cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The Future Isn’t Now
Creators: name: Carroll, Ryan
Publisher: name: Cultural Studies Association
Year: 2024

description: In a world of negation, it is exhilarating to imagine possibilities. Such is evident in the strain of critique that asserts there is something radically productive in opening up possibilities. This makes sense: critical theory seeks to illuminate something beyond endless torrents of death and destruction. But, this essay contends, the thrill of possibility-creation has created a new aporia: the affect gesture of possibility risks overshadowing the realization of radical possibilities. Various strains of scholarship presume that scholarly politics is a matter of perceiving and awakening possibilities. The impulse is most readily clear in utopianist scholarship like that of José Esteban Muñoz, but it’s also evident in work by Saidiya Hartman, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and even Rita Felski. All these materials propose that cultural materials can coordinate possible worlds, and by extension, scholarship competency is to schematize them. But, I argue, the scholarship that follows these thinkers risks becoming trapped by possibility. It’s captivating to imagine new ways of being or living or knowing, but there exists neither the professional incentive nor the affective discipline to realize those possibilities. In our reverie at imagining the construction of a better world, our blueprints don’t necessarily reach the builder—and the indulgence of possibility risks sliding back into despair. This essay does not argue for dismissing the scholarship above, but rather suggests we haven’t read them well enough. Muñoz, Hartman, and Sedgwick are not drunk on hope; their openness to possibility comes from the mute agony of living in an unlivable world. Although a variety of material factors stand in the way of scholar-activism, this affective trap remains one of the most pressing—for if we do not recognize the feelings that structure political scholarship, we will only be playing a language game, projecting possibilities that could never come to fruition.
title: Seroprevalence and correlates of Toxoplasma gondii infection in Yoremes (Mayos) in Mexico
title: a cross-sectional study
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Alvarado-Esquivel, Cosme
name: Rascon-Careaga, Antonio
name: Hernandez-Tinoco, Jesus
name: Corella-Madueno, Maria Alba Guadalupe
name: Francisco Sanchez-Anguiano, Luis
name: Aldana-Madrid, Maria Lourdes
name: Almada-Balderrama, Gerardo Javier
name: Nunez-Aguirre, Alan Daniel
name: Liesenfeld, Oliver
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Objectives We sought to determine the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in Yoremes and to identify associations of T. gondii exposure with sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics of Yoremes. Design A cross-sectional survey. Setting Yoremes were enrolled in the locality of Tierra Blanca in the municipality of Navojoa in Sonora State, Mexico. Participants We studied 200 Yoremes (Mayos); they are an indigenous ethnic group living in a coastal region in northwestern Mexico. Primary and secondary outcome measures We assessed the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies in participants using enzyme-linked immunoassays. We used a standardised questionnaire to obtain the characteristics of Yoremes. The association of T. gondii exposure and Yoremes’ characteristics was assessed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results Of the 200 Yoremes studied (mean age: 31.50±18.43 years), 26 (13.0%) were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies and 19 (73.1%) of them were also positive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies. Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection did not vary with sex, educational level, occupation or socioeconomic status. In contrast, multivariate analysis of sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics showed that T. gondii exposure was associated with increasing age (OR=1.02; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.04; p=0.03) and consumption of squirrel meat (OR=4.99; 95% CI 1.07 to 23.31; p=0.04). Furthermore, seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was significantly higher in Yoremes with a history of lymphadenopathy (p=0.03) and those suffering from frequent abdominal pain (p=0.03). In women, T. gondii exposure was associated with a history of caesarean sections (p=0.03) and miscarriages (p=0.02). Conclusions We demonstrate, for the first time, serological evidence of T. gondii exposure among Yoremes in Mexico. Results suggest that infection with T. gondii might be affecting the health of Yoremes. Results may be useful for an optimal design of preventive measures against T. gondii infection.
A study on numerical modeling of vector-borne diseases
Creators: name: Hasan, Bushra
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This thesis considers compartmental models to investigate the spread of three vector-borne diseases: malaria, Zika and Dengue. Each of these diseases is transmitted by Mosquitoes, and have resulted in the loss of millions of lives. The aim of this study is to understand the dynamics of these vector diseases through the use of models. Only once the dynamics of the transmission of such diseases is understood can control strategies be effectively employed. In this study, a series of numerical simulations are adapted to examining how the diffusion of human and mosquitoes populations affect the transmission of these diseases.
D4.1 Conceptual architecture and delivery plan
Creators: name: Roman, Dumitru
name: Kader, Shady Abd El
name: Thuermer, Gefion
name: Celino, Irene
name: Calegari, Gloria Re
name: Scandolari, Damiano
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: data science
citizen science
toolkit

