systematic review are outlined in chapter one. The aim of this review is to summarise the findings from studies that explore what is known about why participants do not complete DBT programmes for FPD and their characteristics. Using a systematic strategy the databases PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Medline and Scopus were searched for English-language only papers but with no restrictions in relation to date of publication. Papers were selected that included data in relation to dropout of adult participants from DBT for FPD. Eleven papers were included, nine observational studies and two controlled trials. The results are separated into four broad categories; personal characteristics, co-morbidity and distress, environmental and relational factors, and motivation. The results highlight the complexity of factors involved in non-completion of DBT for FPD. Further research using qualitative methods to explore participants’ reasons for non-completion is required to fill a gap in the literature. Chapter two is an empirical study exploring participants' experiences of completing DBT. Little is known about termination experiences of DBT for individuals with borderline features from their own perspectives. This study aimed to explore participants’ experiences of ending a DBT programme and how this experience has influenced their perception of previous endings and management of future endings. Six women were interviewed and their transcripts analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four key themes were found: (1) fear arising from the powerful influence of previous experiences of ending, (2) engagement with the therapeutic structure of DBT to manage the ending, (3) experiencing the ending of DBT as a reparative process and (4) personal growth during the DBT programme resulting in an awareness of enhanced resilience for the future. Clinical implications highlight the importance of services and therapists to provide an experiential reparative process of therapy termination for service users.
title: Youth conceptualisations and attitudes towards anti-social behaviour
Creators: name: Wentink Martin, Natalia
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: Through a series of studies, the ways in which youths conceptualise anti-social behaviour, and evaluate and modify their judgements about anti-social behaviours is examined. This research examines and proposes a model linking conceptualisations, attitudes, and behaviour which takes into account the manner in which attitudes can change according to the perceived target status of the victim. The proposed model contextualizes Heider's Balance theory (1958) in an intervention context in which target status and reconceptualisation playa central role. The first set of analyses examined the ways in which youths conceptualise anti-social behaviour the Multiple Sorting Task. Data was analysed using Multiple Scalogram Analysis (MSA). Conceptualisations were compared by age and offending history. The second set of analyses examines the structure of youth attitudes towards antisocial behaviour using a self-report questionnaire . It is argued that participant attitudes are a function of the target or victim relative to the offender; the notion of a target status resides within a socio-cultural framework of rights and duties in society (Moghaddam & Vuksanovic, 1990; Moghaddam, 2000). Smallest Space Analysis (SSA-1) revealed general themes of pro-social and anti-social behaviours and specific themes in relation to the anonymous and familiar target status relative to the offender The third set of analyses is based a 'before and after' study of a programme targeting fire-related anti-social behaviour. Smallest Space Analysis was used to examine the structural aspects of attitude change before and after the intervention. This analysis revealed the ways is which attitudes towards specific behaviours are conceptualised and re-conceptualised in relation to each other. The process of attitude change is discussed in relation to Heider's Balance Theory and discusses the role of a change in target status relative to the offender as a key feature ofattitude change. The implications of these findings for understanding-youth anti-social behaviour are discussed. Applications of these findings in relation to future programmes targeting anti-social behaviour are outlined, and future directions for research into youth conceptualisations, attitude, and attitude change are proposed.
Mendelian Randomization Studies Do Not Support a Causal Role for Reduced Circulating Adiponectin Levels in Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes
Creators: name: Collins, F. S.
name: Warren, L. L.
name: Wu, Y.
name: Boehnke, M.
name: Hattersley, A. T.
name: Jackson, A. U.
name: Hivert, M.-F.
name: Henneman, P.
name: Dastani, Z.
name: Kahonen, M.
name: el Bouazzaoui, F.
name: Hong, J.
name: Kronenberg, F.
name: Cheung, C. Y. Y.
name: Ballantyne, C. M.
name: Yaghootkar, H.
name: Lyytikainen, L.-P.
name: Zhao, J. H.
name: Xie, W.
name: Kedenko, L.
name: Pankow, J. S.
name: Buxbaum, S. G.
name: Gillson, C.
