cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Developing the Use of UAV Imagery Systems for Site Specific Weed Management
Creators: name: Hassanein, Mohamed
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Precision Agriculture
subject: Weed Management
subject: UAV
subject: Vegetation Segmentation
subject: Agriculture--General
subject: Remote Sensing
subject: Engineering--Agricultural

description: The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery systems for Precision Agriculture (PA) applications drew a lot of attention through the last decade. UAV as a platform for an imagery sensor is providing a major advantage as it can provide high spatial resolution images compared to satellite platform. Also, it provides the user with the ability to collect the needed images at any time along with the ability to cover the agriculture fields faster than terrestrial platform. Therefore, these UAV imagery systems are capable to fit the gap between aerial and terrestrial Remote Sensing systems. Weed management is one of the important PA applications that using UAV imagery system for it showed great potentials. The current weed management procedure depends on spraying the whole agriculture field with chemical herbicides to execute any weed plants in the field. Although such procedure seems to be effective, it has huge effect on the surrounding environment due to the excessive use of the chemical, especially that weed plants don’t cover the whole field. Usually weed plants spread through only few spots of the field. Therefore, different efforts were introduced to develop weed detection techniques using UAV imagery systems. Though the different advantages of UAV imagery systems, such systems didn’t draw the users interest due to many limitations such as the cost of these systems. The primary objective of the research work is to develop the use of UAV imagery systems for PA with focus on weed management through tackling the different limitations of using UAV imagery systems for weed management. Therefore, different methodologies are introduced for vegetation segmentation, crop row detection, and weed detection. These methodologies are able to enhance the use of low-cost UAV imagery systems through targeting two main goals. First, the use of RGB imagery sensors. Second, collect the imagery data from high altitudes.
Stability investigations of isotropic and anisotropic exponential inflation in the Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson gravity
Creators: name: Do, Tuan Q.
name: Nguyen, Duy H.
name: Pham, Tuyen M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper, we would like to examine whether a novel Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson gravity model admits stable exponential inflationary solutions with or without spatial anisotropies. As a result, we are able to derive an exact de Sitter inflationary to this Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson model. Furthermore, we observe that an exact Bianchi type I inflationary solution does not exist in the Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson model. However, we find that a modified Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson model, in which the sign of coefficient of $R^2$ term is flipped from positive to negative, can admit the corresponding Bianchi type I inflationary solution. Unfortunately, stability analysis using the dynamical system approach indicates that both of these inflationary solutions turn out to be unstable. Interestingly, we show that a stable de Sitter inflationary solution can be obtained in the modified Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson gravity.
description: 32 pages, 3 figures. V3 with many discussions, calculations, and relevant references added. Accepted for publication by International Journal of Modern Physics D. Comments are welcome
title: „… das Blut schreit und rast“: DJ Stalingrad, Exodus
Creators: name: Rüter, Janika
Publisher: name: Fachinformationsdienst Slavistik
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: DJ Stalingrad Ischod
subject: DJ Stalingrad Exodus
subject: Rezension
subject: 491.8

description: DJ Stalingrad, “Exodus”, erster Satz: „Die Sonne brennt.“ Es ist ein schmales, seltsames Buch, das soeben in deutscher Übersetzung bei Matthes & Seitz erschienen ist. Dass man dem Erzähler durch die Aneinanderreihung dieser grellen, oft brutalen Szenen folgt, ist neben einer gewissen Freude am drastischen Anarcho-Sound der Faszination geschuldet, die der Exzess hervorruft.
description: novinkigegengelesen
Non-thermal moduli production during preheating in $α$-attractor inflation models
Creators: name: Alam, Khursid
name: Bastero-Gil, Mar
name: Dutta, Koushik
name: Ragavendra, H. V.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Production of gravitationally coupled light moduli fields must be suppressed in the early universe, so that its decay products do not alter Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) predictions for light elements. On the other hand, the moduli quanta can be copiously produced non-thermally during preheating after the end of inflation. In this work, we study the production of moduli in the $α$-attractor inflationary model through parametric resonances. For our case, where the inflationary potential at its minimum is quartic, the inflaton field self-resonates, and subsequently induces large production of moduli particles. We find that this production is suppressed for small values of $α$. Combining semi-analytical estimation and numerical lattice simulations, we infer the parametric dependence on $α$ and learn that $α$ needs to be $\lesssim 10^{-8}\,m_{\rm Pl}^2$ to be consistent with BBN. This in turn predicts an upper bound on the energy scale of inflation and on the reheating temperature.