description: In this deliverable we provide a conceptual architecture for data-driven citizen science projects. In order to do that, we analyzed the current practices of citizen science projects related to pollution from a data science perspective. For the citizen science projects that aim to be more data-driven, we outline a number of recommendations in that direction. Based on that, we devise the architecture of the ACTION toolkit with a number of areas to be addressed in the realization of the toolkit, together with a delivery plan of the toolkit in the project. The results of this deliverable contribute to providing a range of technology and assistance services relevant to the digital infrastructure citizen science initiatives.
Host-derived extracellular RNA promotes adhesion of Streptococcus pneumoniae to endothelial and epithelial cells
Creators: name: Zakrzewicz, Dariusz
name: Bergmann, Simone
name: Didiasova, Miroslava
name: Giaimo, Benedetto Daniele
name: Borggrefe, Tilman
name: Mieth, Maren
name: Hocke, Andreas C.
name: Lochnit, Guenter
name: Schaefer, Liliana
name: Hammerschmidt, Sven
name: Preissner, Klaus T.
name: Wygrecka, Malgorzata
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most frequent cause of community-acquired pneumonia. The infection process involves bacterial cell surface receptors, which interact with host extracellular matrix components to facilitate colonization and dissemination of bacteria. Here, we investigated the role of host-derived extracellular RNA (eRNA) in the process of pneumococcal alveolar epithelial cell infection. Our study demonstrates that eRNA dose-dependently increased S. pneumoniae invasion of alveolar epithelial cells. Extracellular enolase (Eno), a plasminogen (Plg) receptor, was identified as a novel eRNA- binding protein on S. pneumoniae surface, and six Eno eRNA-binding sites including a C-terminal 15 amino acid motif containing lysine residue 434 were characterized. Although the substitution of lysine 434 for glycine (K434G) markedly diminished the binding of eRNA to Eno, the adherence to and internalization into alveolar epithelial cells of S. pneumoniae strain carrying the C-terminal lysine deletion and the mutation of internal Plg- binding motif were only marginally impaired. Accordingly, using a mass spectrometric approach, we identified seven novel eRNA-binding proteins in pneumococcal cell wall. Given the high number of eRNA-interacting proteins on pneumococci, treatment with RNase1 completely inhibited eRNA-mediated pneumococcal alveolar epithelial cell infection. Our data support further efforts to employ RNAse1 as an antimicrobial agent to combat pneumococcal infectious diseases.
Becoming Israeli: A Study of Soviet and Ethiopian Integration in the 1990s
Creators: name: Perlman, Yael D
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Jews
Comparative Government or Politics
Israel
Ethiopia
Russia
Former Soviet Union
Immigration

description: In the 75 year history of the modern state of Israel, Jews have come from around the world to return to their historic homeland. Despite this “kibbutz galuyot” or ingathering of the exiles, the reality has not been as idyllic for every immigrant group. Starting with the Mizrahi immigration in the 1950s, immigrants faced differing policies depending on their background. Has Israel learned from its past mistakes to create best practices for successful integration?
In my paper, I will analyze two groups, the Soviets and Ethiopians, who both arrived in Israel in the 1990s, yet experienced vastly different treatments from the Israeli government. Since these groups came at the same point in Israeli history, they serve as a comparative study to see how Israeli policy changed since the start of the state.
I will measure the two integrations through: conversion policies, educational policies, geographic distribution, political representation, and military participation. These five factors are representative of the different areas of absorption into society. My methods include personal interviews, government documents, and academic writings. 
I found that each group brought its own challenges with Soviets not wanting to abide by the religious institutions in Israel and Ethiopians coming with a much weaker educational background. While the Soviets generally received a neoliberal absorption model and Ethiopians more top down, each area of absorption tells a different story. Understanding how immigration policies were implemented has broad implications on Israeli national identity today and its continual evolvement. 
Exploring the structural and proteolytic role of the metallocofactor in the HEV protease domain
Creators: name: Takeoka, Ken
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2024
Subjects: Hepatitis E Virus
Fe-S cluster
metallocofactor
nitroxides
PCP

description: Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) annually leads to 20 million infections and circa 55,000 deaths, while currently no specific treatment exists. The HEV capsid, helicase, and replicase - needed for viral entry and replication - have been proposed to be processed by the HEV encoded putative cysteine protease (PCP), thus making it an attractive therapeutic target. However, functional characterization of the PCP has been hindered by debate over i) whether the PCP cleaves the polyprotein it resides in (if there is processing at all), and ii) the inability to precisely determine the actual protease domain within the polyprotein sequence that has led to multiple constructs. Previous studies have reported that PCP binds Zn or possibly an Fe-S cluster, metallocofactors that are likely pivotal structural or functional elements, albeit to an unknown capacity. Our work focused on the chemical characterization of the metallocofactor in the PCP and its possible roles in structural stability and proteolytic activity. Additionally, we established that PCP binds an O2-sensitive [4Fe-4S] cluster, which can be therapeutically targeted for degradation by nitroxides such as TEMPOL and DEANONOate. While the exact cellular modus operandum of PCP remains elusive, we are the first group to holistically examine the PCP and its metallocofactor from a diverse set of biochemical approaches and set the stage for better understanding the mechanistic basis of its role in HEV replication.
Hepatic glucose production in rainbow trout: Effects of sustained exercise and epinephrine.
Creators: name: Shanghavi, Deena.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Biology, Animal Physiology.