name: Bergman, R. N.
name: Kuusisto, J.
name: Scott, R. A.
name: Forouhi, N. G.
name: Lamina, C.
name: Gustafsson, S.
name: Stancakova, A.
name: Dupuis, J.
name: Dunn, S. H.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Adiponectin is strongly inversely associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, but its causal role remains controversial. We used a Mendelian randomization approach to test the hypothesis that adiponectin causally influences insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. We used genetic variants at the ADIPOQ gene as instruments to calculate a regression slope between adiponectin levels and metabolic traits (up to 31,000 individuals) and a combination of instrumental variables and summary statistics–based genetic risk scores to test the associations with gold-standard measures of insulin sensitivity (2,969 individuals) and type 2 diabetes (15,960 case subjects and 64,731 control subjects). In conventional regression analyses, a 1-SD decrease in adiponectin levels was correlated with a 0.31-SD (95% CI 0.26–0.35) increase in fasting insulin, a 0.34-SD (0.30–0.38) decrease in insulin sensitivity, and a type 2 diabetes odds ratio (OR) of 1.75 (1.47–2.13). The instrumental variable analysis revealed no evidence of a causal association between genetically lower circulating adiponectin and higher fasting insulin (0.02 SD; 95% CI −0.07 to 0.11; N = 29,771), nominal evidence of a causal relationship with lower insulin sensitivity (−0.20 SD; 95% CI −0.38 to −0.02; N = 1,860), and no evidence of a relationship with type 2 diabetes (OR 0.94; 95% CI 0.75–1.19; N = 2,777 case subjects and 13,011 control subjects). Using the ADIPOQ summary statistics genetic risk scores, we found no evidence of an association between adiponectin-lowering alleles and insulin sensitivity (effect per weighted adiponectin-lowering allele: −0.03 SD; 95% CI −0.07 to 0.01; N = 2,969) or type 2 diabetes (OR per weighted adiponectin-lowering allele: 0.99; 95% CI 0.95–1.04; 15,960 case subjects vs. 64,731 control subjects). These results do not provide any consistent evidence that interventions aimed at increasing adiponectin levels will improve insulin sensitivity or risk of type 2 diabetes.
The Influence of Obesity-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on BMI Across the Life Course: The PAGE Study
Creators: name: Prentice, R. L.
name: Haiman, C. A.
name: Graff, M.
name: Ritchie, M. D.
name: Le Marchand, L.
name: Crawford, D. C.
name: Vertilus, S.
name: Fesinmeyer, M.
name: North, K. E.
name: Kolonel, L. N.
name: Haessler, J.
name: Henderson, B. E.
name: Love, S.-A.
name: Matise, T. C.
name: Fowke, J. H.
name: Goodloe, R.
name: Gross, M. D.
name: Carlson, C. S.
name: Gordon-Larsen, P.
name: Manson, J. E.
name: Pankow, J.
name: Wilkens, L. R.
name: Peters, U.
name: Buyske, S.
name: Franceschini, N.
name: Hindorff, L. A.
name: Hong, C. P.
name: Kuller, L. H.
name: Buzkova, P.
name: Lim, U.
name: Monroe, K.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Evidence is limited as to whether heritable risk of obesity varies throughout adulthood. Among >34,000 European Americans, aged 18-100 years, from multiple U.S. studies in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Consortium, we examined evidence for heterogeneity in the associations of five established obesity risk variants (near FTO, GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1) with BMI across four distinct epochs of adulthood: 1) young adulthood (ages 18-25 years), adulthood (ages 26-49 years), middle-age adulthood (ages 50-69 years), and older adulthood (ages ≥70 years); or 2) by menopausal status in women and stratification by age 50 years in men. Summary-effect estimates from each meta-analysis were compared for heterogeneity across the life epochs. We found heterogeneity in the association of the FTO (rs8050136) variant with BMI across the four adulthood epochs (P = 0.0006), with larger effects in young adults relative to older adults (β [SE] = 1.17 [0.45] vs. 0.09 [0.09] kg/m², respectively, per A allele) and smaller intermediate effects. We found no evidence for heterogeneity in the association of GNPDA2, MTCH2, TMEM18, and NEGR1 with BMI across adulthood. Genetic predisposition to obesity may have greater effects on body weight in young compared with older adulthood for FTO, suggesting changes by age, generation, or secular trends. Future research should compare and contrast our findings with results using longitudinal data.