description: v1: 24 pages, 8 figures; v2: 30 pages, 11 figures, added two appendices, updated discussions and references, matches published version
Longitudinal chirality, enhanced non-reciprocity, and nano-scale planar one-way guiding
Creators: name: Mazor, Yarden
name: Steinberg, Ben Z.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: When a linear chain of plasmonic nano-particles is exposed to a transverse DC magnetic field, the chain modes are elliptically polarized, in a single plane parallel to the chain axis; hence, a novel longitudinal plasmon-rotation is created. If, in addition, the chain geometry possesses longitudinal rotation, e.g. by using ellipsoidal particles that rotate in the same plane as the plasmon rotation, strong non-reciprocity is created. The structure possesses a new kind of chirality--the longitudinal chirality--and supports one-way guiding. Since all particles rotate in the same plane, the geometry is planar and can be fabricated by printing leaf-like patches on a single plane. Furthermore, the magnetic field is significantly weaker than in previously reported one-way guiding structures. These properties are examined for ideal (lossless) and for lossy chains.
description: to appear in PRB
Chemical reactions of ultracold alkaline-earth-metal diatomic molecules
Creators: name: Ladjimi, Hela
name: Tomza, Michał
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph)
subject: Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the energetics of chemical reactions between ultracold ground-state alkaline-earth-metal diatomic molecules. We show that the atom-exchange reactions forming homonuclear dimers are energetically allowed for all heteronuclear alkaline-earth-metal combinations. We perform high-level electronic structure calculations on the potential energy surfaces of all possible homo- and heteronuclear alkaline-earth-metal trimers and show that trimer formation is also energetically possible in collisions of all considered dimers. Interactions between alkaline-earth-metal diatomic molecules lead to the formation of deeply bound reaction complexes stabilized by large non-additive interactions. We check that there are no barriers to the studied chemical reactions. This means that all alkaline-earth-metal diatomic molecules are chemically unstable at ultralow temperature, and optical lattice or shielding schemes may be necessary to segregate the molecules and suppress losses.
description: 7 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables
A Multimodal Approach to Understanding Motor Impairment in Developmental Coordination Disorder
Creators: name: Grohs, Melody N.
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Neurodevelopment
subject: Developmental Coordination Disorder
subject: Motor Control
subject: Motor Learning
subject: Robotics
subject: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
subject: Neuroimaging
subject: Behavioral
subject: Clinical
subject: Developmental
subject: Biology--Anatomy

description: AbstractThe ability to learn, execute and adapt motor skills is fundamental to childhood development and promotes independence in daily living. Yet children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), demonstrate difficulties acquiring and executing motor skills. DCD is a motor disorder that occurs in 5-6% of school-aged children. Motor impairment manifests as clumsy, slow and inaccurate motor performance adversely affecting the physical, academic and social outcomes of affected children. The pervasive negative impact of motor impairment on daily life in children with DCD, highlights the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. However, the motor deficits common among children with DCD remain unclear, making both screening and intervention difficult. There is a need for research with a priority focus on characterizing the motor deficits present in children with DCD. Evidence is growing, which suggests that poor motor performance in DCD is associated with motor control and motor learning deficits, however, findings are inconsistent across published studies. The current thesis used a three-pronged approach to investigate motor control and motor learning in children with diagnosed DCD, between the ages of 8 to 12 years: (1) two robotic behavioral tasks were employed to objectively quantify motor control abilities, (2) motor learning over five consecutive days of skill training and the potential of non-invasive brain stimulation to modulate rates of motor learning were explored, and (3) neuroimaging was used to investigate brain morphology of regions pertinent to motor control and motor learning. Spatial-temporal differences in reaching performance were observed in children with DCD, supporting the presence of motor control deficits. Preserved motor learning was also seen in the same sample of children. Non-invasive brain stimulation was unsuccessful in modulating the rate of motor learning. Finally, limited brain structural differences were observed in our DCD group compared to healthy controls. However, preliminary findings of reduced subcortical thalamic and pallidal volumes in our DCD group warrants further study, particularly given that these brain structures play critical roles in motor control and motor learning. Taken together, these findings suggest that the motor difficulties observed in children with DCD may be associated with compromised motor control systems.