description: The role of carbohydrate metabolism is not yet established in fish. Therefore, the goal of my thesis was to quantify the rate of hepatic glucose production (Ra glucose) during aerobic exercise in fish. During sustainable exercise, mammals strongly stimulate their rate of hepatic glucose production to replace the additional glucose consumed by locomotory muscles and this increase in Ra glucose may be regulated by circulating catecholamines. By analogy with mammals, I hypothesized that sub-maximal exercise in trout will increase hepatic glucose production above resting levels. Circulating catecholamines were also measured to establish their possible influence in stimulating Ra glucose. To test this hypothesis, I measured the rate of appearance of glucose in rainbow trout swimming for 3 h at 1.5 body lengths s-1. Results indicated that circulating EPI could be a possible candidate for regulating Ra glucose during exercise. Therefore, I investigated the effects of sympathetic EPI on Ra glucose (1) by infusing exogenous EPI to increase plasma concentrations and (2) by blocking the effect of sympathetic EPI via beta-adrenoreceptors with propranolol (PROP). I hypothesized that EPI will stimulate whereas PROP will depress hepatic glucose production. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Risse Oral History Interview #5
Creators: name: Potter, Jonathan
name: Risse, Guenter
Publisher: name: Washington State University
Year: 2022
Subjects: History of Medicine

description: The Risse History of Medicine Collection at WSU Spokane includes a unique body of literature amassed by Dr. Guenter Risse in the course of his career as a historian of medicine. This project aims to make the collection more accessible through a series of oral history interviews with Dr. Risse.
Threatened child health through lack of immunization: Identification of risk groups in Uganda.
Creators: name: Karlsen, Klaus.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1995
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Public Health.

description: Despite the great success of the worldwide Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), there are still 2 million third world children who die every year from the vaccine-preventable diseases. While the great majority of children in Uganda and other third world countries receive vaccination against tuberculosis (BCG) and the first dose of oral polio vaccine, many do not complete the EPI vaccination series; and neonatal tetanus is still a major concern, since most fertile women in the third world are not covered with two doses of tetanus toxoid (TT). Main objectives. Using data of the 1988-89 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS): (1) To assess risk factors for children not getting immunized against tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and measles. (2) To assess risk factors for not completing the EPI vaccination series (the "drop-out" problem). (3) To assess risk factors for pregnant women not receiving tetanus toxoid for protection against neonatal tetanus; and hence: (a) To identify high risk groups/populations where children are less likely to get immunized (partly thru fully). (b) To identify high risk groups of pregnant women in terms of not receiving tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Analyzing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase activation in aging and vascular amyloid pathology
Creators: name: Radbruch, Helena
name: Mothes, Ronja
name: Bremer, Daniel
name: Seifert, Stefanie
name: Köhler, Ralf
name: Pohlan, Julian
name: Ostendorf, Lennard
name: Günther, Robert
name: Leben, Ruth
name: Stenzel, Werner
name: Niesner, Raluca Aura
name: Hauser, Anja E.
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: aging
subject: NADPH oxidases
subject: microglia
subject: astrocytes
subject: Alzheimer's disease
subject: cerebral amyloid angiopathy
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: In aging individuals, both protective as well as regulatory immune functions are declining, resulting in an increased susceptibility to infections as well as to autoimmunity. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase 2-deficiency in immune cell subsets has been shown to be associated with aging. Using intravital marker-free NAD(P)H-fluorescence lifetime imaging, we have previously identified microglia/myeloid cells and astrocytes as main cellular sources of NADPH oxidase (NOX) activity in the CNS during neuroinflammation, due to an overactivation of NOX. The overactivated NOX enzymes catalyze the massive production of the highly reactive O−2, which initiates in a chain reaction the overproduction of diverse reactive oxygen species (ROS). Age-dependent oxidative distress levels in the brain and their cellular sources are not known. Furthermore, it is unclear whether in age- dependent diseases oxidative distress is initiated by overproduction of ROS or by a decrease in antioxidant capacity, subsequently leading to neurodegeneration in the CNS. Here, we compare the activation level of NOX enzymes in the cerebral cortex of young and aged mice as well as in a model of vascular amyloid pathology. Despite the fact that a striking change in the morphology of microglia can be detected between young and aged individuals, we find comparable low-level NOX activation both in young and old mice. In contrast, aged mice with the human APPE693Q mutation, a model for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), displayed increased focal NOX overactivation in the brain cortex, especially in tissue areas around the vessels. Despite activated morphology in microglia, NOX overactivation was detected only in a small fraction of these cells, in contrast to other pathologies with overt inflammation as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) or glioblastoma. Similar to these pathologies, the astrocytes majorly contribute to the NOX overactivation in the brain cortex during CAA. Together, these findings emphasize the role of other cellular sources of activated NOX than phagocytes not only during EAE but also in models of amyloid pathology. Moreover, they may strengthen the hypothesis that microglia/monocytes show a diminished potential for clearance of amyloid beta protein.
Effect of beta-blockers on exacerbation rate and lung function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Creators: name: Duffy, Sean
name: Marron, Robert
name: Voelker, Helen
name: Albert, Richard
name: Connett, John
name: Bailey, William
name: Casaburi, Richard
name: Cooper, J. A.
name: Curtis, Jeffrey L.
name: Dransfield, Mark
name: Han, MeiLan K.
name: Make, Barry
name: Marchetti, Nathaniel
name: Martinez, Fernando
name: Lazarus, Stephen
name: Niewoehner, Dennis
name: Scanlon, Paul D.
name: Sciurba, Frank
name: Scharf, Steven
name: Reed, Robert M.
name: Washko, George
name: Woodruff, Prescott
name: McEvoy, Charlene
name: Aaron, Shawn D.
name: Sin, Don
name: Criner, Gerard J.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2017