title: The rapid manufacture of hierarchical structures for orthopaedic applications
Creators: name: Charles Stamp, Robin
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: Porous structures are used in orthopaedics to promote biological fixation between metal implant and host bone. In order to achieve rapid and high volumes of bone ingrowth, the structures must be manufactured from a biocompatible material and possess the required porosities, pore sizes and mechanicfll strength. The research presented within this document describes the development of a unit cell modelling technique for the manufacture of highly porous wireframe metal structures using the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) rapid manufacturing system. SLM uses an ytterbium fibre laser to selective melt 75J.lm layers of metal powder. As each layer is melted it is bonded to the previously manufactured layer, and so parts are effectively 'grown' from the bottom up. Using unit cell modelling techniques and SLM, titanium constructs are manufactured that exhibit fully interconnected porosities, pore sizes in the range of 100-700J.lm, compression strengths in excess of 50MPa and which are 65% porous by volume. A post-manufacture high vacuum sinter process is defined which optimises the mechanical strength and surface topographies of the structures. The structures are shown to promote volumetric bone ingrowth rates of between 20 and 30% in in-vivo rabbit models. SLM is proven capable of manufacturing complex hierarchical structures, which is demonstrated by the direct manufacture of orthopaedic components with surfaces optimised for bone ingrowth and polymer bearing attachment. Finally this thesis describes the progress that has been achieved in developing commercial SLM manufacturing system. The innovative concepts described in this thesis have been submitted as a patent application.
Many-body mobility edge due to symmetry-constrained dynamics and strong interactions
Creators: name: Mondragon-Shem, Ian
name: Pal, Arijeet
name: Hughes, Taylor L.
name: Laumann, Chris R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We provide numerical evidence combined with an analytical understanding of the many-body mobility edge for the strongly anisotropic spin-1/2 XXZ model in a random magnetic field. The system dynamics can be understood in terms of symmetry-constrained excitations about parent states with ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic short range order. These two regimes yield vastly different dynamics producing an observable, tunable many-body mobility edge. We compute a set of diagnostic quantities that verify the presence of the mobility edge and discuss how weakly correlated disorder can tune the mobility edge further.
description: 10 pages, 5 figures
Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in Older Adults: Current Status and Future Directions
Creators: name: Schmader, K. E.
name: Musi, N.
name: Huang, E. S.
name: Harkless, L.
name: Goldberg, A.
name: Halter, J. B.
name: Kirkman, M. S.
name: McFarland Horne, F.
name: Zieman, S.
name: Crandall, J. P.
name: Plutzky, J.
name: Hazzard, W. R.
name: High, K. P.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: The prevalence of diabetes increases with age, driven in part by an absolute increase in incidence among adults aged 65 years and older. Individuals with diabetes are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, and age strongly predicts cardiovascular complications. Inflammation and oxidative stress appear to play some role in the mechanisms underlying aging, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other complications of diabetes. However, the mechanisms underlying the age-associated increase in risk for diabetes and diabetes-related cardiovascular disease remain poorly understood. Moreover, because of the heterogeneity of the older population, a lack of understanding of the biology of aging, and inadequate study of the effects of treatments on traditional complications and geriatric conditions associated with diabetes, no consensus exists on the optimal interventions for older diabetic adults. The Association of Specialty Professors, along with the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the American Diabetes Association, held a workshop, summarized in this Perspective, to discuss current knowledge regarding diabetes and cardiovascular disease in older adults, identify gaps, and propose questions to guide future research.