Cosmological quantum entanglement
Creators: name: Martin-Martinez, Eduardo
name: Menicucci, Nicolas C.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We review recent literature on the connection between quantum entanglement and cosmology, with an emphasis on the context of expanding universes. We discuss recent theoretical results reporting on the production of entanglement in quantum fields due to the expansion of the underlying spacetime. We explore how these results are affected by the statistics of the field (bosonic or fermionic), the type of expansion (de Sitter or asymptotically stationary), and the coupling to spacetime curvature (conformal or minimal). We then consider the extraction of entanglement from a quantum field by coupling to local detectors and how this procedure can be used to distinguish curvature from heating by their entanglement signature. We review the role played by quantum fluctuations in the early universe in nucleating the formation of galaxies and other cosmic structures through their conversion into classical density anisotropies during and after inflation. We report on current literature attempting to account for this transition in a rigorous way and discuss the importance of entanglement and decoherence in this process. We conclude with some prospects for further theoretical and experimental research in this area. These include extensions of current theoretical efforts, possible future observational pursuits, and experimental analogues that emulate these cosmic effects in a laboratory setting.
description: 23 pages, 2 figures. v2 Added journal reference and minor changes to match the published version
Beyond AdS$_2$/dCFT$_1$: Insertions in Two Wilson Loops
Creators: name: Correa, Diego H.
name: Faraggi, Alberto
name: Mück, Wolfgang
name: Zayas, Leopoldo A. Pando
name: Silva, Guillermo A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider two-point correlators of local operator insertions in a system of two Wilson-Maldacena loops in ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on both sides of the AdS/CFT correspondence. On the holographic side the correlator of two Wilson-Maldacena loops is given by a classical string world-sheet which in one phase connects two asymptotically AdS$_2$ regions and in the other phase is given by two disconnected AdS$_2$ caps; this configuration breaks supersymmetry as well as conformal invariance. We present a complete systematic account of the string world-sheet fluctuations, including the fermionic sector, and study the behavior of the holographic two-point correlators. On the field theory side we compute certain two-point correlators of local operator insertions by resumming sets of ladder diagrams. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of previously developed methods in tackling this non-conformal, non-susy regime.
Linearly Polarized Gluons and the Higgs Transverse Momentum Distribution
Creators: name: Boer, Daniel
name: Dunnen, Wilco J. den
name: Pisano, Cristian
name: Schlegel, Marc
name: Vogelsang, Werner
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study how gluons carrying linear polarization inside an unpolarized hadron contribute to the transverse momentum distribution of Higgs bosons produced in hadronic collisions. They modify the distribution produced by unpolarized gluons in a characteristic way that could be used to determine whether the Higgs boson is a scalar or a pseudoscalar particle.
description: 4 pages, 3 figures, final version, published in PRL
Neutral Current Elastic Interactions in MiniBooNE
Creators: name: Dharmapalan, Ranjan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Neutral Current Elastic (NCE) interactions in MiniBooNE are discussed. In the neutrino mode MiniBooNE reported: the flux averaged NCE differential cross section as a function of four-momentum transferred squared, an axial mass M_{A} measurement, and a measurement of the strange quark spin content of the nucleon, Δs. In the antineutrino mode we present the background-subtracted data which is compared with the Monte Carlo predictions.
description: 6 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region, Dehradun, Uttarakhand (India)
Exploring a Novel Late Stage Phagolysosomal Event in Macrophages
Creators: name: Greene, Catherine J
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Biology--Cell

description: The work presented in this thesis characterizes a novel late-stage phagolysosomal event of macrophages wherein the mature phagolysosome transiently fuses with the cellular membrane and releases its soluble but not particulate matter, a process we termed eructophagy. Phagosomal maturation through fusion and fission with the endolysosomal system was believed to be unidirectional, resulting in the degradation of phagocytosed cargo to basic building blocks. Through the development of a live-cell imaging assay to simultaneously monitor multiple phagolysosomal lumenal biochemistries in real-time, we observed eructophagy as an iterative process that occurred in certain phagolysosomes within a population of macrophages. Eructophagy was additionally observed in macrophages and dendritic cells from mice and humans. Upon further examination of eructophagy, we found that interferon-gamma (IFN-?) activation of macrophages significantly increased eructophagy but interleukin-4 (IL-4) activation almost completely inhibited eructophagy. Furthermore, macrophages derived from mice conditionally deficient in key autophagic proteins had impaired rates of eructophagy, suggesting a role for canonical autophagic machinery in eructophagy. Employing an shRNA screen of cellular fusion machinery associated with lysosomes, autophagosomes, and the cell membrane in macrophages derived from conditionally-immortalized myeloid precursor cells, we have constructed a potential fusion model of eructophagy. Pathogen and Damage-associated molecular patterns (PAMPS and DAMPS) are molecules from exogenous and endogenous sources respectively, that can induce innate immunity. Despite their recognition and downstream signaling being well established, little is known about how they are generated from larger source material. Here, we propose that eructophagy is a method of PAMP and DAMP dissemination through the release of partially-digested material from the phagolysosome. We demonstrate that phagolysosomal-dependent processing of CpG DNA and N-formyl peptides conjugated to particles within phagolysosomes occurs before their extracellular release, and subsequent activation of vicinal cells. Taken together, we present eructophagy as a novel phagolysosomal process of pro-inflammatory macrophages that is modulated by canonical autophagic machinery and utilizes fusion proteins associated with secretory autophagy. We propose that eructophagy offers a solution to the paradigm of how PAMPs and DAMPs are generated from larger source material before their dissemination.