description: Background: Beta-blockers are commonly prescribed for patients with cardiovascular disease. Providers have been wary of treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with beta-blockers due to concern for bronchospasm, but retrospective studies have shown that cardio-selective beta-blockers are safe in COPD and possibly beneficial. However, these benefits may reflect symptom improvements due to the cardiac effects of the medication. The purpose of this study is to evaluate associations between beta-blocker use and both exacerbation rates and longitudinal measures of lung function in two well-characterized COPD cohorts. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1219 participants with over 180 days of follow up from the STATCOPE trial, which excluded most cardiac comorbidities, and from the placebo arm of the MACRO trial. Primary endpoints were exacerbation rates per person-year and change in spirometry over time in association with beta blocker use. Results: Overall 13.9% (170/1219) of participants reported taking beta-blockers at enrollment. We found no statistically significant differences in exacerbation rates with respect to beta-blocker use regardless of the prevalence of cardiac comorbidities. In the MACRO cohort, patients taking beta-blockers had an exacerbation rate of 1.72/person-year versus a rate of 1.71/person-year in patients not taking beta-blockers. In the STATCOPE cohort, patients taking beta-blockers had an exacerbation rate of 1.14/person-year. Patients without beta-blockers had an exacerbation rate of 1.34/person-year. We found no detrimental effect of beta blockers with respect to change in lung function over time. Conclusion: We found no evidence that beta-blocker use was unsafe or associated with worse pulmonary outcomes in study participants with moderate to severe COPD.
Hybrid DS/FH-CDMA systems employing FSK based modulation schemes.
Creators: name: D'Amours, Claude.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1995
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: This thesis examines a hybrid DS/FH-CDMA system employing FSK based modulation schemes. The proposed modulation schemes are: non-coherent MFSK, a combination of MFSK and DPSK (called MFSK-DPSK) and wideband multitone (MT) FSK. In each case, the signal to be transmitted is modulated by a high rate BPSK signal (the PN sequence) and then it is hopped at a rate higher than the symbol rate into different frequency bins that are sufficiently spaced so that the fading in each channel appears to be an independent process. The main difference between each system is that a DS/FH-CDMA system employing wideband MT-FSK must employ fewer frequency bins to have the same (or comparable) bandwidth as systems employing MFSK or MFSK-DPSK. However, the advantage gained by using MT-FSK is the inherent diversity of the modulation scheme. The bit error rate performance of each modulation scheme in a Rayleigh fading channel is found (in some cases, upper bounds are used). Both frequency-nonselective and frequency-selective fading are considered. A hybrid DS/FH-CDMA system is presented. The multiple access interference is modelled as additional white Gaussian noise. Spectral efficiency expressions are obtained for the system employing the different modulation and coding schemes considered. It is shown that the spectral efficiency of the system is inversely proportional to the bit energy to noise spectral density ratio required to achieve the maximum allowable bit error rate. Furthermore, it is shown that coded MFSK and coded MFSK-DPSK can guarantee lower bit energy to noise spectral density ratio required to achieve the maximum allowable bit error rate of 10$\sp{-3}$ than coded MT-FSK, and thus lower bounds on the spectral efficiency of DS/FH-CDMA systems employing coded MFSK or MFSK-DPSK are higher than DS/FH-CDMA systems employing coded MT-FSK.
Atomic Resolution Imaging of Molecular Photoswitches and Their Application in Solar Energy Storage
Creators: name: Gerkman, Mihael
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Azobenzene
Molecular Imaging
Molecular Solar Thermal Fuel
Phase Transitions
Photoswitch
Molecular Chemistry