title: Socially engaged Buddhism in the UK : adaptation and development within Western Buddhism
Creators: name: Michael Henry, Philip
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: Socially Engaged Buddhism (SEB) in the UK forms part of a diverse and complex Buddhist picture. Concerned with developing Buddhist solutions to social, political and ecological problems it had its genesis in the movements against nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War in the 1960s. It holds with the notion of engagement in caring and service, in social and environmental protest and analysis, in non-violence as a creative way of overcoming conflicts, and in `right livelihood' and other initiatives which prefigure a society of the future. Engaged Buddhism has transformed the soteriological emphasis of more traditional forms of Buddhist thought to programs of social, political, and economic transformation. The spiritual emphasis on Buddhist practices such as meditation continues to be at the heart of many forms of engaged Buddhism, but, to apply a term Evelyn Underhill coined many years ago in her study of mysticism, it is a "practical spirituality, " one in which the transformation of society takes equal precedence with the transformation of the individual. Both textual and anthropological studies of Buddhism, have often presented it as stereotypically 'other-worldly' (Weber 1958/62), lacking in social engagement. This study adopts an inductive investigation that will test empirically the `this-worldly', `other-worldly' dichotomy, through the relationship of Buddhists to their social settings. This implies a continuity versus discontinuity debate at stake in this discussion, suggesting the possibility of a continuous (traditional) view, which asserts `all Buddhism is engaged' (Nhat Hanh 1987), or that SEB is in some sense `a new phenomenon' (Queen, 2000: 1) and thereby is a break with tradition. The lack of empirical scholarly research, however,h as left only the voices of academics talking to each other within the framework of the debate. This study sets out to remedy that situation, by presenting an empirically based extensive case study analysis and survey of five New Buddhist organisations, who are socially engaged in a variety of ways. This thesis aims to locate Socially Engaged Buddhism in the UK and place it within an emerging `Western Buddhism' examining its adaptation and development and discerning the significance and impact of SEB on the British Buddhist landscape in order to characterise the phenomenon and its relationships to the wider British Buddhist world, and academic discourse
A Soft X-Ray Lag Detected in Centaurus A
Creators: name: Tachibana, Yutaro
name: Kawamuro, Taiki
name: Ueda, Yoshihiro
name: Shidatsu, Megumi
name: Arimoto, Makoto
name: Yoshii, Taketoshi
name: Yatsu, Yoichi
name: Saito, Yoshihiko
name: Pike, Sean
name: Kawai, Nobuyuki
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We performed time lag analysis on the X-ray light curves of Centaurus A (Cen A) obtained by the Gas Slit Camera (GSC) aboard the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image ({\it MAXI}) in three energy bands (2--4 keV, 4--10 keV, and 10--20 keV). We discovered a soft X-ray lag relative to higher energies (soft lag) on a timescale of days in a flaring episode by employing the discrete correlation function (DCF) and the z-transformed discrete correlation function (ZDCF) method. In the episode, a peak and a centroid in the DCF and the ZDCF was observed at a soft lag of $\sim 5$ days in 2--4 keV versus 4--10 keV and in 4--10 keV versus 10--20 keV, and $\sim 10$ days in 2--4 keV versus 10--20 keV. We found it difficult to explain the observed X-ray variation by a single energy injection with the one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model, in which the soft lags in these three energy bands reflect the different cooling times of the relativistic electrons, by assuming the magnetic field and minimum Lorentz factor estimated from a broad-band SED. Alternatively, if the phenomenon is interpreted as cooling of Comptonizing electrons in a corona covering the accretion disk, the temperature of the corona producing the variable X-rays should be $\sim$10 keV for reconciliation with the soft lag in the energy range of 2--20 keV.
description: 23 pages, 7 figures, accepted version
title: Novel contributions to understanding the mechanism of folate transport and anti-folate resistance in Plasmodium falciparum
Creators: name: Omondi Ochong, Edwin
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: The primary focus of the PhD thesis has exclusively been on studies on Plasmodium falciparum with a remit to build a clear understanding on some of the critical and relevant questions relating to folates transport and antifolates resistance. The direction of this work has been constructed on the following themes of interest; 1. The Influence of folate pathway substrates on the In Vitro activities of antifolate drugs. 2. Functional characterization of heterologously expressed putative folate transporters in the Xenopus laevis oocyte. 3. Transcriptional analysis of putative folate transporter genes.