The roles of integrin-linked kinase at the centrosome and its regulation of microtubule dynamics
Creators: name: Lim, Simin
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2012

description: Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is both a scaffolding protein and a serine/threonine kinase that localizes to the focal adhesions. It interacts with the cytoplasmic domain of the β1-integrin subunit and acts as a hub for the localization of several actin cytoskeletal and signaling proteins resulting in the transduction of signals from cell-matrix interactions and growth factors into the cell interior. These signaling cascades go on to regulate important cellular processes such as cell migration, survival and proliferation. ILK has a second cellular localization at the centrosomes, where it regulates mitotic spindle organization and the interaction between ch-TOG, TACC3 and Aurora A, which is important for their function in regulating microtubule dynamics and spindle organization. However, the specific role of ILK's kinase activity, separate from a possible scaffolding role, in spindle organization is unclear. For this study, I attempted to characterize the spindle defect caused by QLT-0267, a small molecule inhibitor that is highly selective for ILK kinase activity. Treatment of HeLa cells with 10 μM QLT-0267 is known to result in a disorganized mitotic spindle that appeared arrested in a prometaphase-like phenotype. Here, I show that QLT-0267 exposure resulted in an increase in tension across sister centromeres aligned between two poles, suggesting a possible effect on spindle microtubule dynamics. Treatment with QLT-0267 was also associated with slower microtubule regrowth after depolymerization and the presence of a more stable population of microtubules in the mitotic spindle as evidenced by higher levels of acetylated α-tubulin. To further assess the role of ILK in regulating microtubule dynamics, the parameters of microtubule dynamic instability were measured in both QLT-0267-treated HeLa cells and ILK overexpressing HeLa cells. QLT-0267 appeared to dampen microtubule dynamic instability, while ILK overexpression enhanced it. ILK overexpression was also associated with decreased sensitivity to paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic agent that stabilizes microtubule dynamics. Taken together, the results suggest a role for ILK's kinase activity in regulating microtubule dynamics. Finally, this study reports a novel mechanism of action for the small molecule inhibitor QLT-0267, which dampens microtubule dynamics and should be taken into consideration when designing future uses for the compound.
Effect of non-condensable gases (NCG) on Effective Thermal Conductivity of oil sands
Creators: name: Dutta, Shuvolaxmi
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Chemical Engineering
subject: FOS: Chemical engineering
subject: Petroleum Engineering
subject: SAGD reservoir
subject: non-condensable gases
subject: oil sands
subject: effective thermal conductivity
subject: transient heat transfer method
subject: heat conduction
subject: heat conduction in porous medium
subject: effective thermal conductivity of multiple phases
subject: Physical Sciences
subject: Health And Environmental Sciences

description: Effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of oil sands is a key parameter affecting the distribution of heat in the thermal enahnced oil recovery, especially in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) operations. ETC depends on the the size and distribution of sand grains and also fluids filling the pore space. The co-injection of non-condensable gases (NCG) with steam, as a technique to improve the oil sand production, also significantly affects ETC. There is very limited experimental data for thermal conductivity of oil sands when it is saturated with bitumen, steam condensate and NCG. The objective of this research is to measure the thermal conductivity of oil sands at varying saturations of NCG and operating conditions using a rapid unsteady state technique. A needle probe emitting heat as a line source is used to determine the effect of NCG saturation on ETC of oil sands at different temperatures and pressures. The experimental data is later fitted into existing ETC models to develop modified correlations of ETC of oil sands incorporating gas saturation, temperature, and pressure. The intricacy of this work thus lies in determining ETC of a porous medium containing three-phase saturations. A part of the study also includes the estimation of ETC of oil sands in the presence of a surfactant in conjunction with NCG. The experimental correlations developed from this study can be used for simulating SAGD process involving NCG co-injection.
Pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) soil disturbance peaks at mid-elevation and is associated with air temperature, forb cover, and plant diversity
Creators: name: Lynn, Joshua S.
name: Canfield, Samuel
name: Conover, Ross R.
name: Keene, Jeremy
name: Rudgers, Jennifer A.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Plant Biology

description: Burrowing mammals can be ecosystem engineers by increasing soil aeration and erosion and altering the structure of plant communities. Studies that characterize the constraints on the distributions of fossorial mammal disturbances to soil can help predict changes in ecosystem engineering under future climates. We quantified the density of soil disturbances caused by Thomomys talpoides (northern pocket gopher) over replicate elevation gradients spanning 2,700–4,000 m a.s.l. in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, USA. As a conceptual framework for predicting biogeographic variation in soil disturbance, we used the abundant center hypothesis (ACH), which proposes that species abundance declines monotonically away from the most abundant location in its distribution, with the assumption that ecosystem engineering scales with gopher abundance. We also evaluated the relative importance of abiotic and biotic variables as correlates of soil disturbance. Gopher disturbance peaked at mid elevations (~3,150 m), supporting the ACH. The best model for predicting gopher-caused soil disturbance contained both abiotic and biotic variables, with increased soil disturbance where mean annual temperature, forb cover, and plant diversity were greatest. Results suggest that mountain ecosystems may experience increases in gopher-caused soil disturbance as climate warms, possibly accompanied by increases in plant diversity and forb cover.
Analytical Modeling and Design of High-Efficiency Input-Output Harmonic Tuned Microwave Power Amplifiers
Creators: name: Dhar, Sagar Kumar
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Power Amplifier
subject: GaN
subject: LDMOS
subject: Doherty
subject: 5G
subject: Telecommunication
subject: Waveform Engineering
subject: Harmonic Engineering
subject: Engineering--Electronics and Electrical

description: High efficiency power amplifier (PA) is an integral part of an efficient radio frequency (RF) transmitting system design. To enable modern and future wireless communication systems, the quest for efficient, wideband, and linear PA design techniques is ongoing. To cope with the stringent and contrasting requirements of modern wireless communication systems, it is important to consider the practical impairments like device nonlinearity, mismatch, mutual coupling, and channel temperature for high efficiency PA modeling, design, and reliable performance.In this thesis, power amplifier design methodologies have been comprehensively investigated by exploring and exploiting the input and output nonlinearities of the device. In particular, the impact of input nonlinearity on the PA performance is addressed comprehensively, and the efficiency minima phenomenon due to the input and output nonlinearity is demystified. As such, PA design methodologies for high efficiency broadband applications are proposed and verified with low/high power, and/or micro-wave/mm-wave applications. In addition to high efficiency PA design, linearity and output power performance are also investigated. A new input second harmonic design space is proposed in this thesis identifying trade-offs between PA efficiency and linearity performance. This approach led to a new PA topology designated as Class iF-1.In addition, the behavior of a PA and its linearizability by digital pre-distortion (DPD) technique under output mismatch and/or mutual coupling in a modern 5G wireless communication system is studied in this thesis. It has been observed that the PA linearizability is severely impacted by the PA-Antenna interface due to mismatch and mutual coupling. In this context, a new reflection aware unified PA behavioral modeling, and linearization approach is proposed under mismatch and mutual coupling. The proposed modeling technique and linearization approach is verified with a Class AB and a Doherty PA under wide range of output mismatch and/or mutual coupling conditions. Such robust linearization performance under diverse output mismatch and mutual coupling conditions is highly desirable for modern and future communication systems, which are subject to undergoing rapid fluctuations in antenna matching and cross-coupling conditions.