description: Molecular photoswitches that reversibly isomerize when exposed to external stimuli, such as light, heat, and current have been used for diverse applications in drug delivery, sensing, controlling hydrophilicity of surface, actuation, and many other fields. The wide range of applications is achieved primarily due to their significant changes in physical and optical properties upon isomerization. However, the isomerization dynamics of these compounds are typically studied in dilute solution or dispersion in polymer matrices, which is a relatively unhindered environment for conformational isomerizations. Understanding the molecular switching behavior in a sterically-hindered and close-packed environment, such as in a condensed phase or at an interface with 2D-materials, is essential for developing diverse solid-state applications. I studied the impact of light, heat, and current on the isomerization dynamics of spiropyran, arylazopyrazole, and azobenzene derivatives in condensed phases and on 2D-materials. In these materials, I demonstrated that external stimuli can effectively control their phase, heat storage/release cycles, and intermolecular interactions by manipulating the ratio of isomers. In this thesis work, I focused on elucidating the molecular design principles for controlling their optical and thermal properties, as well as demonstrating their effective application in photon energy conversion, thermal energy storage, and optical memory. In addition, I conducted fundamental investigations on the photo-induced conformational changes of such photoswitches, in collaboration with electron microscopists, to gain atomic-level understanding of the process. This imaging technique was further utilized for tracking molecular interactions with the surface of a 2D material as well. This thesis will hopefully provide a holistic view of molecular photoswitches’ properties and utilities in various environments.
The automatic product management system (APMS): Integrated business process management for a small business application.
Creators: name: Liang, Guowei.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Industrial.

description: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the business management process for small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) and to develop an automated product management system for integrated business processing. Due to the relatively small scale of operation of these companies, they experience difficulties in applying readily available tools in the area of product management. The target of the analysis is to develop a prototype software system for automatic product management. Moreover, this software developed for this thesis is applied to a real business case---that of Inshore Fisheries, a small scale integrated fishing operation in Atlantic Canada. The system consists of six components that are grouped into two categories of input and output analysis. The Input category includes production operations and customer ordering. The Output category includes four performance reports: (1) order invoices, (2) production worksheets, (3) inventory tracking, and (4) periodic income statements. The entire system is implemented using Visual Basic 6.0. The database is designed using Microsoft Access. The four performance reports in the output are designed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Furthermore, a GUI integrates all components together to form a complete business processing system. Based on the results of the application of this system to Inshore Fisheries, this software solution can be applied to other SMEs by making specific modifications but without revising the basic principle and system design of the software system. This system possesses a great amount of flexibility and extendibility for practical business process decision-making.
Chemical fingerprints in quasar spectra: Intervening metal absorbers from redshift 2 to 6
Creators: name: Codoreanu, Alexandru G.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: I identify a population of singly ionised Magnesium absorbers which most likely trace the halos hosting a population of numerous and faint galaxies whose brightness lies below the current detection limit of existing telescopes. I present full population statistics of the triply ionised Carbon (CIV) and Silicon ions during the second billion years of cosmological evolution of the Universe. I find that a significant fraction of CIV is held in systems which are most likely tracing a multi-phase medium where hot and cold gas is mixing at the interface between the circumgalactic and intergalactic mediums.
The widow's might: Law and the widow in British fiction, 1689-1792.
Creators: name: Stoyan, Sydney Lyn.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Literature, English.