Genetic Evidence for a Normal-Weight "Metabolically Obese" Phenotype Linking Insulin Resistance, Hypertension, Coronary Artery Disease, and Type 2 Diabetes
Creators: name: Ehret, G. B.
name: Fox, C. S.
name: Yerges-Armstrong, L.
name: Chambers, J. C.
name: Borecki, I. B.
name: Frayling, T. M.
name: Ohlsson, C.
name: Richards, J. B.
name: Yaghootkar, H.
name: Franceschini, N.
name: Semple, R. K.
name: Bis, J. C.
name: Langenberg, C.
name: Hivert, M.-F.
name: Knowles, J. W.
name: Dastani, Z.
name: Perry, J. R. B.
name: Munroe, P. B.
name: Scott, R. A.
name: Zhang, W.
name: Walker, M.
name: Kooner, J. S.
name: White, C. C.
name: Speliotes, E.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: The mechanisms that predispose to hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in individuals of normal weight are poorly understood. In contrast, in monogenic primary lipodystrophy—a reduction in subcutaneous adipose tissue—it is clear that it is adipose dysfunction that causes severe insulin resistance (IR), hypertension, CAD, and T2D. We aimed to test the hypothesis that common alleles associated with IR also influence the wider clinical and biochemical profile of monogenic IR. We selected 19 common genetic variants associated with fasting insulin–based measures of IR. We used hierarchical clustering and results from genome-wide association studies of eight nondisease outcomes of monogenic IR to group these variants. We analyzed genetic risk scores against disease outcomes, including 12,171 T2D cases, 40,365 CAD cases, and 69,828 individuals with blood pressure measurements. Hierarchical clustering identified 11 variants associated with a metabolic profile consistent with a common, subtle form of lipodystrophy. A genetic risk score consisting of these 11 IR risk alleles was associated with higher triglycerides (β = 0.018; P = 4 × 10−29), lower HDL cholesterol (β = −0.020; P = 7 × 10−37), greater hepatic steatosis (β = 0.021; P = 3 × 10−4), higher alanine transaminase (β = 0.002; P = 3 × 10−5), lower sex-hormone-binding globulin (β = −0.010; P = 9 × 10−13), and lower adiponectin (β = −0.015; P = 2 × 10−26). The same risk alleles were associated with lower BMI (per-allele β = −0.008; P = 7 × 10−8) and increased visceral-to-subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (β = −0.015; P = 6 × 10−7). Individuals carrying ≥17 fasting insulin–raising alleles (5.5% population) were slimmer (0.30 kg/m2) but at increased risk of T2D (odds ratio [OR] 1.46; per-allele P = 5 × 10−13), CAD (OR 1.12; per-allele P = 1 × 10−5), and increased blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 1.21 mmHg [per-allele P = 2 × 10−5] and 0.67 mmHg [per-allele P = 2 × 10−4], respectively) compared with individuals carrying ≤9 risk alleles (5.5% population). Our results provide genetic evidence for a link between the three diseases of the “metabolic syndrome” and point to reduced subcutaneous adiposity as a central mechanism.