The K-transect in west Greenland: Automatic weather station data (1993–2016)
Creators: name: Smeets, Paul C. J. P.
name: Munneke, Peter Kuipers
name: van As, Dirk
name: van den Broeke, Michiel R.
name: Boot, Wim
name: Oerlemans, Hans
name: Snellen, Henk
name: Reijmer, Carleen H.
name: van de Wal, Roderik S. W.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Pharmacology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Marine Biology

description: We present twenty-three years (1993–2016) of automatic weather station (AWS) data, collected along the K-transect near Kangerlussuaq in west Greenland. The transect runs from east to west, roughly perpendicular to the ice sheet edge at about 67° N. The K-transect originated from the Greenland Ice Margin Experiments (GIMEX), held in the summers of 1990 and 1991. Until recently, surface mass balance and ice velocity measurements were performed at nine locations along the K-transect, of which four are equipped with AWS: two in the ablation zone at approximately 500 m and 1,000 m asl, one at the approximate equilibrium-line altitude (~1,500 m asl), and one in the lower accumulation zone (~1,850 m asl) at distances of 5, 38, 88, and 140 km from the ice edge, respectively. Here, we present an overview of the various AWS types and their data corrections, quality, and availability, including a preliminary trend analysis. Recent increases in temperature and radiation components are associated with the frequent occurrence of anti-cyclonic conditions in west Greenland, resulting in clear skies and relatively warm summers. Strong melt concurs with a decrease in winter accumulation, lowering the surface albedo of the ice sheet. The AWS situated at 1,500 m asl, the former equilibrium-line altitude (ELA), observed almost a doubling of the summertime net shortwave radiation since 2004; as a result, the ELA along the K-transect has been steadily increasing and is currently situated well above 1,700 m asl.
Team Adaptation in High Reliability Teams
Creators: name: Deacon, Amanda
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: High Reliability Teams
subject: Adaptation
subject: Teams
subject: Team Performance
subject: FPDR
subject: Family Presence During Resuscitation
subject: Resuscitation
subject: Family Presence
subject: Industrial
subject: Psychometrics
subject: Developmental

description: This research attempts to identify key components of adaptation in high reliability teams, with the goal being error reduction. The current literature is limited in its lack of empirical evidence showing how these models may differ based upon specific characteristics of high reliability teams. This topic is explored through three separate studies using resuscitation teams faced with family presence as a representation of a high reliability team requiring adaptation. Our first study sought to cultivate deeper understanding of the trigger and how it may potentially affect a team via a scoping study of family presence. The second study used qualitative analysis of debriefs with the sample population to identify key processes of successful team adaptation. In our third study, we used a mixed methods approach to test and provide evidence for the existence of the key processes and states identified in the second study. How this evidence contributes to our understanding of team adaptation in high reliability teams is discussed in the final chapter. Our findings indicate that high reliability teams differ from the standard team during the adaptation process and this may impact how we should approach training these teams.
Side by side? Vascular plant, invertebrate, and microorganism distribution patterns along an alpine to nival elevation gradient
Creators: name: Winkler, Manuela
name: Illmer, Paul
name: Querner, Pascal
name: Fischer, Barbara M.
name: Hofmann, Katrin
name: Lamprecht, Andrea
name: Praeg, Nadine
name: Schied, Johannes
name: Steinbauer, Klaus
name: Pauli, Harald
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Plant Biology

description: High mountain areas above the alpine zone are, despite the low-temperature conditions, inhabited by evolutionary and functionally differing organism groups. We compared the abundance and species richness of vascular plants, oribatid mites, springtails, spiders, and beetles, as well as bacterial and methanogenic archaeal prokaryotes (only abundance), at 100 m vertical intervals from 2,700–3,400 m in the Central Alps. We hypothesized that the less mobile microarthropods and microorganisms are more determined by and respond in similar ways to soil properties as do vascular plants. In contrast, we expected the more mobile surface-dwelling groups to forage also in places devoid of vegetation and thus to show patterns that deviate from that of vascular plants. Surprisingly, the observed patterns were diametrically opposed to our expectations: soil-living oribatid mites and springtails showed high individual numbers at high elevations, even where vascular plants barely occurred. Springtails also showed a rather constant species richness throughout the entire gradient. In contrast, patterns of surface-dwelling organisms and of archaeal prokaryotes did not differ significantly from vascular plants, because of either comparable climate sensitivity or their dependency on vegetated habitats. This study may serve as a baseline to estimate the risks of biodiversity losses in response to climate change across different biotic ecosystem components and to explore the potential and limitations of vascular plants as proxy for other organism groups that are far more challenging to monitor.