description: Repeatedly in eighteenth-century fiction, the widow embodies a narrative agency that has as its actual counterpart the directive relation to property granted to widows by English law: unlike a wife, a widow had a separate legal identity and could hold real property as could a man. Common law dower granted her a life interest in her husband's estate, but over the course of the eighteenth century, dower was increasingly barred by jointure, a monetary provision negotiated in the marriage settlement. Jointure was contractual in nature, often unconnected to land, subject to the ideological vagaries of the Courts of Equity, and violable in ways that dower was not. Running parallel to this legal alteration is a demographic decline in the rate of remarriage for widows. These historical phenomena together provoke speculation about the widow's disadvantaging through jointure over dower. From the perspective of a feminist reading, the replacement of a common law right with a discretionary claim, and its corollary substitution of mobile for real property, indicate an anxiety about the widow's potential might in accumulating wealth in land. This uneasiness infuses contemporary representations of widowhood. Satirical treatments both mock the widow's lubricity and apprehend a re-allocation of property through remarriage. Conduct manuals advocate the strictest modesty to contain the widow's energy. The thesis elucidates, within the context of these representations, the legal and historical developments affecting the widow and reads, accordingly, a range of British fictions. Short fictions by Aphra Behn, Jane Barker, and Eliza Haywood, and novels by Frances Sheridan, Sarah Scott and Clara Reeve are analyzed to assess a widow's entitlement to desire, to examine her capacity for narrative agency, and to question her security in a transactional economy. Although the widow exerts a consequential narrative authority in the texts under consideration, a familiarity with eighteenth-century law reveals what the novelists imply: the contemporary valorization of acquisitive inclination over disinterested civic virtue, and its legal parallel of unchartered contract over entrenched status right, register a diminution of the widow's proprietary might.
Über Möglichkeiten zur Verbesserung des Zugangs zu rekanalisierenden Maßnahmen bei akutem ischämischem Schlaganfall
Creators: name: Schlemm, Ludwig
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Acute stroke
subject: Ischemic stroke
subject: Thrombolysis
subject: Thrombectomy
subject: Decision analysis
subject: 600 Technology, Medicine, Applied sciences::610 Medical sciences; Medicine::610 Medical sciences; Medicine

description: In den fünf in diese Habilitationsschrift eingebunden Arbeiten haben wir Ergebnisse vorgestellt, die dazu verwendet werden können, den Zugang zu rekanalisierenden Maßnahmen für Patienten mit akutem ischämischem Schlaganfall, d.h. zur intravenösen Thrombolyse und zur mechanischen Thrombektomie, zu verbessern. Wir haben die klinischen Auswirkungen von prähospitaler Triage auf Basis klinischer Schlaganfallschwereskalen abgeschätzt und mit dem Vorschlag, individualisierte variable Trennwerte anstatt eines festen Trennwertes zu verwenden, eine konzeptionelle Weiterbildung bestehender Algorithmen entwickelt. Zusätzlich wurden die Auswirkungen prähospitaler Triage unter Gesichtspunkten der Ressourcenallokation systembezogen untersucht und die kosteneffektive Einsetzbarkeit zukünftig zuerwartender technischer Neuerungen im Bereich der prähospitalen Triage einerseits sowie für die Reduktion der prähospitalen Behandlungsverzögerung durch Echtzeit-Detektion von ischämischen Schlaganfällen andererseits quantitativ abgeschätzt. Abgerundet wurde die Arbeiten in dieser Schrift mit einer Untersuchung zu Unterschieden der prähospitalen Behandlungsverzögerung in einer großen prospektiven Kohorte von prähospital behandelten Schlaganfallpatienten.
description: In the five papers included in this habilitation thesis, we presented results that can be used to improve access to recanalization therapies for patients with acute ischemic stroke, namely intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. We assessed the clinical implications of prehospital triage based on clinical stroke symptom severity scales and developed a conceptual improvement of existing algorithms by suggesting that individualized variable cutoff values ​​should be used instead of a fixed cutoff value. In addition, we assessed the effects of prehospital triage on resource allocation and quantified the cost-effectiveness of future technological advances in prehospital triage and the reduction of prehospital treatment delay by real-time detection of acute ischemic stroke. The work in this paper concludes with a study on differences in prehospital treatment delay in a large prospective cohort of prehospital-treated stroke patients.
Health care use and costs at the end of life: a comparison of elderly Australian decedents with and without a cancer history
Creators: name: Reeve, Rebecca
name: Srasuebkul, Preeyaporn
name: Langton, Julia M
name: Haas, Marion
name: Viney, Rosalie
name: Pearson, Sallie-Anne
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2017

description: Background: There is limited population-level research on end-of-life care in Australia that considers health care use and costs across hospital and community sectors. The aim of this study was to quantify health care use and costs in the last 6 months of life in a cohort of elderly Australian decedents and to examine the factors associated with end-of-life resource use and costs. Methods: A retrospective cohort study using routinely collected health data from Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs clients. The study included two cohorts of elderly Australians who died between 2005 and 2009; one cohort with a recorded cancer diagnosis and a comparison cohort with no evidence of a cancer history. We examined hospitalisations, emergency department (ED) visits, prescription drugs, clinician visits, pathology, and procedures and associated costs in the last 6 months of life. We used negative binominal regression to explore factors associated with health service use and costs. Results: The cancer cohort had significantly higher rates of health service use and 27% higher total health care costs than the comparison cohort; in both cohorts, costs were driven primarily by hospitalisations. Older age was associated with lower costs and those who died in residential aged care incurred half the costs of those who died in hospital. Conclusions: The results suggest differences in end-of-life care pathways dependent on patient factors, with younger, community-dwelling patients and those with a history of cancer incurring significantly greater costs. There is a need to examine whether the investment in end-of-life care meets patient and societal needs.
Dataset used for analysing the variation in relative air humidity along the ridge–valley gradient
Creators: name: Seto, Mifumi
name: Higa, Motoki
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 310308
subject: Terrestrial ecology
classificationCode: 370702
subject: Ecohydrology