title: Symbolism in the representation of royal children during the New Kingdom
Creators: name: Xekalaki, Georgia
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: The subject of this work is the way that symbolism operates in official representations of the pharaohs' sons and daughters, during the historical period widely known as the New Kingdom (1550-1069 Be). The use of symbols in different expressions of Egyptian culture has been widely mentioned, and has been discussed from many different angles. Scholars have also analysed the identity and function of various royal children through historical and genealogical .works. However, there has been little attempt to associate general ideas about visual and verbal symbolism with a socially homogeneous group such as the royal children. My work therefore aims to explore and explain what lies beneath the choice, the variation and the evolution of symbols used in the royal children's iconography and imagery. The area of Egyptian culture that was most affected by thIs symbolism is essentially the royal ideology. In the course of the five chapters of my thesis I explain not only the role of royal children in analogies between divine and royal families, but also how the royal children became an official link between the king and leading non-royals. Despite the variety of the evidence on royal children in materials, contexts and character, this work concentrates on princely representations that agreed with the standard principles of official Egyptian art and are evidently connected with elements of the official Egyptian New Kingdom world-view. In order to focus this thesis purely on the study of material relating to living royal children, I have decided to retain the d~ta already collected on funerary princely representations for use in a later analytical study. A major part of the thesis aims at establishing a methodology in which modern content analysis methods are combined and then applied to the evidence. Elements of literature theory, theory of mythology and semiotics are blended and applied to the evidence, producing an analysis extending from visual observations to deeper interpretive categorizations. As the official representations of royal children are linked to divine mythological prototypes, it is argued that such imagery is generally inspired by ideas deeprooted in the Egyptian thought and expressed through cosmogonies. Deviation from the prototypes (designated here as mythologems) might indicate a social need for personal display, which surpasses the ideas about established roles in the cosmos.
On the lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass
Creators: name: Jauregui, Jeffrey L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Differential Geometry (math.DG)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 53C20 (Primary), 83C99, 58Z05 (Secondary)

description: The ADM mass, viewed as a functional on the space of asymptotically flat Riemannian metrics of nonnegative scalar curvature, fails to be continuous for many natural topologies. In this paper we prove that lower semicontinuity holds in natural settings: first, for pointed Cheeger--Gromov convergence (without any symmetry assumptions) for $n=3$, and second, assuming rotational symmetry, for weak convergence of the associated canonical embeddings into Euclidean space, for $n \geq 3$. We also apply recent results of LeFloch and Sormani to deal with the rotationally symmetric case, with respect to a pointed type of intrinsic flat convergence. We provide several examples, one of which demonstrates that the positive mass theorem is implied by a statement of the lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass.
description: 18 pages, 4 figures
Impact of Type 2 Diabetes Susceptibility Variants on Quantitative Glycemic Traits Reveals Mechanistic Heterogeneity
Creators: name: Erdos, Michael R.
name: Barroso, Inês
name: Benazzo, Andrea
name: Rybin, Denis
name: Payne, Felicity
name: Grarup, Niels
name: Fischer-Rosinsky, Antje
name: Bumpstead, Suzannah
name: Assimes, Themistocles L.
name: Narisu, Narisu
name: Lecoeur, Cécile
name: Dimas, Antigone S.
name: Jackson, Anne U.
name: Böttcher, Yvonne
name: Stringham, Heather M.
name: Barker, Adam
name: Morken, Mario A.
name: Hao, Ke
name: Kovacs, Peter
name: Yang, Xia
name: Mägi, Reedik
name: Bonnycastle, Lori L.
name: Stancakova, Alena
name: Boesgaard, Trine Welløv
name: Knowles, Joshua W.
name: Lagou, Vasiliki
name: Hivert, Marie-France
name: Graessler, Jurgen
name: Swift, Amy J.
name: Chines, Peter S.
name: Song, Ci
name: Abbasi, Fahim A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: Patients with established type 2 diabetes display both β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance. To define fundamental processes leading to the diabetic state, we examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes risk variants at 37 established susceptibility loci, and indices of proinsulin processing, insulin secretion, and insulin sensitivity. We included data from up to 58,614 nondiabetic subjects with basal measures and 17,327 with dynamic measures. We used additive genetic models with adjustment for sex, age, and BMI, followed by fixed-effects, inverse-variance meta-analyses. Cluster analyses grouped risk loci into five major categories based on their relationship to these continuous glycemic phenotypes. The first cluster (PPARG, KLF14, IRS1, GCKR) was characterized by primary effects on insulin sensitivity. The second cluster (MTNR1B, GCK) featured risk alleles associated with reduced insulin secretion and fasting hyperglycemia. ARAP1 constituted a third cluster characterized by defects in insulin processing. A fourth cluster (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, HHEX/IDE, CDKAL1, CDKN2A/2B) was defined by loci influencing insulin processing and secretion without a detectable change in fasting glucose levels. The final group contained 20 risk loci with no clear-cut associations to continuous glycemic traits. By assembling extensive data on continuous glycemic traits, we have exposed the diverse mechanisms whereby type 2 diabetes risk variants impact disease predisposition.