Regulation of the NLRP3 Inflammasome by Cathepsin Z
Creators: name: Campden, Rhiannon I
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Inflammasome
subject: Cathepsins
subject: Cathepsin Z
subject: Integrin
subject: Multiple Sclerosis
subject: Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
subject: Inflammation
subject: Interleukin-1
subject: Th17 cells
subject: caspase-1
subject: Silicosis
subject: Mass Spectrometry
subject: Terminal amine isotopic labeling of substrates
subject: Biology--Molecular
subject: Biology--Cell

description: The focus of this dissertation is on understanding how cathepsin Z is involved in the initiation of inflammation, and specifically, how cathepsin Z contributes to the production of interleukin (IL)-1? following NLRP3 inflammasome activation. IL-1? is a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in the recruitment of immune cells and the polarization of TH17 cells. Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, which is a macromolecular complex composed of a receptor (NLRP3), an adaptor protein (ASC), and the protease caspase-1, leads to cleavage and release of IL-1?. Cathepsin Z contains dual functions as a C-terminal exopeptidase and an integrin-binding protein. Initially, we explored the involvement of cathepsin Z in the development of inflammation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We found that cathepsin Z is required for the recruitment of immune cells into the central nervous system (CNS). Here, we found cathepsin Z is involved in TH17 polarization due to reduced IL-1?, but not antigen processing, T cell activation nor T cell migration. This led us to investigate the mechanism through which cathepsin Z regulates IL-1? production. We found that extracellular cathepsin Z signals through the ?5 integrin following NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Furthermore, the function of cathepsin Z in this context was dependent on the integrin-binding domain of cathepsin Z and not its proteolytic activity. This reveals another mechanism of NLRP3 regulation through an endogenous extracellular protein that signals through integrins. Finally, we employed proteomic and degradomic approaches following NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the absence of NLRP3 to gain a deeper understanding of the proteins involved in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In the absence of NLRP3, caspase-1 and IL-1? are degraded, while caspase-4 is stabilized. Further, ROS levels are lower following NLRP3 inflammasome activation with silica in the absence of NLRP3, and the expression of several mitochondrial proteins are deregulated, suggesting the importance of the mitochondria and ROS signalling in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Collectively, this dissertation reveals a novel extracellular regulatory pathway of the NLRP3 inflammasome and further outlines the signalling function of cathepsin Z in inflammation. This dissertation also presents a dataset of proteins for investigation in NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
Shifting DOC concentration and quality in the freshwater lakes of the Kangerlussuaq region: An experimental assessment of possible mechanisms
Creators: name: Fowler, Rachel A.
name: Saros, Jasmine E.
name: Osburn, Christopher L.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: Since 2003, concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in lakes in the Kangerlussuaq region declined by 14–55 percent, with these decreasing DOC concentrations potentially altering lake ecology and reflecting changes in regional carbon (C) cycling. To evaluate possible mechanisms responsible for this shift, we performed experiments to test the effects of dust addition, bacterial activity, or photodegradation on DOC concentration and two DOC quality metrics: the specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA254) and the chromophoric DOC spectral slope coefficient (S275–295). Lake-water DOC concentrations did not decline in any treatments, but there were changes in DOC quality. Dust addition increased SUVA254 and decreased the magnitude of S275–295 in one lake, the impacts of bacterial activity were variable, and sunlight exposure elicited a decline in SUVA254 and an increase in the magnitude of S275–295 in all lakes. These results suggest that DOC pools in the study lakes are photoreactive, even though the lakes are characterized by long residence times, but that declining DOC concentration did not result from this mechanism. While the tested mechanisms did not explain the decline in DOC concentration observed in recent years, they did yield new information about how dust, bacterial activity, or light can influence DOC quality in the lakes of the Kangerlussuaq region.
Internet-based Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Prenatal Women: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study
Creators: name: Bright, Katherine S
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Internet-based
subject: Guided Support
subject: Interpersonal Psychotherapy
subject: Perinatal Mental Health
subject: Pregnancy
subject: Prenatal
subject: Feasibility
subject: Acceptability
subject: IPT
subject: Depression
subject: Anxiety
subject: Stress
subject: Borderline Personality
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology

description: Psychological distress, defined as perceived stress, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy is common and if left untreated has considerable adverse outcomes for mothers and their infants. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), traditionally delivered face-to-face, is a recommended treatment for prenatal psychological distress. Unfortunately, for many women, there are significant barriers to accessing and engaging in face-to-face IPT during their pregnancy such as few IPT therapists, long wait-times, costs associated with conventional treatment, stigma, and childcare issues. Delivering IPT online, over the internet, is one approach to overcome these barriers and facilitate access to treatment for pregnant women. The aim of this doctoral research project was to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of internet-based IPT (e-IPT) for prenatal stress, anxiety, and depression.Within this thesis is contained; a systematic review protocol (Chapter 2), a systematic review (Chapter 3), a study protocol (Chapter 4), a qualitative study that explored the feasibility and acceptability of e-IPT (Chapter 5), and a quantitative study that provided an overview of the demographic and mental health data of the women drawn to participate in an internet-based guided support/perinatal mental health study (Chapter 6). The systematic review investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of IPT treatments for psychological distress in perinatal women. The empirical investigation evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of e-IPT for stress, anxiety, and depression in perinatal women when compared to routine prenatal care. To date, this is the first study to investigate e-IPT for prenatal stress, anxiety, and depression. In summary, the review, study, and interviews provide evidence for the efficacy of e-IPT for prenatal stress, anxiety, and depression. Delivery of IPT online has clinical value, overcomes access and engagement barriers, and has the potential to reach more prenatal women suffering from psychological distress.