description: This dataset was used for analysing the variation in relative air humidity along the ridge–valley gradient in our journal "Topographic gradient influences vascular epiphyte occurrence in a small watershed covered by a mature coniferous/broadleaf evergreen mixed forest in Japan".
Polarization, Partisanship, and Health in the United States
Creators: name: Oberlander, Jonathan
Publisher: name: Duke University Press
Year: 2024

description: Hyperpartisanship and polarization are defining features of contemporary
American politics. According to an influential political science measure,
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are now further apart ideologically,
largely as a result of theGOP’s rightward turn, than at any point in the
past 150 years (McCarty 2019). Congressional Democrats and Republicans
increasingly vote with large majorities of their own party against
large majorities fromthe other party (Lee 2015; McCarty 2019). There are
recurrent partisan battles over the federal budget and debt limit, while
Democrats and Republicans frequently try to block each other’s judicial
nominees (Whittington 2018). In the Senate, the filibuster has become
much more commonplace as a mechanism for the minority party to stop
the majority from passing laws, while rates of legislative gridlock in Congress
have risen (Binder 2014). The refusal of President Donald Trump and
many Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the 2020 elections,
and the efforts by Trump and his allies to stage a coup that would keep
him in office, underscore the extent to which American democracy is itself
increasingly in peril in a polarized era.
The role of C-S-H microstructure and calcium hydroxide on creep and shrinkage of hardened portland cement paste.
Creators: name: Tamtsia Tamboue, Basile-Honore.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Civil.

description: The thesis provides new research related to the mechanisms of creep and shrinkage of hardened Portland cement paste. The emphasis is put on the role of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) microstructure and calcium hydroxide the most important phases in hydrated Portland cement paste. Specially designed specimens were used for creep and shrinkage measurements. These were well hydrated and very thin in order to avoid the occurrence of moisture gradients during the drying process. Length change of specimens following organic solvent exchange was used as a microstructural probe. Length change data of compacted CH powder, pre-conditioned from 11% to 85% relative humidity, are presented in order to support inferences on the role of CH in cement paste. Similar measurements were conducted on Portland cement and tri-calcium silicate pastes. It is suggested that the length change on removal of water may be related to surface energy changes not always specific to the C-S-H phase alone. Mass change measurements versus time during exchange were carried out to support the interpretation of the length change behavior. The re-saturation of Portland cement paste systems with synthetic pore solution after several drying pre-treatments was adopted to facilitate electrical measurements in order to investigate the shrinkage, creep, and creep recovery behavior. The state of the water in each pre-treated specimen was characterized using the DTGA methods. The coupling of a.c. impedance spectroscopy (ACIS) and creep and shrinkage measurements established ACIS as an effective method for evaluating pore structure modification as well as the nature of changes to the pore network of cement paste during creep and shrinkage experiments. Cement paste specimens from which all evaporable water was completely removed were found to creep a significant amount contrary to the hypothesis that they should not creep at all. The compacted calcium hydroxide specimens were found to creep with a creep coefficient less than one. This suggested that calcium hydroxide makes a contribution to the overall deformation of cement paste systems.
Quality engineering activities in object-oriented software development.
Creators: name: Geldrez, Cecilia.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1996
Subjects: subject: Computer Science.

description: Testability is a measure of how easy (less complex, less tedious, less boring, less costly) the effective testing of implementation is made. In Object-Oriented development, testability is a result of (1) the characteristics of Object-Oriented implementations, (2) the test support environment, (3) the characteristics of representations (i.e. notations) and (4) the software process in which testing is conducted (67). In this thesis, we examine in details the last two factors. When addressing the characteristics of notations, we determine that notations should exhibit the basic testability attributes of completeness, correctness, consistency and incorporation. In order for notations to exhibit these attributes, they must be verifiable, modifiable and traceable. The latter three are referred to as testability requirements. Testable notations provide the ability to (1) uncover errors early in the process, (2) generate test cases, (3) guide the testing of the implementation and (4) facilitate the location of source(s) of error(s) for modification. We identify testing activity types that are decoupled from the syntax of notations and from development methodologies. These testing activity types define what needs to be tested (e.g. different semantics) as well as coverage criteria. They are generic in the sense that they are refinable (i.e. adaptable to different levels of detail) in order to be uniformly applied at all phases of development. When addressing the software process in which testing is conducted, we propose that there must be an integration of development and testing activity types. Also, we propose a way of handling change in a consistent manner such that testability attributes are not lost. Examples of these changes include error correction, accommodation of new requirements, etc. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Satellite Glia and their Impact on Sympathetic Neuronal Plasticity
Creators: name: Vieux-Gresham, Nathalie Monique
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Activity-Dependent
DREADDs
Satellite Glia
Sympathetic Nervous System
Plasticity