The materials for limited time perspective decrease terminal materialism.
Creators: name: Wu, Xuyao
name: Yang, Liu
name: Lu, Mengxi
name: Li, Jing
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: classificationCode: 520503
subject: Personality and individual differences
classificationCode: 529999
subject: Other psychology not elsewhere classified

description: Terminal materialism is regarded to be harmful, however, few studies focus on how to reduce this value. This study examined the relationship between future time perspective and terminal materialism to suggest a promising strategy to decrease terminal materialism. Participants who were experimentally induced to a limited time perspective became less materialistic compared to those in the open time and control groups. Our findings indicate that a limited-time perspective can serve as an effective means for intervening in terminal materialism.
title: An exploratory study investigating irritable bowel symptoms, associated unhelpful thoughts, adult attachment, emotional distress and disordered eating
Creators: name: Culverwell, Gemma
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are related to disordered eating and eating disorders. These constructs have many commonalities, including a number of psychological factors. This review examines the psychological factors associated with IBS and its associated GI symptoms; and eating pathology. A systematic search of four databases was conducted and resulted in eight studies which were quality assessed and reviewed. Parental mental health; parental alcohol misuse; parental functional gastrointestinal disorders; parental separation; neuroticism; unhelpful cognitive processes; depression; anxiety; feeling sad and confused; and somatisation were found to be related to IBS, GI symptoms (associated with IBS) and eating pathology. These findings are critically discussed alongside the studies’ methodological limitations. Clinical implications and ideas for future research are suggested.
On the LINER nuclear obscuration, Compton-thickness and the existence of the dusty torus; Clues from Spitzer/IRS spectra
Creators: name: Gonzalez-Martin, O.
name: Masegosa, J.
name: Marquez, I.
name: Rodríguez-Espinosa, J. M.
name: Acosta-Pulido, J. A.
name: Ramos-Almeida, C.
name: Dultzin, D.
name: Hernandez-Garcia, L.
name: Ruschel-Dutra, D.
name: Alonso-Herrero, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Most of the optically classified low ionisation narrow emission-line regions (LINERs) nuclei host an active galactic nuclei (AGN). However, how they fit into the unified model (UM) of AGN is still an open question. The aims of this work are to study at mid-infrared (mid-IR) (1) the Compton-thick nature of LINERs; and (2) the disappearance of the dusty torus in LINERs predicted from theoretical arguments. We have compiled all the available low spectral resolution mid-IR spectra of LINERs from the IRS/Spitzer (40 LINERs). We have complemented this sample with Spitzer/IRS spectra of PGQSOs, S1s, S2s, and SBs nuclei. We have studied the AGN versus the starburst content in our sample using different indicators: the EW(PAH 6.2um), the strength of the silicate feature at 9.7um, and the steepness of the mid-IR spectra. In 25 out of the 40 LINERs (i.e., 62.5%) the mid-IR spectra are not SB-dominated, similar to the comparison S2 sample (67.7%). The average spectra of both SB-dominated LINERs and S2s are very similar to the average spectrum of the SB class. Moreover, the average spectrum of AGN-dominated LINERs with Lx(2-10keV)>10E+41 erg/s is similar to the average mid-IR spectrum of AGN-dominated S2s. However, faint LINERs show flat spectra different from any of the other optical classes, suggesting the disappearance of the dusty torus. The correlation between nuLnu(12um) and Lx(2-10keV) for AGN nicely extends toward low luminosities only if SB-dominated LINERs are excluded and Lx(2-10keV) is corrected in Compton-thick LINER candidates. We discuss the nature of faint LINERs by comparing it with the spectra of several emission mechanisms like jet, ADAF, planetary nebulae, or post-AGB stars. We suggest that the material producing the Compton-thick X-ray obscuration is free of dust, to reconcile the Compton-thick nature of a large fraction of LINERs with the lack of dusty-torus signatures.