Ab Initio Investigation of a Possible Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in MgSiO3 at Megabar Pressures
Creators: name: Militzer, Burkhard
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We perform density functional molecular dynamics simulations of liquid and solid MgSiO3 in the pressure range of 120-1600 GPa and for temperatures up to 20000 K in order to provide new insight into the nature of the liquid-liquid phase transition that was recently predicted on the basis of decaying laser shock wave experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 (2012) 065701]. However, our simulations did not show any signature of a phase transition in the liquid phase. We derive the equation of state for the liquid and solid phases and compute the shock Hugoniot curves. We discuss different thermodynamic functions and by explore alternative interpretations of the experimental findings.
description: 15 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, 29 references
Post-thaw variability in litter decomposition best explained by microtopography at an ice-rich permafrost peatland
Creators: name: Malhotra, Avni
name: Moore, Tim R.
name: Limpens, Juul
name: Roulet, Nigel T.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: 39999 Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Plant Biology

description: Litter decomposition, a key process by which recently fixed carbon is lost from ecosystems, is a function of environmental conditions and plant community characteristics. In ice-rich peatlands, permafrost thaw introduces high variability in both abiotic and biotic factors, both of which may affect litter decomposition rates in different ways. Can the existing conceptual frameworks of litter decomposition and its controls be applied across a structurally heterogeneous thaw gradient? We investigated the variability in litter decomposition and its predictors at the Stordalen subarctic peatland in northern Sweden. We measured in situ decomposition of representative litter and environments using litter bags throughout two years. We found highly variable litter decomposition rates with turnover times ranging from five months to four years. Surface elevation was a strong correlate of litter decomposition across the landscape, likely as it integrates multiple environmental and plant community changes brought about by thaw. There was faster decomposition but also more mass remaining after two years in thawed areas relative to permafrost areas, suggesting faster initial loss of carbon but more storage into the slow-decomposing carbon pool. Our results highlight mechanisms and predictors of carbon cycle changes in ice-rich peatlands following permafrost thaw.
Instance-Aware Domain Generalization for Face Anti-Spoofing
Creators: name: Zhou, Qianyu
name: Zhang, Ke-Yue
name: Yao, Taiping
name: Lu, Xuequan
name: Yi, Ran
name: Ding, Shouhong
name: Ma, Lizhuang
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Face anti-spoofing (FAS) based on domain generalization (DG) has been recently studied to improve the generalization on unseen scenarios. Previous methods typically rely on domain labels to align the distribution of each domain for learning domain-invariant representations. However, artificial domain labels are coarse-grained and subjective, which cannot reflect real domain distributions accurately. Besides, such domain-aware methods focus on domain-level alignment, which is not fine-grained enough to ensure that learned representations are insensitive to domain styles. To address these issues, we propose a novel perspective for DG FAS that aligns features on the instance level without the need for domain labels. Specifically, Instance-Aware Domain Generalization framework is proposed to learn the generalizable feature by weakening the features' sensitivity to instance-specific styles. Concretely, we propose Asymmetric Instance Adaptive Whitening to adaptively eliminate the style-sensitive feature correlation, boosting the generalization. Moreover, Dynamic Kernel Generator and Categorical Style Assembly are proposed to first extract the instance-specific features and then generate the style-diversified features with large style shifts, respectively, further facilitating the learning of style-insensitive features. Extensive experiments and analysis demonstrate the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art competitors. Code will be publicly available at https://github.com/qianyuzqy/IADG.
description: Accepted to IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2023