description: Satellite glial cells (SGCs) are non-neuronal support cells found in the peripheral sympathetic ganglia that communicate bidirectionally with peripheral sympathetic neurons whose activity sets normal physiological responses. SGCs have a role in regulating the number of synapses formed in sympathetic neurons, however, it remains unclear if this regulation is activity-dependent. Understanding how satellite glial cells contribute to the output of sympathetic neurons can provide insights into diseases that arise from sympathetic dysfunction. This study aims to further investigate if SGCs regulate the number of neuronal synapses in an activity-dependent process. I used an established culture system that allows for culturing isolated neurons in the presence or absence of SGCs and identified the number of synapses formed between a normotensive (WKY) and hypertensive (SHR) strain. An increase in synapse density from WKY neurons (WKY N) in the absence of glia to WKY neuron-glia co-culture (WKY NG) was observed, but the opposite was observed in the intrinsically more active SHR strain, suggesting that SHR SGCs may lower the number of synapses in response to signaling from neurons in a high activity state. To test this, I chronically manipulated glial activity with excitatory DREADDs. My results showed a decrease in the number of synapses formed in WKY neurons after chronic activity, however, the opposite was observed in SHR. These results suggest that SGCs may play a key role in homeostatic plasticity and disruptions to SGCs functions may contribute to the development of pathology.
High prevalence of IgG antibodies to Ebola virus in the Efé pygmy population in the Watsa region, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Creators: name: Mulangu, Sabue
name: Borchert, Matthias
name: Paweska, Janusz
name: Tshomba, Antoine
name: Afounde, Afongenda
name: Kulidri, Amayo
name: Swanepoel, Robert
name: Muyembe-Tamfum, Jean-Jacques
name: Van Der Stuyft, Patrick
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Ebola virus
subject: IgG Antibody
subject: Pygmy
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::614 Inzidenz und Prävention von Krankheiten

description: Background Factors related to the natural transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) to humans are still not well defined. Results of previous sero-prevalence studies suggest that circulation of EBOV in human population is common in sub- Saharan Africa. The Efé pygmies living in Democratic Republic of the Congo are known to be exposed to potential risk factors of EBOV infection such as bush meat hunting, entry into caves, and contact with bats. We studied the pygmy population of Watsa region to determine seroprevalence to EBOV infection and possible risks factors. Method Volunteer participants (N = 300) aged 10 years or above were interviewed about behavior that may constitute risk factors for transmission of EBOV, including exposures to rats, bats, monkeys and entry into caves. Samples of venous blood were collected and tested for IgG antibody against EBOV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The χ2-test and Fisher’s exact test were used for the comparison of proportions and the Student’s t-test to compare means. The association between age group and anti- EBOV IgG prevalence was analysed by a nonparametric test for trend. Results The prevalence of anti-EBOV IgG was 18.7 % overall and increased significantly with age (p = 0.023). No association was observed with exposure to risk factors (contacts with rats, bats, monkeys, or entry into caves). Conclusions The seroprevalence of IgG antibody to EBOV in pygmies in Watsa region is among the highest ever reported, but it remains unclear which exposures might lead to this high infection rate calling for further ecological and behavioural studies.
Provincial Identities in the First-Century Roman Empire Imperial Literature and Discourses of Division and Integration
Creators: name: Mao, Sean
Publisher: name: Brandeis University
Year: 2022
Subjects: Batavi
Roman History
Roman Provinces
Tacitus

description: This thesis analyzes early Roman imperial literature and its representation of provincials of Gallic and Germanic origin in the first century CE. I focus on the literary conceptualization and portrayal of the provincial identities in relation to the Roman Empire and the Roman identity. I examine and analyze three case studies involving the provincials and their interactions with the Romans in the imperial context. First, the German bodyguards of the Julio-Claudian emperors occupied a difficult and alien position in the literature as suspected foreigners in arms planted inside the capital against Roman citizens. The Gallic revolt of 21 in Tacitus’ Annals questions the effectiveness of civitas in managing the provinces and presents the discourse of division between the provincials and Romans as an oratorical tool for both provincial and Roman sides. The narrative of the Batavian Revolt of 69-70 in the same author’s Histories raises similar questions and further explores the discourse of integration and division. Throughout the thesis, I see identities as fluid and circumstantial and both provincials and Romans negotiated with identities to justify and gather support for their respective causes. The Empire persistently forms the background of these negotiations and ultimately dictates the terms and confirms the outcomes of them.