description: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A&A
title: Robust moving object detection by information fusion from multiple cameras
Creators: name: Ren, Jie
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: Moving object detection is an essential process before tracking and event recognition in video surveillance can take place. To monitor a wider field of view and avoid occlusions in pedestrian tracking, multiple cameras are usually used and homography can be employed to associate multiple camera views. Foreground regions detected from each of the multiple camera views are projected into a virtual top view according to the homography for a plane. The intersection regions of the foreground projections indicate the locations of moving objects on that plane. The homography mapping for a set of parallel planes at different heights can increase the robustness of the detection. However, homography mapping is very time consuming and the intersections of non-corresponding foreground regions can cause false-positive detections. In this thesis, a real-time moving object detection algorithm using multiple cameras is proposed. Unlike the pixelwise homography mapping which projects binary foreground images, the approach used in the research described in this thesis was to approximate the contour of each foreground region with a polygon and only transmit and project the polygon vertices. The foreground projections are rebuilt from the projected polygons in the reference view. The experimental results have shown that this method can be run in real time and generate results similar to those using foreground images. To identify the false-positive detections, both geometrical information and colour cues are utilized. The former is a height matching algorithm based on the geometry between the camera views. The latter is a colour matching algorithm based on the Mahalanobis distance of the colour distributions of two foreground regions. Since the height matching is uncertain in the scenarios with the adjacent pedestrian and colour matching cannot handle occluded pedestrians, the two algorithms are combined to improve the robustness of the foreground intersection classification. The robustness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated in real-world image sequences.
User Attraction via Wireless Charging in Cellular Networks
Creators: name: Kim, Jeemin
name: Park, Jihong
name: Ko, Seung-Woo
name: Kim, Seong-Lyun
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: A strong motivation of charging depleted battery can be an enabler for network capacity increase. In this light we propose a spatial attraction cellular network (SAN) consisting of macro cells overlaid with small cell base stations that wirelessly charge user batteries. Such a network makes battery depleting users move toward the vicinity of small cell base stations. With a fine adjustment of charging power, this user spatial attraction (SA) improves in spectral efficiency as well as load balancing. We jointly optimize both enhancements thanks to SA, and derive the corresponding optimal charging power in a closed form by using a stochastic geometric approach.
description: to be presented in IEEE International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks (WiOpt) Workshop on Green Networks (GREENNET) 2016, Arizona, USA (8 pages, 4 figures)
MicroRNA-29 Fine-tunes the Expression of Key FOXA2-Activated Lipid Metabolism Genes and Is Dysregulated in Animal Models of Insulin Resistance and Diabetes
Creators: name: Biddinger, S. B.
name: Kurtz, C. L.
name: Miao, J.
name: Ding, S.
name: Turner, S.
name: Fannin, E. E.
name: Peck, B. C. E.
name: Beysen, C.
name: Sethupathy, P.
name: Landstreet, S. R.
name: Lund, P. K.
name: Vickers, K. C.
name: Turaga, V.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as biomarkers of metabolic status, etiological factors in complex disease, and promising drug targets. Recent reports suggest that miRNAs are critical regulators of pathways underlying the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. In this study, we demonstrate by deep sequencing and real-time quantitative PCR that hepatic levels of Foxa2 mRNA and miR-29 are elevated in a mouse model of diet-induced insulin resistance. We also show that Foxa2 and miR-29 are significantly upregulated in the livers of Zucker diabetic fatty (fa/fa) rats and that the levels of both returned to normal upon treatment with the insulin-sensitizing agent pioglitazone. We present evidence that miR-29 expression in human hepatoma cells is controlled in part by FOXA2, which is known to play a critical role in hepatic energy homeostasis. Moreover, we demonstrate that miR-29 fine-tunes FOXA2-mediated activation of key lipid metabolism genes, including PPARGC1A, HMGCS2, and ABHD5. These results suggest that miR-29 is an important regulatory factor in normal metabolism and may represent a novel therapeutic target in type 2 diabetes and related metabolic syndromes.